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By the way I forgot to mention... That name Neil... I know from where u might have think of this name for that rich boy 😉
It was the last day of Sarja's Board Exams. He gave a small smile as he closed the nib of his pen- which his Aai had bought for him for the exams & closed his answer sheet. He was confident that he had written all his papers very well & knew that he had worked hard for it. It was the 1st smile he had allowed himself within months. He got out of the class & picked up his bag. He almost bumped into the person standing next to him. He was about to apologize, but stopped himself when he saw that it was Neil. He didn't deserve his apology.
"Abe, dhakka kisko de raha hai? Arre, Sarja tu idhar bhi aa gaya? Itne marks laake tum kya karoge? Acche college mein padhaane ke pasie to tumhaare paas hai nahin, tum to ghar pe baithke apne hawaldaar baap ki sewa karte rehna."
Sarja was seething from within during this tirade, but controlled himself with the thought that Neil was deliberately trying to provoke him. He just glared at him & started walking off. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Sarja, tune mujhe dhakka diya- maafi kaun maangega- tera baap?"
"Neil, just keep quiet aur mujhe jaane do. Mein tujh jaise logon ke muh nahi lagta.Aur…."
His next words were lost as he received a rough shove from behind. Sarju lost his control over the rage he had been feeling & turned around to face Neil, who was smirking.
"Mein uss din ki maar nahi bhula , Sarja."
"Accha hai, ab aur yaad aajaayegi." Sarju slapped Neil hard on the face. Neil, who was caught by surprise, sputtered & lunged at Sarju awkwardly. Sarju casually sidestepped & Neil landed on the floor, drawing laughter from the crowd of students who'd gathered. By the time, he had gained his bearings, Sarju was sauntering along with his friends out of the premises.
"You'll pay for this, Sarja……mein tujhe nahin chodunga."
A couple of weeks passed. Sarju was sitting outside with Chandu & Sonali helping them out with their studies. Sushila was working inside, cleaning the dishes, a grin on her face. A couple of weeks, then Sarju's results would be out. She knew her son had done very well. Then, the entire chawl would look at her & her family with envy. She felt so proud of her children, especially Sarja, who had immediately started to work after his exams, so that the burden on the family would be reduced. Her smile brightened when she saw her husband striding into the house.
Dinkar rao didn't wait to get into the house.
"Sarju, tu ka kelas asa?"(Why did u do it?)
"Baba, pan…." Dinkar rao slapped a clueless Sarju hard & dragged him into the house.
Sarju didn't know what was going on. He hadn't played even a single prank in the past few days! And, it was almost 5 years since Baba had hit him. He was hurt & angry.
"Yeh dekh mujhe kya khat aaya hai- office mein!" Dinkar Rao threw the lletter on sarju's face. He caught it & began to read.
"Your son, Sarje Rao has been caught slipping a bribe into his answer sheets. When confronted by a sincere student, he reacted violently & caused that student bodily harm. He is hereby, debarred from any examination for a minimum of 3 years. Also, due to his violent conduct, he is to be sent to a home for juvenile criminals immediately for 2 weeks."
Oh God!! Sarju couldn't believe his eyes. This was false, wrong. The words swam before him in a haze, & he could make out his name clearly along with the charges. He had been expecting his marksheet & name in the newspaper for his success, not this! All his dreams of becoming an IAS officer lay shattered at his feet. Sarju could almost see those broken shards on the floor. What had he done to deserve this quirk of fate?
Neil……….
He looked up into his Baba's eyes. He saw anger & defeat there. Defeat against what?
"Sarja, tera acche marks laana itna zaroori tha, ki tu kucch bhi kar sakta tha iske liye? Ya tujhe teri mehnat pe vishwaas nahi tha? Bol! Maine aajtak apni zindagi mein naa kisise rushwat li hai, aur naa kisiko di hai. Humaari sanskaar mein kaunsi kami pad gayi thi, jo tune yeh din dikhaya?"
Sarja was too hurt to respond. What did one say, if one's own father didn't believe him? He would not defend himself against his father. Anyways, Baba was too righteous to argue with, when action was required. And, now he knew that the defeat in his Baba's eyes was a defeat for not bringing his son up properly. He turned- he didn't want his family to see his tears, & saw a sentinel on guard. So Baba was here on duty. He wlked out of the house upto the sentinel & said to him,
"Juvenile home leke chalo."
The sentinel looked shocked, but relieved that he hadn't been subjected to any drama & merely told to do his job by this strapping, young boy who was as tall as himself. He saw him get into the van, got in himself & drove away, leaving Dinkar Rao stunned. What had he done?
Back at the shelter, Sarju was sitting along the wall deep in thought. He didn't think about the past or what has happened an hour ago. he just thought about what Baba had said to him.
He sensed his best friend, Pakya sit beside him, who treated this shelter like a second home. Sarju had tried to dissuade pakya since so many years, to stop his petty thefts, & now look, he himself was here. He smiled a cold hard snicker, mocking himself.
Pakya didn't ask him anything. He knew that Sarja would tell everything when it was time. He merely offered a cigar- he would always offer it to Sarju who always declined. But he tried again, now.
Sarju looked at it once & accepted it. He took a puff. By heaven, it feels good, he thought, as his mind started plotting revenge.
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