

****

_Take my heart, forever_

Arpit Agrawal

Published by

Omji Publishing House Pvt Ltd

New Delhi

First Edition: July 2016

Second Edition:Oct. 2018

Published and Printed By:

Omji Publishing House Private Limited

Contact No. +918750013201

Mail address:  omjipublishinghouse@gmail.com

Website: www.omjipublishinghouse.com

© Copyright with _Arpit Agarwal_

ISBN: 9789384028000

This is a work of Non-fiction. Names, Characters, Places and

incidents are product of the author's imagination. Any

resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or

locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or

stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without the prior permission of the publisher.

The moral right of the author has been asserted. This book is sold

subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or

otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated,

without the publisher's prior consent, in any form of binding or

cover other than that in which it is published.

****

**To the innocent victims of Mumbai Bomb Blast**

**(Or any other Blast)**

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

**Novel**

Dear Life, Get Well Soon...

**Anthology**

The turning point of life

Mighty Thoughts

The incredible Indian stories

Love and Passion

Anecdotes of Love

**Arpit Agrawal** is a storyteller; this is what he loves to be called. He

can't say it to the masses, so he writes his heart out.

His handwriting is awful, but he can type 70 words a minute. He

has completed his Engineering in Mechanical in the year 2011

from RCET, Bhilai and went for a decent job to Pune but later he

quit it for own venture.

After all, money is not all you need in life, sometimes you need

more money.

When he was in college, he accidentally turned out to be a writer.

Out of the blue, he wrote a small piece for his college-magazine. It

was cherished by many. 'I must do big,' he thought, and he

approached an English Newspaper. They willingly published his

articles and he got emails from readers from all over the State. He

looked into the bigger picture and approached a National

Magazine. They loved his stories too, and it gave him a monthly

readership of almost 400,000 readers across the Nation.

'I must do big' he thought again, and hence he got published

through his debut novel in the year 2013 called 'Dear life, get well

soon...'

Isn't it nature's clue for him to write further? And hence this

second book you are holding.

He can be contacted at arpit194@gmail.com.

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**Acknowledgements**

Do you believe in stars, sunshine, luck...?

Do you really think that miracles happen, God fulfills wishes?

Santa comes on Christmas Eve carrying a bag full of gifts. Do

you?

I do. I believe in luck.

I believe that sooner or later miracles happen in life. The book you

are holding right now is no less than a miracle to me.

I feel I am so lucky to have people around me who love me a lot. I

have got friends who motivate me from time to time.

Thanks to my parents for always believing in me, for never

comparing me with our neighbor's kids.

Thanks Nishant, my brother, my partner in every mischief we did

right from our childhood. And my lovely wife. One could not ask

for a better family than this.

Every time I see a falling star, I close my eyes and make a wish. I

take curd before I go for an examination or an interview. I stop for

a while every time a black cat crosses my way.

I know all these are mere superstitions. I know that it will never

work, but no one wants to pass up a chance for good luck, do you?

Thanks to all those people who cherished my first book. You made

me realize that writing sixteen hours a day on my laptop is not just

a waste of time.

Thanks to my friend Happy. Late night discussions of the plot with

you helped a lot. My office mates in my limited career at

Accenture (IT MNC), somehow you played an important role in

my life.

When I started writing, I never thought that one day I would get

published. Then it happened, and it changed everything.

Thanks, dear Nature for sending me all those tiny signals time to

time.

And at last, thanks to you for picking up this book. I know you are

busy, with lots of work, or in finding some work. No matter what

on Earth you are doing, take my suggestion, wrap it up, take a

break, go out of your tiny house and explore the giant world.

Explore in the search for change, in search of novelty, craft new

ideas and make a new life.

Happy reading.

__

_Arpit Agrawal_

**1**

Mr. Patel, an aged Business Tycoon, reached to his office at Navi Mumbai in

the morning. The memo of his meetings for the day and a cup of hot coffee

with no sugar were kept on his table.

He sat in his black leatherette padding chair, reading the headline from

'Business Standard' and dialed a number in his office intercom to call his

secretary in.

'I want to purchase "Hotel Aroma" near Juhu beach. Make the deal happen,'

stated Mr. Patel as Rohan stepped in.

Rohan, Mr. Patel's personal secretary's job profile includes anything asked

by Mr. Patel. It could be as trouble-free as brewing a cup of coffee for Mr.

Patel or as intricate as settling a deal worth crores of rupees which could put

his ass on fire.

Rohan nodded and continued to take verbal notes in his mind given by his

boss.

'Call the hotel owner and bid him any amount he wishes for. Bring the

cheque book to me. I will sign it,' ordered Mr. Patel.

'Okay, sir, I will take care of it,' said Rohan with all due respect and left. It

isn't tough to buy anything if you have all the money in the world, thought

Rohan.

'Hi Sir, I am Rohan calling from Patel group of Industries, Patel sir asked me

to talk to you.' Rohan searched the owner's number from the internet and

dialed.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Yes, tell me, how I can help you,' said the owner of the hotel in a polite way.

'Sir, actually Mr. Patel is interested in buying your hotel' said Rohan in a

perky voice.

'I am sorry; there must be some confusion young man. The hotel is not for

sale.'

'Yes, I know, sir, but I am here to make you an offer. Mr. Patel lives overseas

most of the time and when he comes to India, he makes big investments. He

can offer you any amount you quote. You can open two new restaurants with

the money you will get.'

'Money doesn't matter to me. I don't want to sell it at all,' Mr. Joshi

whimpered and disconnected the call.

That's the irony; money doesn't matter to only those who already have lots of

it.

Rohan got petrified after the denial. He now will have to face the wrath of his

boss when he will reveal his failure to him. He anyhow gathered some valor

and entered Mr. Patel's office keeping his head downward.

Mr. Patel was occupied in a telephonic conference with a European client. He

looked at Rohan and took a pen in his hand and directed him to keep the

cheque book on the table. He was confident that Rohan would have been able

to prod him. Isn't it easy to buy something with someone else's money?

Rohan was standing there, keeping a hush, staring at the ground.

'Where the hell is the cheque book?' hollered Mr. Patel, after he ended the

call.

'Sir, he is not ready to sell his hotel.' Rohan knew the rage of Mr. Patel, but

he had to utter out the truth anyway.

'What?' Mr. Patel asked incredulously.

2

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'You bloody fool. You are good for nothing. Have you offered him twice the

market rate? Have you offered him ten times the market rate?

He must be an idiot if he doesn't accept that,' mumbled Mr. Patel and snorted

with laughter. _Rich people laugh when they are angry._

'Call him. I will talk to him.'

Rohan dialed the number from desk phone kept on Mr. Patel's table.

'Hi! I am Rajendra Patel, the chairman of Patel group of industries.'

'Hi, Mr. Patel, it's a pleasure talking to you, sir. How are you?'

'I am fine Joshi, let's cut the crap and come to the point. I want your

restaurant at any cost. I want to gift it to someone. I have already committed

it.

Why don't you understand?' Pitch of Mr. Patel's voice was fairly soaring

when he uttered the last line.

Mr. Joshi clearly knew his position as compared to Mr. Patel. He knew that

Mr. Patel is one of the richest men in the Nation and he can actually grant

him a very handsome amount for the hotel. He still denied selling his father's

only reminiscence.

'But I can't sell it Patel Sahib. This is all I have. This is our old and reputed

business which we have been involved in for ages. I can't sell it to you just

because you want to gift it to somebody,' replied Mr. Joshi in a courteous

way, trying not to offend him.

Mr. Patel got offended, nevertheless.

'Please don't mortify me; everything has its price, you just quote yours and

you will get it.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You are wrong Mr. Patel. Everything doesn't come with a price tag. There

are few things in life which are invaluable. My answer is still No,' said Joshi

hoisting his tone and cut off the call.

It was like a tight slap across Mr. Patel's face.

He was not accustomed to listening 'No' for an answer and that too from a

usual bistro possessor. Being in the top fifty rich people in the world, he had

a habit of getting everything done whenever he wanted.

'Sir, there is one guy who can help us to settle the deal,' Rohan said. A

flickering panic passed over his brain.

'Who?' asked Mr. Patel perplexed by the unforeseen suggestion by his

secretary.

'Siddhartha Roy,' said the secretary keeping his head grounded.

'I can't put any political pressure or send any goons to Mr. Joshi's place. He

himself has very good contacts with the Ministers,' stated Mr. Patel entirely

ignoring his secretary.

'Sir, Siddhartha is neither a politician nor a goon, he is a lawyer,' said Rohan

picking up the most recent issue of "India Today" kept on the bookshelf

installed on the office wall.

"Siddhartha Roy. The Most Influential Indian of the year" read the cover

page of the magazine.

'He is just a lawyer how could he help us? Do you think we have legal rights

to acquire someone else's property?' Mr. Patel said and raised his eyebrows.

'Sir, he... he can do anything for money. Legal or illegal,' said Rohan

stammering a bit, not making an eye contact with his boss.

'Okay, call him to our office tomorrow,' said Mr. Patel thinking it does not

cost anything to give it a shot.

4

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Sorry, sir, he does not walk off to anybody's office. We have to go to his

office to meet him,' said Rohan.

Mr. Patel cocked an eyebrow.

'Sir, you don't worry, I will go and talk to him,' Rohan continued in order to

save his boss from the awkwardness of going to someone else's office.

'No. I will come along. I also want to meet this remarkable fellow,' said Mr.

Patel with a grin on his face.

####

Mr. Patel along with Rohan entered Siddhartha's office at the Nariman Point,

Mumbai.

The office was so well ornamented that the country's affluent one got

spellbound. An oil painting of seven white horses running with jam-packed

power was decorating the wall as they entered the office.

It was an exquisite museum-quality handmade painting, not just a print or

canvas transfer. Created by the most experienced artist M.F. Hussain, and

completed to perfection.

The artist had paid special attention to the detailing, which was evident by

every brush stroke of the painting. The horses symbolizing power, a power to

do anything.

Siddhartha was technically alone in his office, no security guards, no private

secretary to remind him of his meetings. He doesn't need anyone to tell him

what to do. He was accompanied by just an intern of his profession. It was

not that he couldn't afford to keep staff, but for the fact, he couldn't trust

people easily.

_Take my heart, forever..._

There was only one chair placed opposite to him for the visitors which is

pretty bizarre as compared to other offices, but Sid's intern told Rohan that

Sid talks to only one person at a time.

'So tell me, Mr. Patel. What can I do for you?' said Sid as Mr. Patel entered

his office.

'Ah, nothing much. There is just a small restaurant called "Hotel Aroma." I

want to procure it,' said Mr. Patel in his all-time arrogant voice. For him, Sid

was just a small lawyer who could convince people for money, but Sid was

clearly more than that.

'So go to any property dealer, what is my take on this?' asked Sid little

miffed by Mr. Patel's behavior.

'I can pay any amount for it but the owner of the eatery isn't ready to sell it.'

'So this is the problem' Sid's brain started working instantly.

'Don't worry, he will sell it to you and also say 'sorry' to you,' stated

Siddhartha in a confident tone as ever.

'How is it possible?' it really surprised Mr. Patel.

'This is what I do here, make things possible.'

'By the way, what is the approximate cost of the restaurant?' asked Sid.

'It is worth rupees ten crores. It is all right, money is not the matter.'

'My fees will be fifty percent of the deal,' Sid was frank in his terms.

Mr. Patel nodded, didn't say anything, mentally calculating how much the

fifty percent is.

'Let's go out and have lunch. Aren't you famished?' said Sid.

6

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_Arpit Agrawal_

####

Siddhartha and Mr. Patel got into the back seat of a top model BMW. It was

Mr. Patel's car. Rohan also tried to fit in, but Siddhartha stopped him saying,

'We two are fine.'

'Hotel Aroma,' Siddhartha told the driver as he enters the car.

The restaurant was jam-packed with customers as it was peak time. The duo

took a table at the center of poised and air-conditioned hall of the sprawling

10,000 sq. ft. restaurant.

The sophistication of decor set the tone for the food. The high-ceilinged

restaurant was done to international standards by a renowned Japanese

architect. A wood-fired oven took pride of place and classy piano tunes filled

the air. The place deserved to be liked by Mr. Patel in the first look.

They asked the waiter to bring the menu. It had choicest cuisines of almost all

the countries: French, Italian, Mediterranean, Tex-Mex and of course Indian.

They decided to go for Italian and ordered Charcoal grilled chicken

marinated with herbs and served with olive tapenade mash, caramelized

onion and Barolo Jus for the main course. Tiramisu - Traditional mascarpone

cream and coffee cake for dessert.

'Your order will be ready in twenty minutes, sir,' informed the waiter and

passed an extra-large smile. _They expect an extra tip with every extra smile._

'Anything else you want, sir,' asked the waiter before leaving.

'Yes, I also want this restaurant,' said Mr. Patel.

'Excuse me, sir,' the waiter just got nervous.

'Nothing, you may go now,' Sid completed.

_Take my heart, forever..._

After chatting for a while Mr. Patel went to the loo. The food he ordered had

arrived before he came back.

The waiter served the foodstuff on imported Italian crockery.

Sid and Mr. Patel started eating the food, conversing Business and Politics

matching the mood of the ambiance. All the other people dining there were

big corporate tycoons too. A few of them already knew Mr. Patel in person

who just exchanged formal pleasantries with him.

After a few bites, Mr. Patel hollered all of a sudden in agony. There was a bit

of blood oozing out of his mouth. All the hotel staff came out running there.

There were tiny pieces of glass in the food which came out of Mr. Patel's

mouth, which was the reason for the blood. Mr. Patel was shouting which

invited enough audiences and almost all the hotel staff there.

'I will sue this place. This restaurant has to shut down today. I will sue this

shit right now, how you guys can be so sloppy.

Mr. Patel is the top businessman in the country and you cut his mouth. I am

calling the police to seal this restaurant right now,' shouted Siddhartha.

Hotel owner, Mr. Joshi came out from his air-conditioned office to handle the

situation as the manager informed him about it.

Few media persons were already waiting for the signal of Siddhartha to storm

there and to intensify the situation.

Within fifteen minutes Siddhartha created enough mayhem as if it was a

murder scene.

'It is a clear case of negligence. You don't know how to run a restaurant,'

stated Siddhartha.

Mr. Joshi apologized to Mr. Patel for the gaffe with folded hands. Siddhartha

got up and whispered in his ears.

8

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'You remember the deal Mr. Patel offered you yesterday. The deal is open for

next 10 minutes. Either sell it or I will make sure that court will shut it down.

The choice is yours. You are going to lose it either way.'

Sweat appeared on Mr. Joshi's forehead was the evidence that he would settle

for the deal. He made a wise decision. After all, it is better to have money

than to have a hotel with no customers.

####

'What was the need to set me up for this?' Mr. Patel asked Siddhartha as they

came out from there.

'If it was your plan then, I could have asked any of my men to cut their

mouth for me?' he was still in a little agony.

'You are a celeb. The impact of blood oozing out of your mouth is very much

higher than any other men of yours. And it was obligatory to put him down.

The wound will heal in less than a week. And you only said that you were

ready to pay any amount for the hotel. See this is what it takes when you

really want something.'

Mr. Patel sat in the back seat of the car and closed the window. He was really

upset with Sid.

_Sid was relishing his distress._

'Would you mind giving me a ride back to my office Mr. Patel?' Sid knocked

on the window and said with a grin on his face.

'Please don't forget to send my payment. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr.

Patel,' Sid said smiling condescendingly, before stepping out of the car as

they reached Sid's office.

_Take my heart, forever..._

Mr. Patel avoided replying, partly because of his fury and partly because of

the cut in his mouth.

'Sir, you are a genius. You closed the deal and also cut the mouth of Mr.

Patel only because he was rude to you. You killed Two Birds with One

Stone,' said Sid's intern cum secretary, Akash.

10

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**2**

_'This is the last and final boarding call for passenger 'Rahul Patel' booked_

_on flight US-5446 to India. Please proceed to gate no. 3 immediately. The_

_final checks are being completed and the captain will order for the doors of_

_the aircraft to close in approximately five minutes time. I repeat, this is the_

_last and final boarding call for...'_ announcement at "John F. Kennedy

International Airport, New York" was on in repeat mode.

I got delayed even on my last day in New-York, was running on the edge to

board the flight. Wearing a vintage style high-neck Epaulette-Shoulder Cape

leather jacket and an iconic Burberry check scarf of matching color around

my neck, which was floating in coordination with my black and shiny hair, I

was running restlessly.

A leather cuff in slightly desaturated brown color was peeping out through

the slightly folded sleeves of the right hand. Sennheiser HD800 was in my

ears connected to my Apple iPod playing Eminem.

I swiftly put two full-sized airbags filled with all kinds of pricey clothes in

the roller belt and kept one undersized and almost empty backpack with me. I

collected the boarding pass and went for the security check.

Airports are very picky about security. _They hire men who look like he-might-_

_punch-you-anytime for security checks at the airports._

He checked my handbag, my luggage and even my pockets for a weapon. If I

actually have a weapon and I am taking it out of the country, isn't it good for

America?

I boarded the 24 hours extended flight to India leaving a lot of striking

memories behind of my Bachelor's Degree with 'Rochester School of

Medical Technology - New York.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

I was the last one to board the flight. Had I got delayed by a few more

minutes I would have missed it.

There is a strange pleasure in entering a flight at the last moment. When

everybody else is seated and staring at you as if you are going to fly the

plane.

Gorgeous air-hostesses were standing at the door to welcome me.

'Am I boarding the flight to heaven?' I asked as soon as I saw the first lady

standing there to welcome me. Flirting is like oxygen to me.

'Why so, sir?' she giggled.

'Because all of you have the face of an angel.' The girls giggled even more.

'This way, sir,' one of the angels looked into my ticket and directed me

towards my seat. Yes, take me to the clouds.

She assisted me to the only vacant seat in the business-class compartment.

The flier next to me was resting on her hands, keeping her head down.

Only her hair was visible to me. It was long, black and silky.

'Oh God, she should be a pretty girl' I started praying mentally. This is what

I do whenever I spot any girl from behind. _This is what every guy does._

I was getting restless to see her face. I was waiting for her to wake up and to

lift her face so that I could see her.

The plane started to run on the runway and the pilot announced to fasten our

seat belt.

'Ma'am, you forgot to fasten your seatbelt. We are about to take off,' I said,

tapping her shoulder, finally got an excuse to talk to her.

'She woke up, looked at me and said, 'Thanks,' in a masculine voice.

12

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_Arpit Agrawal_

I was shocked to notice a beard and moustache on her face. After a few

hundred seconds I realized, he was not a girl. He was actually a guy with

extra-long hair. _And extra silky too._ He was just a victim of western fashion.

'You have got amazing hair dude,' I said with a sigh of disgust.

'Thanks,' he replied and slept again. _Maybe he didn't get the satire._

The flight attendants explained to us how to use the parachute and what it

needs to be done in case of emergency in the scariest possible way.

_Instead of preparing the passengers for the emergency why don't they hire_

_superior pilots?_

The plane took off and the team of gorgeous air hostesses came to serve the

passengers with refreshments. It was like Fashion-TV playing live in front of

me. All of them were tall, charming and beautiful.

_How come air hostess is always pretty, is it just a coincidence?_

_I wonder how they might hire them, Congratulation. You are pretty, you got_

_the job.'_

_Their smiling faces are like they are actually in love with each of the_

_passengers._

_Flight attendants and receptionists are in fact the only species of beautiful_

_girls on our planet, who respond well when you pass a smile at them._

'Sir, would you like to have something?' asked the air hostess trying to

awake the sleeping-long-hair guy next to me.

'Maybe he needs a haircut,' I thought. The guy didn't wake up.

She gave up on him and asked me displaying a tray full of all types of soft

drinks and hard drinks.

I couldn't respond to her. I was just feeling lost in her eyes.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'What do you want, sir?' the air-hostess repeated herself.

'Tanya, I want you...'I read her name from the badge she was wearing on the

top left side of her uniform.

'Excuse me, sir,' she got puzzled.

'Tanya, I want you to pour me some red wine please,' I completed myself in

a mischievous accent and passed an impish smile.

'Sure, sir,' she reacted as if nothing happened.

Had there not been a magic present in my eyes, the air-hostess would have

been offended, but she just passed a smile in return.

_It is like Cupid's first law of love, 'if a non-hot guy stares at a hot girl, it is a_

_gauche or a form of assault. But it's an exception for guys with blue eyes._

'You know what, this is unfair,' I continued.

'What is it, sir?' she got surprised. She offered a glass of wine.

I took a sip of it and said, 'You should not tie your hair like this; it is like a

violation of human rights.'

'And how is it a violation?' she asked with a smile. _She was enjoying it too_.

'Your hair has a fundamental right to be free, to live its own life and I have a

right to see you look more gorgeous with untied hair.'

She blushed, didn't say anything. Meanwhile, the plane hit a bad weather and

experienced a few jerks.

'Oh man! You are creating turbulence to this flight,' she said, winked at me

and left to attend other fliers.

I was carrying a small handbag which was kept in the luggage compartment

above the seat. At night when everybody else in the plane was asleep, not the

14

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_Arpit Agrawal_

pilot and the crew members, of course, I turned on the reading light installed

above my head and reached for my bag to take out a beautiful but old diary

from my bag.

It was not an ordinary diary. It was an antique looking exquisite diary made

with cruelty-free leather and unlined hand-made paper with amazing shine. A

string was there to wrap around to lock the journal.

I opened it and began to write in it.

_"Mom,_

_One good news, aapka beta Doctor ban gaya finally. (Your son has become a_

_doctor.)_

_Yesterday only I collected my medical degree and today I am flying back to_

_India after a long time._

_This is what you wanted right? Now I will live with dad there. I never wanted_

_to live in India because waha aapki aur bhi jada yaad aati hai (there I miss_

_you even more), but I have completed my studies now and I have no excuse_

_left for not living in India._

_I also have to support Dad there. Doing a medical degree from New York_

_was awesome, the study was so tough, but you know me, I always do it when I_

_want to do it._

__

_Okay mom, good night._

_I miss you always._

_Goodbye."_

####

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Ask the driver to take out the car, we are going to the airport,' said Mr. Patel

to Rohan with great difficulty. The slash in his mouth was not yet healed. He

wasn't talking unless necessary.

Mr. Patel was standing in the lounge of Chatrapati Shivaji International

Airport –Terminal 2, when the flight no: US-5446 from The US Airways

landed.

Bidding adieu to all the pretty angels in the flight I stepped out of the

airplane. I came out of the airport and hugged my dad.

'Hey Dad, how are you?' I exclaimed on seeing him after quite a long time.

'Fine,' Mr. Patel just smiled and said.

I was coming to him after five long years; I was expecting a lot more than

just "Fine".

'Mr. Patel had a small cut in his mouth. It was an accident,' Rohan explained

as I looked at him.

He held my luggage and asked the driver to keep in the car.

'Let's go home, sir,' said Rohan.

16

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**3**

Chess is perhaps the only game which doesn't involve much of a fortune.

What's vital is just an open mind, that's why it's Sid's favorite pass-time

activity.

Sid was playing chess with Akash, his associate cum secretary and his only

friend figure in life.

A few years back when Akash passed out of a law firm, he persuaded Sid to

take him as his associate.

'I don't take associates. But I need someone to lift my files when I strode into

the court if you want to join,' said Sid making a mockery.

The wonder is Akash said, 'Yes.'

Akash just wanted to be around Siddhartha, at any cost despite his dismissive

attitude. He knew he could learn oceans from Sid. Working with Sid was one

of the hallowed honours that only bestowed on the most worthy.

After moving the 'Queen' three steps diagonally towards Sid's King, Akash

became optimistic about his triumph over Siddhartha. With a sense of delight

mixed with fright, he said, 'Check.'

Siddhartha already judged Akash's move even before it came into the mind

of Akash. That's the beauty of the game.

Sid lifted his Rook in hand, passed a cunning beam of smile and said, 'You

know Akash why I have left my 'King' open for you to target it?'

Akash opted to keep calm and listen to his boss vigilantly. Every word that

comes out of Sid's mouth has something deeply buried in it.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Because when people get a chance to smack somebody they hardly care for

their own defense. This is where they go wrong. I let people feel that they are

winning it all through the game. It makes them weak.'

Akash found out his mistake by then. His Queen was covering his King from

Sid's Rook, but in order to target the opponent's King, he forgets to shield his

own.

'Check and Mate,' said Sid and finished the game after he tickles the 'King'

of Akash.

####

Sid reached the court to meet his new client. Sid asked his driver to park his

car at the roadside near to the courtroom and to go out of the car.

It is the case of another business tycoon and a very influential MLA Animesh

Mehta.

Mr. Mehta was already waiting there for Sid. He spotted Sid's car and opened

the left door of the car and entered inside.

He was wearing a white Kurta pajama with cream-colored Nehru-jacket. He

always applies a red tilak on his forehead to augment his personality and to

maintain the image of a leader.

'What exactly did your son do, Mr. Mehta? Tell me the truth,' asked Sid

candidly. Sid didn't believe in wasting time.

'My son is blameless. It must be the opposition's ploy to trap him to wreck

my image. Please rescue him Siddhartha, I can't see him going behind the

bars,' said a vexed father.

'Mr. Mehta, I am not a judge or the media. I am your lawyer. I am here to

help you, don't lie to me. Utter the truth. Tell me what your son did,' Sid was

fuming on the behavior of Mr. Mehta.

18

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_Arpit Agrawal_

The MLA kept repeating himself that his son was innocent as if he was

speaking in the debate of any news channel.

'Get out of my car,' Sid yelled out of annoyance.

'What!' color drained from the visage of the MLA.

'If your son is so innocent, why do you need me? I don't fight for innocent

people. I fight to prevail, not for the truth.'

'I don't like to establish something in court which is already proven. Go and

hire any regular lawyer for that purpose.'

MLA kept quiet for a minute and then said, 'Sorry Siddhartha, let me

enlighten you with what happened that day.' The MLA folded his hands. He

realized his gaffe and was sharp enough to quickly cover it up.

Before the MLA could have uttered a single word Sid said, 'It was Karan's

birthday. He went to the pub to celebrate with his friends. He was totally

sloshed, ordered more drinks late at night, but the bartender denied saying

that the time was to shut the counter and they can't take any more orders.'

Mr. Mehta was nodding as if listening to a tale.

'And then your beloved, irate son Karan burst the bartender's head with his

empty beer bottle. Am I right?'

Mr. Mehta's silence was an attestation of Siddhartha's information.

'You already knew all this?' asked flabbergasted MLA. He slapped the heel

of his hand to his forehead in disbelief. He was being deliberately obtuse.

'You think I will meet you without a background check!'

_This is what it takes to become the greatest lawyer in the country. You have_

_to be acquainted with everything that happens around you, and so often you_

_should know even before it happens._

Sid knew the whole thing with tiny details still he wanted to hear it from the

father of the offender. Maybe this is entertaining for him to break people at

whatever time he gets a chance to do so.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'The bartender is admitted in the hospital, and in a critical state. My son is in

a severe mess. Please help him!' pleaded the MLA.

'You go and wait for me in the courtroom. I will join you in a few minutes

for the trial,' Siddhartha made a few phone calls and geared up for the case.

At 28, he is having a superstar career, which was not only talked about in

legal circles but made headlines around the country. A bear of a man who

stood 6 feet 4 inches, Siddhartha was one of those larger-than-life trial

lawyers and the man of the kind they don't make anymore. He filled the room

wherever he went. He spoke his mind. And very often, he would guess what's

on yours. You either loved him or hated him - instantly. But there's no

ignoring him.

'Turn off your mobile,' was written on a piece of paper stuck at the entrance

of the courtroom. Unlike Parliament, they expect silence in the court.

Everybody present there were dressed neat and clean.

Justice Jaishankar Menon entered the court and the bailiff shouted at the top

of his lungs, 'All rise. Superior Court of the State of Maharashtra, Country of

India, the Honorable Justice Menon's proceeding is now in session.'

There was a radiant glow in the face of Mr. Menon. He looked so calm and

sober in his speech that people talked about.

People sitting in the audience stood up in his honor and sat again. The court's

proceeding started.

'My lord, this guy Karan is a threat to the society. He has no fear of law and

justice. In front of all the people, he hit a bottle on the head of the poor

bartender.

And what was the fault of the poor guy? He just followed the system of the

bar and said 'No' to dish up more beer to Karan and his friends. Is it a motive

big enough to almost murder a poor guy?' The prosecution lawyer said to

introduce the case and to start the trial. He filled the room with a restless,

bristling energy.

'What is happening to people nowadays? Don't they have any fright of the

police and the law? My lord, I appeal a very hard reprimand for the guilty, so

20

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_Arpit Agrawal_

that your decision can be a role model for the society and people will learn

that they can't be saved if they conduct such serious crime.'

The prosecution lawyer looked at Sid before taking his seat.

His foreword of the case was followed by the claps of the listeners present in

the courtroom, which consisted majorly of the press and a few outsiders.

'Wow, my friend! What a great speech you have delivered today,' Siddhartha

stood up and started clapping and laughing.

'But how can you say that Karan hit the bartender with the bottle? Do you

have any evidence or an eyewitness to attest the bogus story which you just

made up?'

Before the prosecution lawyer could say anything, Siddhartha said, 'My lord,

Mr. Mehta is an able and esteemed politician. He is contesting the upcoming

election and to defame him, his opponents have knotted this rubbish story.

Karan is innocent. I agree that he was present there in the bar that night, but

he was not the one who hit the bartender. And if I am wrong, why doesn't the

prosecution lawyer present any eyewitnesses?'

There was utter silence filled in the courtroom.

Everyone's eyes were at the prosecution lawyer that whether he will be able

to present an eyewitness or not.

'Give me an hour to call an eyewitness to this case,' Prosecution seemed

confident about it.

Justice Menon seemed to get convinced by him and ordered the prosecution

lawyer to present the eyewitness after the lunch break.

'The court is adjourned for an hour,' announced the judge and left the court.

'What will happen if he presents an eyewitness?' said the MLA.

It was natural for him to be worried. So what if his son has committed a stern

felony, he is still his father after all.

'Don't worry, nothing bad will happen,' said Sid. 'At least not today.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

Sid was certain that he can deal with it. After all, it was not the first lunch

break in his career.

It was impossible for the MLA to take the lunch during the lunch break. You

can't eat when your son is about to get arrested for murder.

'I will go and buy the judge. I just can't handle the pressure' said the MLA

with trepidation in his eyes.

_When money and power talks, the mind goes on vacation._

'What? No. There is no need. It could be too risky. What if he refuses the

money?'

'Then I will offer him even more money,' he was desperate. 'Everybody has

a price.'

'That way we could never win the case,' Sid pleaded.

The MLA got silent for a moment, but within seconds he shamelessly said,

'If anything went wrong, I will make sure that the judge gets a transfer from

this court before our next hearing and a new judge will take the charge of our

case.'

'Okay, if you so frantically want to buy him, I will go and talk. Not you,' Sid

was sure that the MLA would worsen the situation.

'I have to buy it,' said the MLA and left from there without uttering a single

word.

Sid was forced to talk to the judge off the line. He was a new judge posted in

that courtroom and Sid was fighting the first case in front of him. Had it been

any other judge, Sid would not have given it a second thought before offering

him money.

Justice Menon was taking the lunch prepared by his wife when Sid knocked

on the door to his cabin. He was eating it with bare hands and not using a

spoon. That's how he is, polite and modest, yet so influential.

Menon instructed Sid to sit on the chair placed in front of him and offered

him the food, 'Taste it, made by my wife.'

22

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'It's okay, sir, I have had my lunch,' said Sid.

'So tell me, what I can do for you, Mr. Siddhartha? I have heard a lot about

you,' asked Menon still taking his lunch.

'You can do a lot, but only if you want to.

Do you like eating this plain chapatti with a single vegetable daily? I think

you should be eating tandoori chicken or so...' Sid said in disguise hinting

what he actually wanted to say.

'I don't eat non-vegetarian on Tuesdays',' justice Menon, of course, got the

hint still he acted otherwise.

'I am talking about all the other days too. You know it is a high profile case

and if the case will go longer it will ruin the image of my client. Why don't

we settle this case in this lunch break itself?' Sid grunted at him.

'Okay, I don't want to stretch it either,' said the Judge continued to take his

meal without giving much importance to Sid.

'The case is set now,' Sid thought and asked, 'it is easier than I thought it

would be. So what's the deal?'

'The deal is, ask your client to admit the charges and bear the chastisement of

his sin. The case will be over in two minutes that way,' Justice Menon replied

with a smirk on his face.

'Even if my client accepts his charges, what good you will get out of it? You

will be eating the plain chapatti for the rest of your existence. But if you

agree to bear a little, you could be eating biryani for lunch. Give it a thought.'

'You know Mr. Siddhartha, over spicy and overpriced victuals are not good

for my digestion. See you in the courtroom,' Justice Menon's voice was

higher than the usual.

_If you are so honest, an inducement offer is like an abuse to the honesty._

Sid came out of the judge's room barehanded. MLA was waiting for him at

the door.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'How much money he is asking for?' MLA asked as soon as he saw Sid, he

was certain that the judge will accept the offer. Everybody seems corrupt to a

corrupt man.

Sid was too furious to talk to him or to talk to anybody else. He didn't stop to

respond, just nodded in denial and went away.

Court proceedings resumed after lunch, Justice Menon took his chair and so

did the typewriter, audiences, lawyers and other people in the court.

The prosecution lawyer invited a juvenile Software Engineer to come to the

fore and stand in the witness box.

'So young man, tell the court what you saw there that night,' he started to ask

him questions.

'Sir, I saw him taking one bottle of beer in his hand and smashing it on the

head of the bartender,' the guy said pointing his finger towards Karan

standing in the witness box opposite him.

'It's all, my lord?' said the prosecution lawyer to rest his case.

The MLA's face faded. He nearly believed that he lost it.

'I object my lord,' said Sid. He still had to say something, had to win it

anyway.

'Objection sustained,' said the justice and allowed Sid to cross-examine the

witness.

'So what were you doing at the bar when you saw that man hitting the

bartender?' Sid went by the witness to ask him.

'Sir, I got a promotion at work, so I was there with my colleagues to celebrate

it.'

'That's good, best wishes for the same. How did you celebrate in a bar?'

'By drinking, sir, of course,' he passed a smile recollecting the night of

celebration.

24

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Was the light dim there in the bar when you were there?'

'Yes, sir, the light is usually dim in the bar.'

'My lord, what happened to the decorum of the court? Now we will mull over

the witness of a guy who was intoxicated in a bar and also saw the convict in

a very dim light. He also wears power glasses.'

According to law, we can't consider the witness of a drunken man. May I

request a bail for my client till the time the bartender wakes up in the hospital

and explains the whole scenario himself,' Sid yelled with jam-packed vigor

staring at the judge.

Justice Menon knew the truth, Sid's encounter with him in the lunch break

cleared all his doubt, but because of lack of evidence, he permitted bail to

Karan legitimately.

As soon as Justice Menon announced bail, the public prosecution stood up to

object the verdict.

The judge was trying to listen to him when Sid felt a very piercing headache.

He felt like the room is spinning, a spasm of vertigo and he collapsed there.

Sid's unconsciousness created havoc in the courtroom. Media personnel took

his pictures for the front-page of their publications and the MLA started

biting his nails, literally.

The judge ordered to hospitalize Sid and adjourned the court proceedings for

next month.

Mr. Joshi called the ambulance himself, as Sid was the only one who could

save his son that time, and he could not take a risk on his son's life.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**4**

Most people hate hospitals, but not the doctors. For them, a hospital is a

delightful place.

It's a place where doctors are treated next to God, where the miracle happens.

It's a place full of promises, excitement, and surprises. It's a place where

dreams can come true.

Founded in the year 1950, with 60 years of development, Christ Care

Hospital, Mumbai, has grown into a modern hospital in India, integrating

medical care, teaching, and research. The hospital covers an area of 120,000

square meters and is equipped with 1774 beds.

It boasts a number of world-recognized medical experts who enjoy a

relatively high celebrity status both at home and abroad. It comprises 24

clinical and paramedical departments, among which eight focus on national

key disciplines. It has 15 other departments, which were awarded by the

Ministry of Health.

I came all the way from the US to join this hospital. I reached the hospital

and met the Chief of the Department of General Surgery, Dr. Suresh Awasthi.

'How was your flight, Dr. Rahul?' Dr. Awasthi greeted as he shook hands

with me.

'My flight was pretty.' I thought of all the air-hostesses on the flight and

passed a smile. 'After completing my degree from the foreign land, I am

eager to bond with this hospital.'

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'I heartily welcome you. Hope you will like our hospital. Come, I will

introduce you to your fellow doctors. I will let you know when your cabin

will be ready.'

We were walking across the common area.

'You can go and meet doctor Shuchi. She is a gifted surgeon,' the chief said

as we reached near the cabin of Dr. Shuchi.

'If you have to put so much effort to do a surgery that is no wonder, but she

can do it as simply as you can walk,' said the Chief. I got quite intimidated

hearing about her.

'Please stay here, she would be here anytime,' the chief left me near her

cabin and excused himself.

'God! She shouldn't be chubby and hideous.' My over imaginative brain

started picturing the girl. I patted my hair and started waiting for her.

'I can't spend the rest of my medical career with an unattractive girl.' I was

mentally praying when I noticed a really obese girl like in my worst

imagination coming towards me.

She was walking like a rolling drum and could hit me anytime. I got utterly

frightened that if that girl would be Shuchi then my medical career could

terminate even before it starts.

I just closed my eyes. It was tough for me to face the reality. She reached out

to me and asked, 'Is this Dr. Shuchi's cabin?'

'You mean you are not Dr. Shuchi?' I slowly opened my eyes and asked with

uncontrollable contentment.

'What!' exclaimed the fat girl who was certainly not Shuchi.

'Nothing nothing, yes this is Dr. Shuchi's cabin. Please take a seat.' _I_

_mentally presented ten coconuts to Lord Shiva for his kindness._

_Take my heart, forever..._

My mental chatter started again. Within a few minutes, I noticed another girl

coming towards me wearing a floral white suit. The pupils of my eyes

popped out, took three rounds around the girl and came back. I got astounded

to see the girl. I could not believe what I saw. I rubbed my eyes and looked at

her again.

'She must be another patient I thought because she was too lovely to be a

doctor. Shuchi, could not be this gorgeous.' I thought. _Doctors are the geek,_

_and geek doesn't look beautiful._

Her long black hair was tied behind making a butterfly-like knot. Golden

round earrings pierced in her evenly shaped ears were dancing when she

walked.

'Yes, this is Dr. Shuchi's cabin, sit here she will come in a while...' I said as

she came near to me.

'I am Dr. Shuchi,' the pretty-girl replied in her celestial voice. I almost

fainted listening to her.

She went inside her cabin, kept her handbag on her desk and sat in her chair.

I walked inside following her. A sort of somnambulism with least senses. I

parked my smart ass in the chair placed diagonally opposite to her.

'Sit here. This is for the patients,' she said.

She asked me to take the chair placed next to her. She thought I was just a

patient went to take her consultation.

'It's time for some fun' I thought and perched on the seat as directed by her.

She plugged in her stethoscope and kept on my chest, trying to examine my

heart beat.

'Tell me, what happened to you?' she asked.

28

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Love.' I thought.

She was too close to me that I could feel her breathe. I could smell her

fragrance. My heart was beating so fast, that it may sound to her like the thud

of a superfast train running over a bridge.

'What to tell you, ma'am, I am suffering from a severe problem...' I started

to rag Shuchi even on my first day at work.

'It's okay. Tell me, what is it?'

'I am not good at all, this is a big problem. I don't know how to tell you,' I

said, turning my head down.

'Don't worry, you will be okay, just tell me what is troubling you?' Shuchi

asked, getting a little irritated but keeping her calm.

'Actually, it's a long story' I said evading the question.

'The dump yard of the municipality is beside our society. Because of the

garbage, there are lots of mosquitoes in my society. We have also filed

written complaints many a time regarding the dump yard to Shukla Ji in the

municipality, but he is not taking any action. Shukla Ji is very lazy you know

he tries to postpone all his work until it is very significant to do it.'

'So you are bitten by mosquitoes? Are you suffering from fever? Malaria?

Dengue?' she said, touching my forehead to check my body temperature.

'No ma'am, that is not the case.' I was enjoying her touch.

'To get rid of those mosquitoes our society manager arranged the spray of

insect repellents of poor quality which harms humans more than it does to the

mosquitoes.'

Saying this I started laughing at my own humor.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Did this insecticide contaminate your food? Are you suffering from food

poisoning?' she got really irritated this time.

'No madam, how is it possible? I left my society as soon as I heard of such

pest- control measures. I take good care of my health you know.'

It was hard to control a smile peering at her face. She totally freaked out and

about to yell at me at the uppermost pitch of her voice when Dr. Awasthi

came to introduce me, 'So Dr. Rahul, you already met Dr. Shuchi?'

'What! You are a doctor here?' said Shuchi and started laughing at her

foolishness. _Pretty girls can camouflage the anger in seconds._

'Hi, I am doctor Rahul,' I said making a puppy face and extended my hand

towards her.

After what I did, I was scared that she will never talk to me again. But she

just smiled and shook my hand. Dr. Awasthi left the room as his phone rang

again.

'Sorry, I couldn't recognize you before,' she said.

'Neither did I. I mean you are too pretty to be a doctor' I said. _Flirting mode_

_activated._

'Excuse me!' she exclaimed.

'Sorry for my little prank, I am sure now you will never forget me after this.

Let me introduce myself, I graduated from The US and reached India

yesterday only to join this hospital.' I was still holding her hand. It was soft

and cozy.

'Nice to meet you Rahul,' she withdrew her hand from my clutch with a jerk.

'Won't you help me in visiting this hospital? It's my first day here?' I

requested.

30

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Yeah, sure, I will show you every nook and cranny of the hospital and

introduce you to everyone here.'

We went for a hospital visit after she saw her patients. There was a fresh

energy in her eyes, emitting positive vibes around her.

She walked me through the hospital building. Every nurse to every doctor,

the receptionist, the liftman, patients, and everybody who came across us on

the premises seems to adore her a lot. All of them passed a genuine smile as

they saw her. She talked to everyone, asking for their well-being. The

hospital was like a family to her.

'Now let me introduce you to the most important member of this hospital.

Join your hands here, he is my friend Ganeshu.' We reached the temple in the

hospital.

'He takes care of our patients. I always take his blessings before doing any

surgery.'

I just ignored it with a smile and didn't fold my hands. _God gave me enough_

_already._

'What you doing later tonight?' I said to make a conversation.

'Nothing much. Why?'

'Can we go out for dinner then?'

'Why? What is the occasion?' replied Shuchi. _Because you are doing_

_"Nothing much". Huh._

'It's my birthday today,' I made up.

'But your I-card shows that your birthday is in April.' She is not just

beautiful but a good observer too.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'But we can still celebrate it. It must be someone's birthday today. Okay,

when is your b'day?'

'It is next month.'

'Oh, it is coming closer. What gift do you want from me?' _An engagement_

_ring?_

'I don't take gifts.'

'Miracle. Girls and gifts are like a synonym, aren't they?'

'Haha. Materialistic world is fake.'

'So ask me for some emotional gift.'

'Are you sure you will gift me whatever I want?'

'Unless you wish for the Stars or the Moon.'

'I am the only child of my parents. I don't have a brother. Right from my

childhood I always wished to have a brother.'

'I can see where it's going. Okay, let me go and visit other places in this

hospital by myself. See you.' I ran from there as if a thief is running from the

cops.

####

I was trying to sleep at night, but she was all over my mind. I was visualizing

her with my eyes open or close.

32

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_Arpit Agrawal_

I opened the hospital manual I received at the induction program. It

introduced all the doctors associated with the hospital with their picture and

contact information.

I flipped through the pages to look for Shuchi. Even in the passport size

picture, she looked the cutest. It described all the degrees she was holding,

her work experience so far and her medical trials.

Her complete address along with her mobile number was also mentioned

there. _Like a cherry on the cake._

I thought of all the possible excuses to call her, but nothing came to my mind.

'She is a doctor' I thought. I could say that somebody is serious in my home

and ask for medicines, but sadly I am a doctor too. _Education has its own_

_demerits._

I couldn't resist it anymore and called her without any reason. Even though it

was late at night, she picked it without even one complete ring. As if she was

waiting for my call.

'Hello,' she said. Her voice is melodious; it is like ten Lata Mangeshkar

singing together.

I was chocked at that very moment, didn't say anything.

'Hello, who is it?' she said again.

'Hi, this is Rahul.'

'Yes,' she said. She was expecting me to explain the reason why I called her.

'I saw your number in the manual, just wanted to check if it rings.' Can there

be any worse reason than this? I mentally slapped myself for saying it.

She giggled. I could not see her face on the phone, but I could imagine how

she looks smiling.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Yes, it rings,' she said.

'May I wave you a Hi?'

'Sure..! Waved back... Hi...'

'You are very popular at the hospital. I saw today. You have got so many

followers like a big celebrity?' I said teasing her.

'They are not followers. We share a bond,' replied Shuchi.

'You answered my call, I didn't expect'

'Neither did I think that you would call. Are you stalking me... Ehh....'?

'No just trying to share a bond too.'

'Seems too soon for that...'

'Oh, come on! I don't believe in wasting time. So what were you doing

now?' I asked.

'Thinking of you, of course, what else is left in my life?' she said teasing me

back.

'I thought the bond is yet to share.'

'Go ahead. Do the needful.'

'You must be missing me a lot, isn't it?'

'Did I say it? Presumptions are fatal.'

'No, I am just praying for it to be the truth.'

'Chance of getting in vain Mr. Whatever in your head,' she said in a firm

voice.

34

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Trust me, there is nothing. Just not able to sleep, don't know why, so

thought of calling you.'

'Be up with better reasons next time.'

'Do I need to?'

'Do you want to?'

Shuchi was giving a tough competition to me in flirting. Why should boys

have all the fun! I was awestruck by her presence of mind and witty humor.

'Will you let me do whatever I want, what are the odds?' I asked.

'Nothing!'

'I hate you...'

'You hate me already; I'm still to give you reasons...!'

_But you gave me enough reasons to love you dear._ She went silent for a

while.

'Please don't be offended. I am kidding,' I said.

'No offence was taken.'

'You are so pretty. You could be an actress or a model. Still, you chose to be

a doctor. Why?'

'That's a poor analogy. Point is pathetically forwarded. Never judge a book

by its cover.'

'But the odds are quite high then.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'How does it matter? My aim was to become a doctor which I succeed in.'

'Do you always spend so much of time in justifying yourself?'

'And you invest so much time in being a dickhead critic.'

I kept silence for a while listening to that.

'Sorry. Mean no offence' she apologized for getting callous.

'That's okay. No offence was taken.'

'Yet again, sorry. Only if you took offence.'

'When I called you, I never expected you to pick up and talk to me in the first

place.'

'See good things happen in life.'

'It's good talking to a very nice person.'

'Thanks for being such a super dickhead.'

'Am I? Really?' I went gloomy about that.

'Well, asking makes you one.'

'Is dickhead your favorite word? You could have used better synonyms.'

'Synonyms,' she laughed out loud. 'I don't want to affront you all over

again... Hope you got it.'

'Oh, thanks honey. You are really taking good care.'

'Rahul, you are fun, man!'

She got impressed talking to me. Why wouldn't she be? I have got blue eyes

after all.

36

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Oh no! Not again, every girl says the same. I thought you were different,' I

said teasing her again.

'So you are a dickhead. Deal? It's different now...'

'No, it's okay to be called "fun"... I can live with it.'

'Not every girl says so? Oho, make one choice... Dickhead or fun? Your

call!'

'Is there any third option?'

'Will you stop it?'

'But it is getting interesting now.'

'Keep calm and go to sleep. Else Dr. Awasthi will make you repay all this in

an 'interesting' way if you look sleepy at the hospital tomorrow.'

'You are fun too, nailed it. Now I can die in peace.'

'May I ask you why?'

'I finally found a girl who is witty and gorgeous both . . . otherwise, girls are

one of it.'

'You must be gender-blind then.'

'Pretty girls make me blind.'

'Now disconnect the call, else if your girlfriend will call and gets the phone

busy she will go "ek thi daayan" at me.'

'Don't worry... I am still single and "Available."'

'I never asked whether you were available or not. You just personified all

men are dogs.'

'If men are dogs, women are bitches too,' I bit my tongue after saying it.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Real Bitches don't frown at that statement. They take it with pride.'

'You have to marry one of the dogs. Someday.'

'Just a matter of time.'

'Trust me; I am not hitting on you deliberately. It is a reflex action.'

'I trust you.'

'So maybe we can take lunch together at the hospital cafeteria. Say, 1:00

PM?'

'Okay, will try.'

'It's really nice talking to you.'

'Same here. Good night,' she said, trying to hang up.

'Ya, it is really a good good night... goodbye,' I said, hugging the pillow

kept in the bed.

I hung up the call and was thinking of her even more. I have flirted with

thousands of girls before, from different countries, different types, in

different languages, but she is really different. She is unique.

As if she took total control over my wits. My hand just picked up the phone

and dialed her number again.

_I know this is insane. Weird. But if you are sane and sophisticated all the_

_time, you miss all the fun._

'Just wanted to say, I choose fun over dickhead,' I said.

'You called me for the first time in life, at this hour at night and we talked for

more than an hour. And now you called me again just to say that you choose

fun over dickhead.'

38

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Yes, and also to ask do you really mean it?'

'Mean what?'

'That I am a dickhead?'

'Come on! Be a sport. Why would I mean it?'

'Don't know, I called you late at night, and I think I am talking a lot the first

time.'

'Second time to be precise, and of course not yaar. You are just fun.'

_I mentally decided the menu for our wedding reception, and she thinks I am_

_'just fun'._

'That's so nice of you...' I said.

'By what time do you sleep... by the way?' she asked.

'It depends!'

'Depends upon?'

'When girls stop picking my calls, I have nothing else to do but sleep. And

when do you sleep?'

'When guys I rarely know stop calling me.'

'What is your hobby by the way? I mean what do you do in your leisure time

apart from taking the breath away from guys around you?'

'I don't know, maybe to talk to random guys on phone call.'

Both of us laughed, a loud heart freshening laugh.

'It is magical with you, like in a fairy tale' I thought.

'Bye, I really have to catch up some sleep,' she said.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Okay, go catch. And thanks for the great names you gave me today. I am

honored.'

'Rahul listen, I never thought we would talk for almost an hour. On a serious

note, I was just being a sport.'

'I know.'

'I was stressed. Thanks that you called and made the last one hour amazing.'

After a pause, she said, 'And I'm not a bitch,' _Girls never forget anything._

'You are a lovely girl,' I blushed saying it.

'Yes, I know, now stop smiling,' she said.

'How do you know that I am smiling? Are you stalking me?'

'Maybe I'm. God knows.' 'Bye,' she said and disconnected the call finally.

_I wish if I could call her thrice. I wish if I can talk to her forever and ever._

I was blissful after the talk. She charged me. I wanted to share it with

someone that I, at last, found the girl of my dreams. I found it better to share

with mom.

I opened my golden diary and started writing in it.

_"Mom,_

_The hospital where I will be working is better than I anticipated. People here_

_are good. And you know mom, I have to work with a lady doctor, Shuchi is_

_her name. She is pleasant and endearing. Whenever I see her I miss you even_

_more. I don't know why, but she reminds me of you._

_I always wanted to be with a girl who could remind me of you._

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_Today I tricked her by saying I am just a patient, you should have looked at_

_her face. She was gnashing her teeth first, but then she smiled. She looked_

_even more gorgeous when she was annoyed._

_I love teasing her the way dad used to tease you._

_Okay mom, now you sleep... good night, we will talk later."_

****

_Take my heart, forever..._

**5**

An ambulance entering a hospital in a rush is neither new to the hospital nor

for the ambulance, but it was for Siddhartha. It entered the hospital making

the screeching sound of its siren.

The MLA Mehta who is also the trustee of the hospital had already informed

Dr. Awasthi about Sid. Everybody was prepared at the hospital. Nurses and

other hospital staff were standing there in the lobby, ready to handle any

disaster, if occurs.

Siddhartha was unswervingly wheeled to the special care unit devoid of

filling the form asking his fundamental particulars or without the payment of

primary hospital fees.

For the first time, the hospital staff witnessed Dr. Awasthi bypassing hospital

rules for anyone.

'Don't worry, sir, he is in good hands. My best people are taking care of

him,' Chief said as his phone rang again.

'Yes Awasthi, you have to take special care of that guy. You must know how

important he is to me. He is the one fighting the case for my son in court. He

is the best trial lawyer in the country. If he is not safe, my son is not safe.

And if my son is not safe, I won't let anybody be safe in the hospital. You

know what I mean.'

'Yes Joshi Ji, trust me, there is nothing to fret about. I will call you back to

tell his report as soon as we diagnose him.'

'Shuchi, Shuchi...' chief shouted, she was near in the lobby, she went to him

in the twinkling of an eye.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Go and check on him. He is a hotshot guy. He fainted in the middle of a

court trial. Let me know if anything is required.'

'And give the list of all your cases to Dr. Rahul. I want you to spend all your

time with him and take special care' Mr. Awasthi completed himself.

Wearing a green Isolation face mask which is obligatory to put on in the

room where Sid was admitted, Shuchi entered the room. Sid was sitting wide

awake in his bed.

'So he already got conscious.' thought Shuchi and went close to him.

'Hi! I am your doctor. I am Shuchi,' she said.

Sid didn't say anything. He was just gazing at her spellbindingly, trying to

imagine the part of her face enclosed with the mask. Only her eyes were

visible to him, her big, black, magical eyes.

Shuchi went closer and touched his brow to get a clue of his body

temperature.

The temperature of his body was normal, but Shuchi's touch had an abnormal

effect on him. He felt a sensation.

Shuchi pulled Sid's eyelid to check his eyes. She just wanted to check for

redness which hints towards various diseases.

Sid stared back at her with brooding eyes clearly for different reasons.

'Take long breaths...' She said as she put her stethoscope on his chest.

Siddhartha couldn't react, he was standstill. Shuchi reiterated, 'Take long

breaths baba,' and keep her hand on Sid's chest.

Siddhartha was busy listening to her melodious voice. It was music to his

ears fed up of listening to only judges and fellow lawyers.

Shuchi diagnosed him and everything seemed normal.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'So, Mister, what do you do?' asked Shuchi.

It is always a good practice to talk to patients while examining them. It keeps

them involved.

'I save lives,' Sid broke his silence.

Shuchi tied a strap on the arms of Sid to check his BP and continued to talk.

'Are you a doctor too? Which hospital?' she asked getting excited.

'No. I am a lawyer.'

'A lawyer! Then how do you save lives?'

'First, you tell me, how you save lives?'

'I am a doctor. If there is a car accident, I save the one who is injured,'

Shuchi shrugged her shoulders and said with obvious gestures.

'I save the one who causes the accident,' said Siddhartha in a grave voice.

There was something special about him, indeed. Shuchi dropped her eyelid,

she had nothing to say.

Siddhartha was craving to see her face, but it wasn't possible. Her face was

still hidden behind the mask.

His BP was normal too. Shuchi couldn't find symptoms of any disease.

'You seem to be normal. What happened to you Mr. Life-Savior?' Shuchi

said teasing him.

'I thought you are the doctor here. You should tell what happened to me?' It

was in the habit of Sid to argue. He is rude. _Power makes you arrogant._

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Nothing happened to you. You seem to be all right,' Shuchi was not so

pleased with his behavior. 'Your unconsciousness may be due to weakness or

some tension. Do you take a lot of tensions?'

'No, I don't. I give it instead,' replied Sid staring gravely at Shuchi.

She felt a bit uncomfortable and left from there to inform the Chief about his

well being.

Siddhartha called the MLA as soon as Shuchi left the room.

'Oh God! How are you? I was so worried for you!' said the MLA as he heard

Sid's voice on his phone.

'Worried for me or for your son? Anyway, don't you worry, I am all right. As

I told you whatever happens to me and whenever happens to me, there is

always a reason.'

Mehta just passed a soft chuckle, by then he was sure that Siddhartha was

healthy. He merrily asked, 'What is the reason for your awful shape then?'

'Nothing had happened to me. It was my trick.'

The MLA got entirely amazed listening to him.

'I was not getting anything further to say to the judge, and after I tried to

bribe him, he would have surely sent your son to jail for the lifetime. That's

why I did that to buy some time.'

'Now it's up to you how soon you get him transferred and get a new judge to

take the charge, as you promised.'

'Genius, you are a mastermind Mr. Siddhartha.'

'I know, now ask the hospital staff that I want complete bed rest here for a

few days,' Sid instructed to the MLA.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'My coming to this particular hospital is also for a reason' thought

Siddhartha. _You can't guess what's cooking on his mind._

'Don't worry, I will instruct the Doctor. They will admit you for as long as

you want. After all, I am the trustee of this hospital, I pay for their salaries.'

####

'Have you checked the lawyer? How is he?' MLA called Dr. Awasthi.

'Mr. Mehta, nothing had happened to him. He fainted just because of some

weakness or lack of sleep, you know the youth of this generation. We will

discharge him today. He can go back to work from tomorrow.'

'Do you know how significant he is for me? I can't take any risk in his case.'

'We have examined him and we are certain that he is entirely healthy. You

please don't worry.'

'No Dr, admit him for a few days and closely look at him. Take his good

care.'

'Mehta Ji, please trust me. He doesn't need that, he is okay.'

The doctor didn't know the evil thinking of Mr. Mehta and Siddhartha. He

was just doing his duty, very much efficiently.

'Chief, do as I say.' Mehta disconnected the call without waiting for an

answer.

_You have the right to disconnect the call in the middle if you are the boss or a_

_girlfriend_.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

Unconditionally Dr. Awasthi admitted Sid and asked Shuchi to examine him

daily.

####

I met Shuchi at the lunchtime after handling a few patients assigned to me.

'What happened, why you look so puzzled?' I asked her.

'It's just my patient. He is a lawyer; he got unconscious in the middle of the

case trial. I have examined him closely and found nothing wrong in his

reports.'

'It may be due to weakness. Let's take lunch or else we will be weak too,' I

chuckled.

'Okay, let's go to the cafeteria,' she said. She still looked tensed.

'No, we will go outside today. I want to eat Pizza,' I insisted.

'Pizza! So much fat and cheese. Not good for your heart.'

'But good for my tongue,' I said. _She is already taking care of my health._

_How romantic._

We reached the pizza joint. It was my first informal date with her.

She left her apron in the car and applied lip gloss kept in her handbag looking

at the vanity mirror installed in the car. _It's the fastest makeup any girl could_

_apply._

There was only one vacant table available at the restaurant. I and Shuchi

approached to sit there when we noticed three ugly looking guys came near to

_Take my heart, forever..._

the same table. The guys resembled the people who sell the tickets in black in

front of third class movie theatres.

'It's our seat, we will sit here,' said one of the ugly guys.

'Why? Is your name printed here?' I said, ignoring the fact that they were

three in number and I was only one.

'My name is not printed here, but it will get printed on your cheek if you will

argue with me,' he was getting violent. _For the first time, I noticed people_

_getting brutal for food._

'Wait for a minute guys,' Shuchi interrupted. 'No need to fight just for a seat.

I have an idea, let's play a game. And the team who wins will sit here.'

The ugly-guys looked at each other for a while and then they looked at

Shuchi. They were puzzled and the irony is, I was puzzled too.

'But what we have to do?' the ugliest amongst them asked.

'As we all are pizza lovers, let's do this. All of us will eat one pizza each.

The team who finishes their pizza first wins the game.

Within no time we arranged regular size pizza for each one of us. Ugly guys

seemed happy listening to it. After all, what could be an easier sport than

eating?

All of us were standing circling the roundtable, five regular sized pizzas were

kept there for all of us.

They were about to yank the slice of pizza in their hands when Shuchi added,

'but the rule is, we can't touch the pizza with our hands, we have to eat it

directly from our mouth. We have to hold our hands at the back like this,' she

folded her hands behind to show everyone.

Shuchi winked at me after saying it. Meanwhile, the crowd present at the

Food-Court accumulated there to enjoy the free show.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

The ugly guys hesitated a bit but then they accepted the new rule.

'Okay, so one-two-three and start,' Shuchi shouted.

All of us held our hands behind and leaned very close to the Pizza. The ugly

guys put their face into the pizza to eat it. I and Shuchi didn't.

Their not-so-fair faces got smeared with cheese and pizza toppings. _A cheesy_

_way to take revenge._

People in the crowd started laughing at them looking at their faces decorated

with pizza. Soon they realized it and stood up.

'You won the game. You can sit here,' said Shuchi and passed a smile. The

crowd hooted at them. They felt embarrassed and sat at the table.

We took our share of pizza and went to the car to eat it there, of course using

our hands.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**6**

'Hi Alien,' Shuchi said as she came to the hospital and saw me flirting with

some nurses in the hospital compound. _Her voice had a hypnotic quality._

'I may look different, but I am not an alien. Take my test if you want to,' I

said.

'Test how?'

'Ask me something which only a human can answer, and you will see I will

answer it.'

'Okay then answer to this only in 'Yes' or 'No': "______, Rahul is an

alien."'

'Haha, can you help me as my friend?'

'No cheating allowed. Answer it else I am declaring in public. Humans could

have answered it.'

'You caught me red handed. Please don't tell anyone that I am an alien,' I

said.

'Lol... I can't guarantee that. I am bad at keeping secret,' Shuchi uttered with

a large smile.

'I can bribe you to keep silence. What do you humans accept for a bribe? In

our planet, people just pass a smile and get things done.'

'I don't take bribes. I am a good human,'

'Is your father a Judge...?' I asked.

'Nah!'

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Oh, I see!'

'What?'

'Actually, one of my friend's father is a judge and she is sweet to me like you

are. So I am wondering if it's just the daughters of judges.'

'Stop acting like you are so smart because you are certainly not.'

'I got the drift. Thanks!'

'But you are such a funny alien,' she said after a pause, with an utterly

beautiful smile.

'Hehe, I also have to think of a good name for you.'

'Haha! Come up with a good one else you'll personify yours.'

'There is always something fishy in whatever you say and whatever you do,'

I said, 'so I must call you fish.'

'Aww! If I am a fish, then you're a dog. No dogs are faithful. I will better call

you frog.'

She was giggling all through the time she was talking to me. She held my

arms while saying it.

She was wearing kohl in her small meaningful eyes, that's the only make up

she was wearing. I couldn't stop myself noticing her each petite detail. _Thank_

_God for creating her. Thanks for creating girls._

'So how are your patients doing?' I asked.

'Don't ask me. I have got this weird patient, Siddhartha. He is absolutely fit

still he has been admitted here since last week. Thank God, he will get a

discharge today.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Maybe he is acting sick just to be around you. Who doesn't want to be

around you?.'

She giggled. 'You know he is so rude, but he is interesting. He talks straight

but logical.'

She actually started praising him. I cursed myself for bringing up his topic. I

felt my heart lurch. _Nothing could be more disturbing than your crush talking_

_about another guy and blushing._

'Doctor, could you please have a look at my son? He is feeling a sudden

twinge in his stomach,' interrupted a woman in her early thirties as she

entered the hospital.

Nurses lifted the 12- year old from the stretcher and shifted him to a bed. I

and Shuchi followed the kid into the room where he was admitted.

Shuchi gave him a painkiller injection for temporary relief. Within 5 minutes

the drug worked and he felt comforted.

Shuchi shook hands with the kid and gifted him chocolates which she keeps

in her pocket for all the kids she entertains. She had an exceptional way out

with the children.

'So what happened to you little champ?' asked Shuchi in a jovial tone.

'I get a dreadfully horrific ache in my abdomen now and then. Other times it

is just fine, but sometimes the pain is just unbearable.'

'Don't worry dear, you will be all right soon. We will wrestle the twinge in

there, dishum,' Shuchi metaphorically punched his belly and passed a smile

filled with optimism.

'We have to run some tests to go inside there and figure out what is the

problem,' said Shuchi writing something in her notepad.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Take Ansh out for the tests,' said Shuchi reading the patient's name in the

chart she was given by her intern.

'Doctor we had run the tests earlier in another hospital. I have the reports

with me. Will you please look at it?' said the mother and handed the files and

reports to me, I was standing next to her.

'Wait a sec! Aren't you the famous Nimisha Dutta? The host of the chat

show which invites the most influential and innovative people in India,' I said

taking the file from her hands.

'Yes, I am,' she said.

'It's a pleasure to meet you,' I said and buried myself in the file. Shuchi

joined me too.

'Since when he has been experiencing this pain?'Shuchi asked staring at the

file. Her forehead lines were clearly noticeable making the circumstances

wary.

'We must go to my cabin to discuss this. Let Ansh rest here,' stated Shuchi

and left from there.

I and Mrs. Dutta followed her up to her cabin.

'I am sorry to state Mrs. Dutta, but according to the reports Ansh is having a

lump in his tummy and this kind of tumor is inoperable. I don't think he has

many days left.'

'You please sit here,' I offered her a chair. I was scared that she might fall on

the ground after the news.

'I know it,' said Mrs. Dutta. There was silence filled in the room.

'I know that God is being so unkind and my only son is suffering from

cancer. The last doctor I consulted revealed it to me.

_Take my heart, forever..._

But he also said that there is a little hope. There is a slight chance that it

could be cured.'

'Yes, there is, but the rate of survival is only five percent. It is incredibly

risky,' I said to dissuade Mrs. Dutta.

'Even if there is a little chance, I want to take the chance. I want you to

perform the surgery.'

'Me?' Shuchi was shocked at her confidence in her. 'There are many more

aged and experienced surgeons in the country, why only me Mrs. Dutta?'

'I have done all the research. It's a part of my job. I have seen your track

records Dr. Shuchi and I know only you can do it. Only you can maneuver

the tumor and you have to take that chance for me' she had clearly made her

decision.

'No, Mrs. Dutta. I don't think I can do it. You have two-three months left

with your son if we won't execute the surgical treatment. But if we do and

fail, he might die today. Are you sure you are taking the right decision?'

Shuchi tried to give her the best medical suggestion.

There was a silence filled in the room again. Mrs. Dutta had nothing left to

say.

After all, it is the question of her only son, the only reason for happiness in

her life after the demise of her husband.

'I can give him medicines if you want, which will let him live a few more

days,' said Shuchi to cover the silence.

'But if the surgery succeeds, he might live with me forever. At least, he won't

die before me, right?' she was looking at Shuchi for an answer. Shuchi

nodded.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

In her medical career, Shuchi never saw such kind of confidence. It is hard-

hitting to take risk and that too when the rate of survival is too low.

'Mrs. Dutta, I hope you know what you are saying. 5% survival rate means

only 5 patients stay alive out of 100. It means the chances that the patient will

be alive are almost negligible,' I interrupted.

'Yes, the chances are rare, but still, there is a chance.'

The confidence in Mrs. Dutta's face was impeccable; given Shuchi a

confidence to take the case. To do whatever it takes to save his life.

Mrs. Dutta further said, 'I know people die. I know it's impossible to defy

death. I have seen people dying many times, but I believe Ansh will survive

this. I believe, I believe in the good. I know that a hell lot of bad things

happen every day around us, and I believe that in the face of irresistible facts

to the converse, we will all be okay. I believe that my husband is always with

me, protecting my family.'

Shuchi stood silent. She was too scared to take the case. Those innocent little

eyes of Ansh, she didn't want to be a reason to close them forever.

Mrs. Dutta figured out the tight spot on Shuchi's face and said, 'You will

understand it when you will become a mother yourself. Go and ask your

mom if she wants to live with you for two-three months or forever.'

I don't want to be selfish. I can't live my life with a regret that I never tried to

save my son. I can't live with him for a few days and see him dying a little

every passing day. Either save him or kill him at once,' there was water filled

in her eyes, but somehow she managed not to cry.

It shook Shuchi from top to bottom. Earlier, she was thinking only like a

doctor, she was being too practical to understand her emotions. But she was

able to sense the suffering now.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Okay, I will take the case if you insist,' said Shuchi. 'We will try our level

best to save Ansh. You hope for the best, but get prepared for the worst.'

It brought colors to the face of Mrs. Dutta. She was happy as if the operation

had been a success already.

'But doctor you have to promise me one thing,' said Mrs. Dutta. 'You won't

tell Ansh that he is having an inoperable tumor.'

'What!' Shuchi exclaimed, 'You mean he doesn't know about his disease

yet.'

'No, it wasn't easy for me to tell him.'

'Then what does he thinks he is here for.'

'I told him there is a minor disease which is causing the pain in his stomach

and doctor will simply cure it.'

'But we have to let him know. It is not fair to keep a small kid in dark.'

'Then what do you want? You want to see a small and naive toddler living in

dread of death all the time. Don't you want him to smile ever on whatever

days he is left with? I don't think he can take it. I don't want to see him dying

before he actually dies,' Mrs. Dutta chocked finally. She couldn't carry

herself anymore.

The tears melted Shuchi's benevolent heart and she agreed with Mrs. Dutta.

She agreed to not reveal the health conditions to the patient.

'So when do you think you can do the surgery?' asked Mrs. Dutta but she

didn't want to hear the answer to this. It was so scary for her.

'The sooner the better, we shouldn't delay the surgery. The tumor is

increasing day by day, hence decreasing the success rate.'

'Tomorrow,' she said.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'What!' exclaimed Mrs. Dutta.

'Yes, we will perform the surgery tomorrow,' Shuchi educated Mrs. Dutta

after looking at her schedule.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**7**

The Court was swamped with lawyers and media persons that day.

Everybody was keen to know the verdict of the case. The mob at the court

was clear confirmation that people now a day are more engrossed in other

people's lives than their own.

However, the case was apparent to everyone. Provided the prior records of

the culpable, everyone could make out that the MLA's son could have easily

conducted this offense.

That was the day when the bartender was supposed to attend the trial of the

court and to spot the suspect himself and send him behind bars.

'The day of justice' as called by the media.

The ambulance arrived in front of the court with its piercing siren turned on.

Two of the hospital staff wearing a white uniform with white caps took the

bartender on the stretcher inside the courtroom and few police constables

were there to make a way for them evacuating the mob of media persons.

The bartender was wearing a simple yellow color shirt and loose black paints.

Maybe he was wearing the best of his clothes after all his pictures were to be

published in all the newspapers. He was brought directly from the hospital,

his face was swollen and eyes were dull as if he hadn't caught sleep for ages.

News correspondents were like flies on shit to take his picture. It was too

much media attention for an ordinary man.

Everybody was gripped to witness the first case in Indian history which he or

she considers Sid was going to lose. And even if Sid won, they were sure that

it was going to be an illustrious moment.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

The bartender was able to walk without any aid, but he was not allowed to

walk for his health concerns. He was still in doctor's surveillance and if he

fells in the rush outside the court, it could affect his health and the decision of

the case adversely.

Sid got discharged the day before the court trial. He reached the court just in

time and met the MLA.

'Justice Menon, is he hearing the case today?' Sid asked.

After Sid's failed attempt to bribe him at the lunch, Sid didn't want him to

listen to the case anymore.

'He is taken care of. He got transferred to another department. Now he won't

hear any more murder trials. He is in charge of a boring PIL committee. It is

a sort of social service.'

Sid nodded, didn't say anything. He just adjusted his black tie matching with

his tuxedo.

The public lawyer started the trial with some ruthless, but confident words. In

a way, he announced the guilty a convict without letting the judge declare it.

'So My Lord today is the day of justice. Today, we have the bartender

himself present with us to tell us the truth. Probably it is the last date of the

hearing. Today, we will send the guilty behind the bars without wasting any

more time of the court,' he claimed.

The poor bartender was sitting in the audience wing with his wife.

'I want to call the bartender to the witness box my Lord so that he can clarify

what precisely happened that night in the bar.'

'Permission granted,' said the newly appointed judge and hit his hammer

gently to give his consent.

_Take my heart, forever..._

The MLA couldn't risk buying the new Judge again. In case things go wrong,

he could not replace him again.

With shaking legs, the bartender reached the witness box.

Half murder is dangerous, had Karan smashed one more bottle and killed

him, there would be no evidence left and Sid could have rescued him for lack

of evidence. But now he himself is an evidence.

The MLA and Karan were almost biting their nails out of terror. They were

restless looking at the confidence of the public lawyer and looked at Sid, who

was sitting at his allocated place calmly.

'What is going on Mr. Siddhartha, are we prepared for the case?' The MLA

leaned towards Sid and whispered.

Sid just nodded and didn't say anything.

'Why aren't you doing anything?'

'I have done enough already. Now just wait and watch,' said Sid.

It was hard-hitting for the MLA to comprehend. He almost shouted, 'What

"wait and watch". Will it happen automatically?'

'Yes,' Sid said with a grin in his face.

MLA had no other option, but to wait. The public lawyer came well equipped

with a file and a briefcase in his hands.

The lawyer also raised a request to call Karan in the opposite witness box to

help the bartender identify the culprit easily.

'So tell the court about that night,' asked the public lawyer looking at the

bartender.

The bartender stood silent for a while, it looked like he was trying to

remember.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Which night, sir?' he asked politely.

'The night you got this head injury. Do you remember anything?'

'Oh, that night, yes, I was doing my usual job of serving drinks to the

customers, when Karan Baba came with his friends for drinking. I served

drinks to each one. He comes to our bar very often with his friends. Karan

sahib is the friend of the bar's owner.'

He came to me asking for more drinks late at night. I politely replied, 'It's

time to close and we can't serve you more.'

The bartender went silent after that again. He was still feeling the ache in his

top, he was speaking very slowly.

'Then what happened, tell the court what happened next?' the lawyer asked

him getting energized, a mirage of winning a case against Sid and watching

his name printed in every newspaper the next morning filled his eyes.

Everything was a standstill for a very moment; there was peace all over the

place. The typewriter stopped typing, the clock stopped ticking and

everybody held their breath to listen to that bartender. The deciding moment

was there.

Everybody was staring at the bartender; he looked at Sid who was sitting at

ease in his seat. Their eyes meet for almost half a minute's time. No one was

ready to drop their eyelids first.

'What happened after you refused to serve the drink?' asked the public

prosecutor in a high pitched tone.

'After I said no, he nodded and went politely from there with his friends.'

The public lawyer could not believe what he heard; neither did Karan or the

MLA. All were enthralled by what they were hearing. Sid looked at the MLA

_Take my heart, forever..._

and winked at him. MLA didn't know how Sid did it, but he knew that it was

happening only because of him.

There was a murmur in the courtroom after the testimonial.

'Then what caused you this severe head injury. If he didn't beat you, who

else did?'

'This injury was just an accident. Actually, I slipped to the floor as I stepped

foot on an ice cube lying on the floor.'

'What are you saying? See, don't get scared of anyone, tell the truth to the

court. We will get you justice,' said the agitated public lawyer. It was like

someone pulled the rug from under his feet.

'I have already said what I have to say,' said the bartender in a low pitched

voice and looked at the ground. There was guilt filled with his voice.

It was not a tough decision to make for the new judge in the courtroom. He

sat Karan free with all due respect and dismissed the case writing it to be an

accident. _Justice is blind after all._

MLA and Karan express gratitude to Sid with folded arms.

This is how Sid solves a case like he has some superpower, like he could

hypnotize anybody he wants to. As if he is the Superman.

No matter if he is on the side of justice or injustice, but he is always on the

winning side.

'How the hell you did it? Is it a magic or something?' asked the surprised

MLA. They were curious to know how Sid influenced the bartender.

'Do you think I got admitted to the same hospital where the bartender was

admitted for no reason?'

The MLA passed a noisy chuckle and said, 'You are the Man!'

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'I met his wife at the hospital. I gave her two options, either her husband will

die in the hospital bed which will look like doctors couldn't save him or he

could reach the court alive and tell it was an accident.'

'I also told her that the MLA owns this hospital and that it is so easy to kill

her husband in that hospital. She looked convinced listening to me.'

'I also offered her a reward of 5 Lakhs rupees to make sure if she doesn't

change her decision.'

'You can't eat honesty, what you will do after you get justice? It is just a

mistake by that rich brat. Don't take the grudge for too long.' Sid explained it

to her.

'She was intelligent, didn't waste much time before she agreed to the deal

and persuaded her husband anyhow when he got conscious. She implored

him to change his mind.

Now make sure to send the money to that bartender. I do the business of

dishonesty with full honesty,' said Sid.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**8**

Nurses performed all the scans, MRIs and prepared Ansh for the surgery.

They changed his clothes and made him put on a surgical robe they provide

patients at the time of surgery.

He was not given the anesthesia yet. Still conscious and wide awake, he was

staring the big fancy light installed in the ceiling of the operation theatre.

Shuchi entered there wearing a green scrub top having a tailored trim on the

crossover, short sleeves, with a pocket on the lower portion that is great for

carrying important tools. The fabric is mixed with some percentage of

polyester and some of the cotton poplin, which makes it comfortable to

absorb the sweat a surgeon shred during long hours of operation.

Shuchi was ignoring to look at the playful eyes of the kid, it was making her

weak. As deep down in her heart, there was a fright that if anything goes

wrong those eyes won't open again.

'Are you ready for the surgery little champ? Do you want to ask anything?'

Shuchi asked him casually before giving anesthesia to him.

'How bad is my tumor doctor?' asked Ansh.

Shuchi got shaken listening to him, she didn't expect this question from him.

He didn't know about his tumor, according to his mom.

'You know about it?' she asked.

'Yes. And if I die in this operation, please don't tell my mom that I knew it

all the time.'

'I know it. I overheard some doctors talking about it in the last hospital.'

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'Oh little boy,' Shuchi got emotional as if Ansh was her own son.

'Mom will freak out if she will know that I knew. She cries in the bathroom,

she cries in the middle of the night. The only thing keeps her happy is she

thinks I don't know.'

'If I pretend to be happy, she is happy.'

This small kid was one of the bravest of all the patients Shuchi treated.

'Am I gonna die today?' asked Ansh innocently. It is probably the hardest

question for a doctor to answer.

Shuchi stood frozen, listening to his childish voice. She is a doctor, but a

human first.

This is the saddest part for any doctor, to face demise, to inform the patient's

relatives about it. It is almost unworkable to explain that they tried their level

best, but it just didn't work.

How can doctors tell it to the one, waiting in the lobby, that the one they are

waiting for will never get up again? How she could explain it to Mrs. Dutta

that she couldn't keep the faith and confidence shown by her. It isn't easy.

But they do it all the time.

Shuchi couldn't answer Ansh's query for a while, then she just hugged him

and said, 'Don't worry; I won't let you die, at least not today.'

Shuchi signaled the nurse present there to give anesthesia to Ansh.

She asked for ten-blade and started the incision after Ansh was unconscious.

She was trying to reach to the tumor, but it was so small and hidden that it

was very tough to grip it using her instruments and take that out. A cardio

monitor was installed which was monitoring his heartbeat. One wrong move

by Shuchi and the heart won't beat again.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'He is crashing doctor,' shouted the nurse whose duty was to observe the

cardio machine.

The nastiest thing happened and his heart stopped beating all of a sudden.

Shuchi got anxious first, but then she handled it with calm.

She passed small electric shocks in his chest for his heart to start beating

again.

The heart is complex. If it stops once it is unusual to start beating again. She

started to get nervous now. She increased the voltage of the shock again. It

worked this time. The pace in his heart slowly increased. The cardio monitor

started showing his pulse again which was earlier showing a straight line.

After trying for another six hours Shuchi found the tumor and cut it out. She

sewed his skin and completed the surgery. Ansh was still unconscious and

whether the surgery is a success was yet to be revealed when he came back to

consciousness.

Shuchi removed her surgical gloves, mask, and apron and went to Ansh's

mother. She was eagerly waiting for Dr. Shuchi to conclude the operation and

to give her the good news.

'Is he okay? Can I meet him?' asked Mrs. Dutta as soon as she spotted

Shuchi.

Shuchi had no direct answer for the so obvious question of Mrs. Dutta.

'I have got the tumor out, but it was so close to the periphery of the body that

I can't say if it had any adverse effect on the body or not. We have to wait for

Ansh to wake up to figure out if the surgery was a success.'

Mrs. Dutta decided to sit next to the bed holding Ansh's hand, waiting for

him to wake up. She was constantly staring at the cardio monitor. He was

alive and just sleeping.

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He was expected to wake up in an hour as stated by Shuchi, but he didn't

even after three hours. It worsens the situation. Mrs. Dutta was constantly

praying to God for Ansh.

She sat near her son and whispered into his ears, 'Don't you dare leave me

alone like this. You can't die this early.

You have dreams to fulfill, things to do. I want to raise you. I want to protect

you now for you to protect me in my old age.'

'I am still to compare you with neighbors' kids and to motivate you to study.

I want you to score the highest marks in school and make me proud of you.'

'I want you to fall in the ground playing football and come home with all

clothes soiled. I wish to wash those dirty clothes with my hands and smile.'

'I want to scold you for changing your hairstyle when you reach high school.

I want to gift you your first deodorant in high school.'

'I want to yell at you when you come late at night from parties in your

college days.'

'I want to deny your request for a new bike and then buy it anyway. I want

you to get a job and buy me gifts from your salary. I want you to get me a

pretty daughter-in-law. I want to fight with her, I want to order her stuff and I

want to love her like a mother.'

'I want you to bless me with at least two grandkids, and I want to see your

childhood again in my grandkids.'

'I want you to take my care in my old age. I want to die in peace on your

shoulder one day, but I won't allow you to do the same with me.'

'Mumma,' said Ansh as he opened his eyes slowly. He gripped his mom's

hand tighter.

_Take my heart, forever..._

Mrs. Dutta started crying as soon as she saw him waking up. She hugged her

son in the bed and kissed his forehead.

Dr. Shuchi was around, she came as soon as she got to know.

She examined Ansh thoroughly. She asked him if he could see her properly.

She talked to him and checked his voice. She also asked Ansh what he had in

breakfast that morning in order to check his short-term memory. She then

asked his previous class marks in the exam to check his long-term memory.

He cleared all the physical tests easily. Shuchi confirmed that the surgery was

successful.

'You beat the odds,' said Mrs. Dutta. Her eyes were still filled with tears.

'I did nothing, Mrs. Dutta, it's Ansh who beat the odds. He defeated death.'

Shuchi was immensely happy. That she saved an adorable, cute child and it

was also good for her medical career.

She performed such an intricate surgery after all.

'Shuchi, you know what, I owe you this surgery. I will repay you this,

whenever I get a chance in life,' said Mrs. Dutta.

In a way, Shuchi just performed her job, but if we give it a thought, she did

more than that. Had there been any usual doctor, he would have said 'no' to

the surgery in the first place fearing the odds.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**9**

Sid sat in the back seat of the car reading 'The New Jurist', The World's best

International Law Magazine and Akash was accompanying him sitting in the

front seat next to the driver.

After Sid was released from that hospital, he used to miss Dr. Shuchi so

often. She was all in his mind most of the time. It wasn't his fault; the charm

of Shuchi was magical which influenced him. He was thinking of an excuse

to go back to that hospital to meet her again. It was the time for him to find a

nice girl for himself to marry.

They were going to the court when Sid noticed a couple of goons thrashing a

weak and vulnerable young boy on the roadside.

Few vehicles and pedestrians passed that lane ignoring the injustice so did

Sid. He was practical enough to overlook such deeds.

Mumbai is a city where the weak are meat, and the strong do eat.

After going to some distance something struck his mind and he asked the

driver to reverse the car. He reached at the venue again, the goons were still

thrashing the boy.

' _Kya ho raha hai waha... chodo usse_ ,' he got out of the car and shouted at the

highest pitch of his voice.

Looking at the disgruntled personality of Sid, the hooligans got scared and

ran from there. Sid went near to the beaten guy. The guy was shaking out of

fear.

The guy didn't say anything. Blood oozed from his body strained every

single twill of his shirt.

Akash never witnessed the soft corner of Sid earlier. Sid was on his way to

the court, to meet an imperative client; still, he stopped to salvage a needy.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You take a cab from here and go to meet the client. I will take him to the

hospital,' Sid said to Akash. The kid hobbled towards his car.

Akash just couldn't believe what he heard. He never imagined Sid to serve a

poor for nothing in return. He was unable to find out what was Sid's intention

behind helping him.

'It's better to ask than to keep thinking,' thought Akash and asked, 'Sir, why

do you want to waste your own time for this poor kid? You should go to the

meeting and I will take him to the hospital if you want. That would be more

beneficial.'

'Don't use your brain too much. Just do as I say,' Sid got furious. He was in

no mood to argue with his junior. Saying this Sid went away in his car with

the boy, left Akash at the roadside.

He asked the vulnerable kid to sit in the front seat of the car and he himself

sat in the back seat comfortably.

'Driver, take us to Christ-Care foundation,' Sid instructed to the driver.

There were many other hospitals near his location still he asked the driver to

take him to Christ Care Foundation only.

The kid fainted by the time they reach the hospital. Maybe the best medical

treatment is the reason for them travelling a long distance.

'Shuchi, I have a patient with me who needs urgent attention, I am standing

outside your hospital with him, please come here soon,' Sid called Shuchi as

he reached outside the hospital.

Maybe the best medical treatment is not the only reason for Sid going to that

particular hospital.

Shuchi came out of the hospital with a stretcher and trauma specialists.

'What happened to him? Where do you find him?' asked Shuchi.

'I found him on the roadside, some goons were beating him,' Sid replied. It's

a part of a doctor's job to ask for the reason so that they could treat

accordingly.

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'Shuchi dressed his wounds to stop bleeding, and sprinkled some water into

his face to bring him to consciousness.'

'How are you feeling now?' asked Shuchi.

'Who were the guys beating you?' asked Sid.

The injured guy didn't reply anything. He continued to stare at Shuchi and

everybody else as if he was not following their language.

Shuchi asked about his health first, but Sid was more concerned about the

goons who was beating him, that's the difference between a doctor and a

lawyer.

Sid explained the situation to Shuchi in short and bragged a little about how

he saved a little boy from social injustice.

'What is your name?' Shuchi tried to talk to him again.

He decided to keep mum again. This conduct of the guy was not acceptable

to Sid and Shuchi.

'I think you are some bloody thief or a criminal. If you won't tell me about

yourself in a minute, I will call the police,' Sid acted as if he got furious and

shouted screening fake anger.

_When love doesn't work, try fake anger._

He broke down, started sobbing.

'I am Bhola,' he replied, not making an eye contact.

'Who were the guys beating you? Do you know them?' Sid asked again.

'He is the son of the _dhaba_ owner where I used to work along with his

friends.'

'Why were they beating you then?'

'I am an orphan and for my living I worked in a small _dhaba_ at the roadside.

I was working there as a waiter and to occasionally prepare tea if the

appointed person was absent. Cleaning the utensils in the kitchen was also

_Take my heart, forever..._

my responsibility. I was earning five hundred rupees a month and got the

leftover food of the _dhaba_ to eat.'

Shuchi and Sid looked at each other listening to it. He was living in

deplorable conditions and paid too less than he should have got. This is the

primary cause why the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer.

'I was pushing my verve anyhow doing the job in that eatery until one day

when all the limits of despotism crossed.'

Bhola went silent in the middle of the conversation. It was tough to memorize

the black day for him.

Shuchi brought a glass of water for him. He further continued after he took a

sip of it, 'One day, the owner of the hotel went to another city for some work.

He handed the keys of the locker where he kept all the money to his only son.

It was just the two of us left to take care of the _dhaba_ that day.

I was serving the customers and doing all the other stuff when I noticed his

son taking out money from the locker and keeping in his pocket. He was

robbing his own house.

I saw his evil endeavor from the kitchen's window. I decided to ignore it and

continued with my work. 'What could I say in their family matter?' I thought.

I slept at night outside the hotel on the wooden cot as usual. The owner came

late at night from the city. He opened the locker at night to keep the money

he had bought from the city.

It took him less than a minute to detect that the cash he left there in the

morning was missing. Though the locker was not totally empty, one bundle

of note was indeed missing.

The fuming man asked his son about the missing bundle.

'I don't know Dad. I didn't notice it. I went for lunch during daytime inside

the kitchen and I forgot to lock the drawer, maybe Bhola theft it. We should

go and ask him,' his son got afraid and very naively he blamed me for the

offense conducted by him.

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I was sleeping when I experienced a tight slap on my cheek. The owner got

livid, he didn't ask me anything, just came and started beating me.'

Bhola started crying again while telling us that. Wounds on his body and

false charges of burglary were hurting him. He further continued after a small

mental rest.

'I tried resisting his attacks but I couldn't. The grown-up was beating me so

hard that I wasn't capable to defy him.'

'What had happened Sethji? What have I done? At least tell me,' I pleaded to

him folding my hands. But he showed no mercy.

The furious man went out of his mind because of the fury. He didn't even

find it significant to tell me the reason of his inhuman aggression. His callous

act made me shiver.

After a few more minutes he finally gives up beating me and asked, 'Where

did you keep the money? 'Maybe he got tired of beating Bhola.

'In no time I understood the whole issue. I didn't steal the money. Your son

did. I saw him from the window stealing money,' I replied in my defense.

How could a father hear from a servant that his son is a thief? He further

slapped me a few times and said, 'Go out from my hotel. You will not work

here anymore.'

Meanwhile, his son came out running and said, 'Dad look here, what I found

in his bag, this is the bundle of notes which was stolen today. I found it in his

bag below his clothes.'

'His cruel son might have got scared of getting caught and kept the bundle of

notes in my bag and blamed me for his misdeed. I was thrown out from there

at midnight.

I spent the night anyhow on the bench of the nearby bus stop.'

With a long breath, Bhola ended his story.

'But why the owner's son was beating you again this morning,' asked Sid.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'He was threatening me not to take his name again and not to contact the

police. He also said that I don't have any proof against him and if I will

contact the police, the police will arrest me not him. He was right though.

Why would police listen to a servant instead of the owner's son?'

Shuchi nodded, all of them were helpless. Had Bhola reached out to police at

the time he saw him robbing the locker, they would have done something, but

now no one will listen to a poor guy.

'You are right Bhola, the law in our country is power driven, no one would

trust a poor against the owner's son,' said Shuchi. She was looking saddened.

'Police won't listen to a poor kid, but they have to listen to Siddhartha Roy,'

Sid broke his silence. 'Don't worry; I will get that Dhaba-owner arrested

soon.'

It cheered Shuchi. 'It's a good idea,' she said and smiled.

Sid opened his wallet and presented 2000 rupees note to Bhola and said,

'Take this. It will help you.'

'Sorry, sir, I can't accept this money from you,' replied Bhola politely.

'Why?' asked Sid.

'I may survive for a week or mostly for a month with this amount of money,

but what after that? I can't spend my whole life taking money from you! I

don't need your money or even justice. I need a job.'

'You are absolutely correct Bhola,' Shuchi interrupted.

'You have to find another job, a good job where people will trust you. How

much you have studied, tell me, I will help you in getting a decent job.'

Bhola found it a little weird. The silence was the best answer he had.

_Orphans don't go to school; they have no Dad to pay for the fees._

Shuchi understood it without Bhola completing it. She spends a good five

minutes on thinking and then instantly picked up her phone and dialed a

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number. The change in the expression on her face was evident that she will

surely get Bhola a job.

'Naik Ji, you told me last week that you need a guy for your ambulance to lift

the stretcher, have you got anyone yet?'Shuchi asked as he received the

phone.

'No Shuchi madam, where can we find trustworthy guys these days. Our job

is to save people's lives and we can't take a risk. We need guys who never

take leave and work with dedication.'

Naik Ji, the driver and custodian of the ambulance kept on murmuring the

troubles in his life when Shuchi interrupted him and said, 'I got the guy. I am

sending him to you.'

'You may take rest now. I will send you to Naikji after your wounds heal,'

said Shuchi. Bhola actually smiled listening to it, probably after so many

days.

'And he will also pay you a good salary.'

I reached there after doing the routine checkup of my patients.

'Hi Rahul,' she said as she looked at me. There was a magical shine in her

eyes.

'Rahul meet Sid, and Sid meet Rahul,' Shuchi introduced the two of us.

'Oh that lawyer you were talking about,' I said and extended my hand for a

handshake.

'A fellow doctor' thought Sid and shook hands. It was a minute long and firm

handshake, both were staring at each other's eyes. No one of us wanted to see

the other.

'So how are you now Sid, I heard you once fainted in the courtroom,' I said,

unaware of the fact that it was just an illusion set by him.

'Yes, in fact, that is the best thing happened to me ever,' replied Sid.

'How come fainting can be good?' I asked.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Had I not fainted in the courtroom, how could I have met amazing doctors

like you guys,' Sid looked at Shuchi while saying it.

'Oh, we are really flattered. Try fainting again anytime soon then. It would be

fun.'

'By the way, how are you now, Sid?' asked Shuchi.

'Why wouldn't I be fine, after all, I got treated by an amazing doctor,' said

Sid and looked at Shuchi again.

'I did nothing. You were fine when you were admitted here,' Shuchi blushed.

I was burning inside. I knew that Sid was totally flirting with her.

_Men may never understand women, but they can always read another man's_

_mind._

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**10**

Shuchi was all set to go to the hospital the next day when she noticed from

the window, her neighbor Iyer aunty was coming towards her house.

She hid behind the door as she noticed her.

'Iyer aunty is the most irritating dame known to the human race.' according

to Shuchi.

_If she gets on talks with Pakistan government, she could settle Kashmir issue_

_just by her proficiency of negotiation._

'Mom... mom,' Shuchi called her mom for help as if she was cornered by an

army of cockroaches.

_Cockroaches are girl's worst fear. It can do what boys can never think of._

_Scare the hell out of her._

'What happened?' asked her mom.

'Mom, it's a disaster. Iyer aunty is here, make her go. I don't want to see

her.'

Iyer aunty is the one doing justice to the word chatterbox. From where she

charges her battery that gives her so much stamina is still a mystery.

Starting from 'who is going out with whom' to 'who should be the next

Prime Minister' she could talk on any given topic for hours.

'Hey Mrs. Joshi, Whereeee isss our Shuchi bitiyaaa...' said Iyer aunty in her

chronic irritating accent.

'She just left for the hospital,' said her mom.

'Say, how are you?'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'What to tell Mrs. Joshi. I am not feeling well ya. I am feeling dizziness and

weakness a lot nowadays. That's why I just thought if Shuchi could check me

up.'

'You can go to her hospital. I will inform her that you are coming.'

'Okay, that's a good idea,' said Iyer aunty and walked a little. Shuchi came

out from behind the door but then Iyer aunty came back again. Shuchi hid

again.

'You know Mrs. Joshi, Sharma Ji's daughter Riya is having a new affair

nowadays. Ya, I spotted her again with a new guy this time. You know girls

these days ya...' she couldn't resist her urge to gossip.

She was in pain, yet she spared some time for chitchatting.

Shuchi's mom just keeps on nodding and never gave any input while having

a conversation with Mrs. Iyer. As it would stretch the conversation up till

eternity.

After quenching her thrust for a few more minutes she finally scuffled

through the doorway.

'Why did you offer her to go to my hospital? There are other hospitals too.

Now she will come to me and piss me off,' Shuchi came out from behind the

door again and chided her mom.

'It's a big hospital, ask any of your colleagues to diagnose her and tell her

that you are busy with something else. Now go to the hospital before Mrs.

Iyer reaches there,' said Shuchi's mom and passed a smile at her condition.

Iyer aunty dialed Shuchi's number as soon as she reached the hospital, 'Beta

I have reached here. Please diagnose me soon,' she said bluntly.

'Thank God, I reached before her,' Shuchi heaved a sigh of relief. 'Yes

aunty, mumma told me that you are coming.'

Shuchi went to the lobby to greet her. She waived 'Namaste auntyji' to Iyer

aunty.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

Aunty replied and said, 'Shuchi lets go to your room, this time check me

thoroughly.'

'Aunty you know what I have a good news for you. You are lucky, aunty.

Today we have a very good doctor from New York with us in our hospital,

Dr. Rahul Patel.'

His schedule for the day is already occupied, but don't worry aunty I will

personally request him to see you. I am sure he won't decline my request.'

Shuchi played intelligently. Had she said she was occupied with other

patients, Iyer aunty would have started bargaining for her time.

'Okay beta, I am so blissful that you are my neighbor. How different you are

from the other girls in our society,' aunty got excited to the mention of New-

York.

_Foreign returns are always fancy for Indians._

'Thanks aunty, you are different too from the other aunties,' Shuchi passed

sarcasm.

'Thanks beta,' she took it as a compliment. _Some people really need a_

_sarcasm sign to get it._

'Wait here; I will fix your appointment with Dr. Patel,' Shuchi excused

herself.

####

'Do you want to see a patient, the great doctor from NY?' Shuchi said

playfully.

'Yes of course. Is it a complicated case? Are you not able to handle it, that's

why you need my expert advice?' I replied in the same playful tone.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'The patient's case is not complicated, but the patient is. She is my neighbor

Iyer aunty. She is so irritating, I can't tolerate her. You have to diagnose her

for me.'

I started laughing at the pitiable condition of Shuchi.

She is so innocent, she could have bluntly refused Iyer aunty by saying 'No'

but she didn't. She could never hurt anybody, even in her dreams.

_She is so cute that one day she was crying because her favorite black dress_

_was missing. A person whose heart is filled with immense love can only cry_

_for a dress._

_Another day she called me when she was sad. I asked for the reason, she said_

_her friend is forcing her to watch a movie with her, and she doesn't want to_

_see that movie. She was sad because she didn't know how to refuse her_

_friend._

'What happened? Am I a joker?' she got irritated to watch me laughing

instead of helping her.

'No, but The Joker once said, "If you're good at something, never do it for

free!"'

'You can't ask for a bribe for just doing your job. 'Huh!' Shuchi huffed, she

was standing keeping her hands at her waist and staring at me screening fake

anger.

'Yes, I can! In fact, I am doing it right now.'

'What do you want,' she said when her anger didn't scare me.

'A dinner date...tonight.'

'What! Never!' Was her reflex.

'Think of it, the choice is yours, me or the irritating Iyer aunty.'

'Okay, 9 PM sharp,' replied Shuchi and left from there.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

_A handsome guy with blue eyes is always a better choice than an irritating_

_aunty._

Iyer aunty enters my cabin and sat in the chair placed for patients.

'So tell me ma'am, how are you?'I asked.

'Oh! I am fine, thank you! What about you?' Iyer aunty replied instantly.

_We are accustomed to saying 'We are fine' when someone asks us 'How are_

_you.' But we ought to tell the truth when a doctor asks this._

'Then why are you here?'I asked and realized why Shuchi didn't want to

diagnose her in the first place.

'Oh, that way, nothing much, I am just feeling weakness and dizziness lately.

I think I am getting old, give me some pill to make me young again,' said

Iyer aunty playing with the flowers tied to her hair.

'I am sorry ma'am, but we can't make you young.'

'Then at least make me feel young,' she winked. She never got married, still

searching for her Mr. Right by flirting with every guy she comes across.

'We need to run some tests don't worry, you will be all right.'

The nurses took her for the tests and handed me the results in an hour.

'The report says you are diabetic Mrs. Iyer that explains your dizziness and

weakness,' I said.

'Oh, diabetes! Is it because I am so sweet?' she asked.

'Maybe. But don't worry. I am giving you an injection and you will feel

better.'

She started shouting to the mere mention of an injection. With the help of two

nurses, I succeed to inject it into her left arm.

She was supposed to feel better after it, but the injection made her feel even

worse. She got fainted in front of me.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I ordered to admit her immediately and take her blood for testing the possible

reason for her fainting. I also informed Shuchi so that she could inform her

family.

Shuchi reached there as she got the news.

'The blood report came back negative, but she looks like death. I don't know

what went wrong,' I said.

'Which injection you gave her?' Shuchi asked, trying to comprehend the

circumstances.

'I gave her insulin shot. I think there is some infection due to the injection.'

'There's no infection. She's allergic to insulin,' said Shuchi.

'Ah! My injection made her miserable.'

'Yes, when you gave her insulin it led to hypoglycemia.'

'But she should have told me that she is allergic,'

'You should have checked her medical history before giving her an injection.

You are a doctor here and she is a patient, not the other way around.'

'Give her an amp of D50 and she will be okay. You should probably give her

some orange juice when she wakes up,' she said.

Shuchi ended up giving the injection herself. I was too scared to deal with

medicines at that moment.

'What had happened to me? How am I here?' Iyer aunty asked as she woke

up in a few minutes.

Shuchi looked irately at me. If she tells Iyer aunty that she fainted because I

gave her an injection without checking her medical history, she could sue me

for wrong medical judgment. I could also lose my medical license. It scared

me to death.

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'You fainted because of the dizziness you were feeling. Thanks to Dr. Rahul

and his good medical judgment (Shuchi said with a wink) who gave you the

correct injection in time which saved your life. You should thank him aunty.'

Iyer aunty thanked me and continued to take rest in the bed.

'Thank you so much Shuchi. You saved her and my career,' I said when we

went outside the room.

'It's okay Rahul. It is just a part of my work.'

'It's not okay Shuchi. Conducting such a blunder is a crime in our profession.

Had you not been here, she could have died. I don't know what I will do

without you.'

'I am going nowhere, when you feel in life that you are alone and you can't

do it, you will find me next to you. I am there for you. Always.'

I started fidgeting. She held my hand to comfort me.

'You know Rahul, what our job gives us?' she said looking into my eyes.

'Lots of work. What else?' I said innocently.

'It gives us power, an awesome power... the power to harm. And who gives

you this power?'

'The patient,' she said after a pause.

'Patients come to us at their moment of utmost dismay... hands us a knife and

say, "Doctor, cut me open". Why? 'Because they trust us. They trust us the

way a child trusts. They trust us to do no harm.'

'But the sad fact is... we are humans and human beings are not worthy of

trust. It is human nature to lie... to take shortcuts, to lose our nerve, get tired...

make mistakes. No rational patient would put his trust in a human being...

and we're not gonna let him! It is our mission here to rigorously and

ruthlessly train the humanity out of you and make you into something better.'

'Don't worry Rahul, I am with you, I am gonna make you something more

than a human, I'm gonna make a doctor out of you.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

There were tears of happiness filled in my eyes. I wipe it with the sleeves of

my apron before anyone could notice it. It won't set a good impression for a

male surgeon of the hospital to cry like a baby.

I have fallen in love with her a million times before. I loved her for her looks

and for her smile, but today I fall in love with her all over again for her pure

sentiments.

'One day I will perform a very risky and tricky surgery in front of you. I will

do it so perfectly that you will be proud of me' I pledged.

'Okay Doctor, I am sure you will do one, but how will you do it in front of

me.'

'I don't know how, but my heart says so. Let's bet this. I will do whatsoever

it takes to call you inside my OR.

When I will perform the first big surgical procedure of my life, you will be

the first person I will inform,' I said feeling determined about what I said.

'Oh! So you will inform me even before the patient's relative?'

'Yes. I promise,' I just looked into her eyes and said.

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**11**

'I am hungry Akash, let's eat something somewhere,' said Sid sitting in the

back seat of his car.

'Where you would like to go, The Taj or The Oberoi,' asked Akash according

to the choice of Sid.

'Today I will take you to a new place, you will like it for sure,' said Sid.

Akash was excited to feel the luxury, he knew if Sid was taking him, then it

must be a great place.

After a few kilometers, Sid asked the driver to stop the car behind two-three

trucks.

'Sir, why have we stopped here,' asked Akash.

'Follow me and you will come to know,' Sid stepped out of the car and said.

It was a poor area full of insalubrious hotels. There was a faded board outside

that place which read "Lucky-da-dhaba".

Sid removed his tuxedo in the car, folded his sleeves and sat there on a

wooden cot placed outside the _dhaba_.

Akash was hesitant to go there, he was standing at the roadside looking at the

unhygienic condition of the _dhaba_.

'Akash come here and sit with me,' said Sid.

Akash followed anyway.

'What do you want, tea or _lassi_ , sir?' a skimpy child came to take the order of

Sid and Akash.

_Take my heart, forever..._

The dark brown color of his cheeks, his dirty and unwashed hair was enough

to witness his continuous work in dust and sunlight. It was evident from his

looks that he is not very fond of bathing.

_People living hand to mouth hardly care to bathe._

Wearing a sleeveless brief, which was once white in color, but now looked

dark brown because of all the dirt on it and a half pant looking older than the

existence of dinosaurs; he was running barefoot to take orders from people.

There was a piece of cloth hanging on his shoulder, which he uses to wipe

his sweat and sometimes to wipe the table when needed.

'You want tea Akash?' Sid shook him and repeated the waiter's question.

'Sir, why are we here? Please tell me. I thought we were going to someplace

nice, but you stopped the car at this unhygienic place,' Akash was puzzled as

always. They were sitting on the wooden cot placed outside the _dhaba_ for the

customers.

_Dhabas are the roadside restaurants where truck drivers and families can get_

_cheap homemade food. It isn't fancy yet tasty. Punjabis have a monopoly_

_over this business. They serve you food in not so shining plates and make you_

_sit on a wooden cot in place of posh velvet chairs and tables, but they are_

_better designed to fulfill the need of travelers._

_Dhabas are also an exceptionally good way to taste regional specific Indian_

_foods made by local cooks. No fake Hyderabadi biryani here. They only serve_

_what the locals eat._

'I am hungry Akash. I want to eat someone here. I mean something here,'

replied Sid.

'Sir, if you were hungry, we could have gone any place better than this. I

don't get it, why we stopped here.' He was stunned and not able to

comprehend what was happening.

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'Previous day Sid stopped to help a random kid at the roadside and today he

is taking snacks from this non-hygienic _dhaba_ ,' thought Akash.

Sid didn't tell Akash about his plan; he loves to play with the minds of

people. He enjoys it when no one can judge what will be his next move.

Every other customer and the _dhaba_ staff were passing puzzled looks looking

at Sid and Akash, they were wearing well-fashioned clothes which were

clearly not matching with the atmosphere of _dhaba_.

The wicked owner of the eatery and his thief son were sitting at the counter to

take cash from the customers. They got a replacement for Bhola too soon. It

isn't tricky to find an employee where food two times a day is enough as a

salary.

The government made laws to stop child labor, but where are the provisions

to provide them food. If an orphan teenager won't work, what else he is

supposed to do?

'Don't you have anything else in the menu?' asked Sid with a smile.

Akash was expecting him to bring a printed menu card along with the price

of every item, but he iterated a list of fifty foodstuffs without taking a breath.

There was no crowd of other customers that require his attention in the

_dhaba_ , still, he was in a hurry. It was in his habit now.

Sid ordered Desi-food, one plate chole-bhature and a glass full of Lassi.

Akash just ordered a glass of tea. At _Dhabas_ tea is served in glass, not cup.

Taking a sip of Lassi Sid dialed a number on his phone, 'Hello Inspector

Patil, you remember I called you yesterday about a dhaba, I am here, come

soon. I want to show you something.'

'Yes Siddhartha, I am on my way,' replied the police inspector.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'One extra _bhature_ please' Sid requested to the new waiter. Sid was really

enjoying the _chol-bhature_ and the look at Akash's face.

The inspector reached there with his team in no time. Sid winked at the

inspector and continued to eat the hot served meal.

'Tell me where your kitchen is, this is a police raid,' Inspector Patil said to

the _dhaba_ owner.

The police team didn't wait for the owner to respond and they storm into the

kitchen to locate what they were there for.

After analyzing the kitchen, they arrested the owner and his son. It was like a

nightmare for the duo. They were not able to believe what was happening in

their life.

'At least tell us, why you are arresting us?' they pleaded to the officer but

didn't get an answer.

The officer planted a tight slap on the right cheek of the owner and said,

'because of the use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes, which is

prohibited under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.'

'Inspector _Saab_ , everyone in our locality uses domestic cylinder only, why

are you arresting only us.'

'Because Siddhartha Roy didn't file a complaint against anybody else.'

'Sir, why are you doing this with me? After all, who told you that I use an

illegal cylinder for cooking?' The shocked _Dhaba_ owner asked Sid.

'Bhola told me,' Sid leaned towards him to whisper in his ears.

It faded the color of their faces. They never expected the child whom they

were considering vulnerable will turn out to be this mighty.

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'And one more thing, Bhola is not the thief, your son is,' Sid said to the

owner.

'You have bitten the hand that feeds you,' said Sid to the thief and presented

a tight slap to his cheek.

'Thanks, Inspector Patil,' Sid presented his gratitude.

'There is nothing to thank me, sir. It is my duty after all.'

Akash realized what was happening after the police arrested the culprit. He

asked Sid on the return journey, 'Sir, how did you know that he was using a

domestic cylinder for commercial purpose? Did that little boy really tell you

about it?'

'No Akash. This is just common sense. Everyone in the food business

commits this crime.'

'A subsidized LPG cylinder weighing 14kg costs around Rs.405 while those

without subsidy are priced at Rs.930 but a 19 kg commercial cylinder costs

Rs.1,400 which is way costlier than the domestic one. This is the bad policy

of the government which forces businessmen to commit this crime to

maximize their profit.

The government should never frame a law which is broken by the majority of

people, and if there is any such law then the Government should change it.

A law should be made to help the citizens of a country not to bind them to

break it and to increase corruption.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

**12**

'Let's go for a cup of coffee this evening,' I cornered Shuchi at the hospital.

She didn't say 'No', just made weird faces. _That's how girls say no._

'Oh! Come on. You cancelled the dinner date after you promised me. Now at

least come for coffee.'

'No, I don't think I can go out of the hospital this evening, I have a surgery

scheduled.'

'If not today, what about this weekend? Sunday?'

'Sunday!' she looked shocked. _The mere mention of Sunday amazed her as if_

_I asked her to never take a bath again in her life._

'Yeah, Sunday is done then, it will be our fun-day,' I said merrily.

'No sorry, I am going somewhere out,' she excused.

'Oh, going somewhere out,' I just repeated her and went gloomy.

'May I ask you with whom and where?' I asked in a playful tone, trying to

sound as funny as possible.

'Nothing significant, just with an old friend,' she panicked, as if she is trying

to cover something. Had it been insignificant, she would have never got that

nervous like a teenager hiding her first love affair with her parents.

'Last Sunday also you denied going out because you were busy.'

She kept silent.

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I skipped asking her anymore. It was making her uncomfortable. She was not

my wife, after all, to tell me everything. Not yet at least.

'You must be going somewhere out during the day right. Can we meet in the

evening?'

Shuchi kept quiet, she had nothing to say this time. I took it as her consent

and said, 'Okay then its final. Let's catch up at 7 in the evening.'

She just nodded and went from there.

I was on edge to find out what is it with her "Sunday". I decided to chase her

right from her home to where ever she goes every Sunday without telling

anyone.

Lots of thoughts were running through my mind, 'She could have a boyfriend

whom she meets once a week,' then I sack my thought thinking what kind of

love affair is it where the girl meets the guy only once a week, and never talk

to each other even in phone for the whole week.

'What if she is married and hiding about her husband?'

'What if someone is blackmailing her for something?'

I was spying on her house from a distance, sitting in my dad's car.

I went in my dad's car that day because Shuchi could easily recognize my car

even from a distance.

Like a private detective, I was geared with a binocular. I was waiting for her

to go out of her house so that I could follow her.

'Uncle, do you like her too?' A ten-year-old boy from the neighborhood

observed me spying at Shuchi's house.

'What are you talking about?' I panicked being caught stalking a girl.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You must be another patient she treated. I have a crush on her too,' said the

ten-year-old and send a flying kiss towards the house.

'Along with Sid, he was my competition too.' I mentally noted it.

'You want to buy chocolates,' I asked offering him a 100 rupees note.

'I am not very fond of a chocolate uncle. I can only get 100 éclairs for your

money.'

'I show him Rs.500 note' to lure him.

He snatched it immediately from my hand and said, 'I can buy five hundred

éclairs now,' the kid exclaimed. Maybe the money I offered him is way more

than his pocket-money. He readily agreed and left from there. _Corruption_

_helps sometimes._

After a good two hours of waiting in front of her house the hard work paid

off. I saw her coming out of her home in her Scooty Pep wearing a ladies

open-face helmet and a shrug of full sleeves to protect her delicate and fair

skin from sun rays.

I started following her. My mission of finding out the Sunday-mystery

started.

I was keeping a safe distance from her to avoid any humiliation of following

a girl. My intention was not to disturb her, I just wanted to know what she

was doing without letting her know about my presence.

After about a five to six kilometers ride on that tortuous road, she finally took

a sharp left turn and entered the main gate of the vicinity. I lost catch on her,

as I had to maintain a distance and it was tough to keep eyes on her from a

distance.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

I parked my car near that lane, I was certain that she entered somewhere

there, in any of the society or building. I was trying to spot her Scooty at

every nearby parking lot.

I was tiptoeing down the lane searching for my girl. Few street dogs were

sleeping there at one corner of the lane. _Their life is simple compared to_

_humans, they don't have to fall in love to stay alive._

One dog woke up lazily and went near to an electric pole walking slowly, it

lifted its rear left leg and made the pole wet.

'Why in God's name I was looking at the dogs?' I thought when I a yellow

colored pamphlet stuck to that same pole grabbed my attention.

After reading it, I heaved a sigh of relief that I finally know what Shuchi does

every week.

It reads,

_Free medical check-up._

_Every Sunday._

_For Poor and needy._

My gut feeling pulled me inside the vicinity of that foundation. I went

astonished to see a long queue of deprived and needy people waiting

anxiously for their turn.

They were people who required treatment, but could not afford to go to a

fancy hospital. One who doesn't even get proper food can barely spend on

medicines.

And the government hospitals are akin to local trains in our country. There is

one doing the task of many. One hospital in the vicinity where at least 10

were needed always proves to be a malfunction in treating everybody no

matter how professionally they work.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I also stood in the queue to meet the doctor who was doing the splendid

service.

An aged woman sitting exterior to that room was acting as a receptionist. Her

job was way easier as compared to other receptionists in private hospitals. As

the deprived patients there were not trying to bribe her for making it fast with

the queue.

Everybody in the queue was staring at me. How often does a nice looking,

handsome guy with blue eyes stand in the queue of unprivileged patients?

When my turn came I went into an undersized formless, but a hygienic room.

I spotted Shuchi as the doctor of the venue, it wasn't a big surprise for me,

but for Shuchi it was.

She never expected me there in her wildest dreams.

'What are you doing here?'Shuchi asked to see me.

'First, you tell me, what are you doing here?'I said with a grin.

She didn't say anything, just dropped her eyelids.

'Oh! So this is the big secret, community service every Sunday that too

without telling anyone.'

'Rahul, we can discuss this in the evening when we meet at the CCD. Now I

have a very long queue of patients so let me treat them well.'

I left with pride and a smile on my face. I was feeling much better and light-

hearted than ever before.

My brain was actually ill that it doubted Shuchi. And she treated me well like

she is treating many others, for free.

Because of my curiosity, I saw the marvelous side of my girl. Curiosity not

always kills the cat, sometimes it is for good.

94

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_Arpit Agrawal_

####

It was written 'Pull' at the glass door of Café Coffee Day, Goregaon,

Mumbai. Still, I tried opening it by pushing. This is what happens to guys in

love. The world becomes a totally different place.

I read that sign later, laughed at myself and then pulled the door gently.

Shuchi was sitting inside waiting for me. Some girls can do multitasking and

still reach on time.

I was rehearsing the set of questions in my mind which I wanted to fire as

soon as I saw her, but her innocent cute face made me forget everything.

She was wearing an ordinary white round neck T-shirt paired with blue

denim, yet looked so beautiful.

You always look beautiful no matter what you wear, if you have the right

curves.

'May I have a seat, ma'am?' I said playfully.

'Why not, go and sit where ever you want,' she replied.

'May I sit with you if you don't mind?'

'I am waiting for someone.'

I pulled a chair for myself and said, 'I don't think he will come in time.'

'And why do you think that?'

'Because he is stupid. He always comes late. By the way, I am Rahul. And

you?'I offered a shake-hand.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You don't know me? I am quite famous,' she asked with a shrug of the

shoulders.

'After what I saw today, I don't think I know you at all,' I taunted her.

She kept silent for a while and dropped her eyelid. I ordered our usual

Cappuccino and Espresso. It was a romantic date earlier, but after the

morning episode, it turned into an official meeting with a fixed agenda.

I was expecting her to start explaining the whole thing about the community

service without asking, but she acted as if nothing happened.

After waiting for a few hundred seconds I initiated it saying, 'So...'

'Right from my childhood I always wanted to serve the needy people,' she

finally broke her silence.

'If you want to help, you can give some money to them. We only get one day

off in a week, if you will work even on that day, then when will you do other

things?' I interrupted her.

'Is donating money enough Rahul?' she cocked her head at me and sat

silently for a moment.

'I am a doctor. Isn't it my moral responsibility to treat people? If I won't do

it, who else will do?

And only my help isn't enough. I work for the whole day still I could not

examine all the patients who come there. I am all alone who is doing it. There

is only a cabal of people doing it. I wish if all the doctors in the country

thought the same way, no one will ever die again because of lack of

treatment.'

She looked at me after saying it as if asking me to join her. _Those eyes could_

_make me kill people; she just requested to save some._

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'Come on Shuchi, you are thinking too much about it,' I said to change the

topic.

She went poignant listening to me. She said in a shaky tone without making

an eye contact, 'When I was six years old, my father felt restless one night.

Mom called the doctor of the government hospital, but he switched off his

phone. My father couldn't deal with the illness till the morning for the

hospital to open and died just because of malaria.

Had the doctor woken up that night and treated my dad, he would have alive

today.'

I passed a tissue paper kept on the table to Shuchi to wipe her tears.

'That's the reason my mother made me doctor. And I promised her, I won't

let anybody die because of a non-severe disease as my father died.

'I am so sorry Shuchi. I didn't know all this. You are right; social service is a

doctor's responsibility. And from now onwards you are not alone for the

Sunday event, I will join you too,' I held her hands while saying this.

'And I will be able to spend more time with my girl' I thought.

'Thank you so much. It means a lot,' said Shuchi. She let me hold her hands.

'If you are doing this noble thing, why do you hide it from everyone?' I

asked.

'I don't know, I just never felt like sharing it. By the way, how did you find

me there?'

'I was stalking you right from your home' I just couldn't say it to her.

'I was in the neighborhood and saw you taking a turn into that lane, so I

followed you,' I said.

'Oh! I thought you were following me from my home,' she said and winked.

_Take my heart, forever..._

_Beware, the girls pretend that they don't know, but they always know it all._

'You should not hide it anymore. You ought to register your NGO and try to

spread its name.'

'I don't need a big name or fame. I do it for my pleasure. I want to care for

people gratuitously.'

'I am not talking about fame, but if you will publicize your idea, it will

encourage other doctors to do the same. Think of the bigger picture. Think of

a revolution,' I motivated her.

'I never thought it this way,' she said and looked at me with utter amazement.

'So tell me, how I can register my NGO and make it famous?' she was damn

excited now.

'You need to contact a lawyer for that. Do you know anyone?'

'I guess I know one,' she said.

'You want to order anything else,' I asked her as a courtesy before we leave.

We left there as she nodded.

I opened the door of the café correctly this time.

####

I reached home and took out my diary from my bag and started writing in it. I

wanted to share something with mom.

_Mom,_

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_Arpit Agrawal_

_You won't believe what I saw today. You remember the girl I told you about._

_Today I followed her. Oh come on, I did it just because I was curious to see_

_where she goes every Sunday._

_I thought she was having an affair with someone who doesn't deserve her._

_But mom, she turned out to be an angel, even better than I could ever_

_imagine._

_You always used to teach me this line, "A life not lived for others is not a life_

_well lived." Today I realized the worth of this line._

_Today I finally met a girl actually living your words._

_I am so happy mom._

_Take my heart, forever..._

**13**

Sid entered his office in an amazing mood. He moved his fingers on his table

and shouted at Akash, 'Why there is filth at my desk. Is the cleaning staff on

leave today?'

'Sir, this desk was wiped this morning.'

'Still, it is not clean enough, wipe it again or change the staff if they are not 
working properly.'

Akash was standing there keeping his head down. He was a lawyer too, but

he was happy to supervise the cleaning of Sid's office.

'Look at that painting. Do I have to take care of everything myself now? Why

the painting is looking tilted.'

Akash was already gone by that time shouting at the cleaning staff to clean

the office again.

'Sir, is there any big client coming to our office today?' asked Akash when

he came back.

'No, it's not about a client, my friend is coming today.'

'Sir, but you have an appointment with Mr. Shah today.' Akash reminded

Sid.

It was hard to believe for Akash. In his career of two and a half years with

Sid, he never noticed any friend of Sid coming to meet him. Who always

come there are either big politicians or businessman.

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'Cancel all my appointments today. Now go and arrange for the best snacks

available in the locality. And when she will be here, don't send anyone to me,

no matter how important the person is.'

Shuchi came on her scooty and parked it at the open parking near the

building towering above her. She removed her driving jacket and kept it the

under seat storage trunk of her scooty.

She then opened a small bag and got a comb out of it. She combed her hair

looking at the mirror installed in her vehicle to see rear objects.

It was visible to Sid from the window in Sid's cabin. He was standing there

waiting for his special friend. She had already informed Sid that she was

coming over the phone.

Sid sent Akash and all the other people out and asked them not to disturb

them. Sid stood up and shook hands with Shuchi as she entered his office.

'Have a seat,' Sid said, pointing towards the black and red leather covered

chair kept opposite to his desk.

Shuchi sat in the comfortable plush chair which was coincidentally matching

with her black dress she wore that day. The round shaped silver colored

earrings were dancing in her ears when she was moving her head. Her waist

length hair was kept open and resting in the arm-rest of the chair. She folded

her legs wrapped in skin-tight leggings and adjusted it below the table.

'So tell me Shuchi, what would you like to have? Coffee or some juice.'

'Please do not bother Sid. I am fine.'

'How can I not offer you anything, you came to my office for the first time,'

said Sid and signaled Akash to bring the snacks he ordered earlier.

'When you came first time to the hospital, everything I offered you was only

medicines,' she said and giggled.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'That's what hospitals are meant for, anyway, what can I do for you?' Sid

asked after they finished their coffee.

'I want to register an NGO. Hope you will do it for me.'

'NGO, don't you have any other work to do!' said Sid and passed a smirk.

'This is the reason why I don't tell anyone.' Shuchi thought.

'It's my idea of getting a little pleasure in life,' Shuchi said trying not to feel

offended.

'I take pleasure only in winning my cases in the courtroom, never tried

charity before; will give it a try sometime.'

'Humans can seek pleasure in unexpected places; it depends upon how we

take it. When we follow our heart, when we choose not to settle, the sun

shines a little brighter and for a brief moment at least, we find a little peace.'

_Girls talk philosophically when they are sad._

'I will register it for you. Give me a few details I am asking?' Sid said.

'Sure,' she cheered up.

'Okay, tell me the name you have decided for your NGO,' Sid started to note

it in his notepad.

'Name! I never gave it a thought.'

'Not a big deal, let's keep a name now. Tell me what the idea behind your

NGO is.'

'I want to bring everyone closer to each other, human should help other

human and everybody should be healthy.

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A doctor should treat, teachers should teach and everyone should help others

once in a week for free as per his or her skill set. Donating money isn't

enough, we should also donate our time is basically my idea.'

'It's an excellent concept.' Sid continued to think about it for a while. 'So we

have to keep a name which justifies your idea. Um... lemme think.'

Sid kept his head on his palms and trying his best to give it a name.

'Everybody should be closer... 'Near' or something like this.

' _Sameep_ ,' said Shuchi.

'It's an awesome name, Shuchi,' Sid almost shouted, it filled him with joy.

He was, in fact, enjoying doing something which was so stress-free and for a

good cause.

'Now I just need some documents, which you can email me later. I will

register "Sameep Foundation" then.'

'Oh really, that's so generous of you. Thanks Sid. It means a lot to me.'

There was an extra shine in the eyes of Shuchi, the purest form of happiness

which Sid never witnessed before in his cluster of affluent and shady people.

Shuchi kept her hands on top of Sid's hands kept on the table in order to

show her gratitude. It increased Sid's heartbeat.

'Please help us, sir, help us...' a voice came from outside the cabin. Sid came

out of his fantasy.

A man in his forties entered the office. Akash along with two security guards

came running after the man.

'Why did you let him in?'Siddhartha stood up and shouted at Akash, his joy

vanished, the old Sid came back.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Sir, we tried to stop him, but he escaped and ran up to here.'

'Take him out... out now,' Sid shouted at the top of his voice.

His eyes were filled with tears, but it didn't melt Sid's heart.

_Tear gives anger to Sid, not affection. In his lifetime practicing law, he had_

_seen many weepy eyes._

Security guards grabbed him by his arms and dragged him out of the room.

The man continued to say, 'Sir, please listen to us, we are in a problem and

only you could help. Our kids will die, we will be bankrupt. Help us, sir.'

Having no mercy Sid was just waiting for him to go out.

'At least listen to him. Ask him what he needs from you,' Shuchi interrupted.

'He is just a villager Shuchi. People out there have lots of problems. And do

you think he could afford my fees? I can't help all of them!'

'Okay, you don't help all of them, but at least help the one who comes to you.

There are lots of patients too in the world, we can't treat them all, but we

surely treat the one who comes to our hospital. And why do you care so much

about the fees, you yourself promised me that you will try doing some

charity. Why don't you start now?

What is life if we don't care for others more than ourselves?

That is what makes us humans, right?'

'But nobody cared for me when I needed the most. I always had to stand for

myself.'

'Yeah, it is because you never accepted people. You never permitted anybody

to get closer to you.

104

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_Arpit Agrawal_

The world is like a mirror, it will illustrate what you are. If you would stand

in front of it wearing a mask of fright, anxiety and disgust, it will show you

the same.

You have to love to get loved.

In some cases, it may take time, but this is how it works. Promise me; you

will think of others; you will think of people first before thinking of me or

yourself.'

'Let him in...' Sid called Akash and said.

Within a second the man entered the room again as if he was waiting outside

to be called.

'Many thanks to you, sir, thanks for listening to me.'

'Tell me what your problem is?'

'Sir, I am Rambabu from Khaprikal, it's a village 10 Kilometers near Panvel

(Mumbai).'

Sid just nodded, expecting to hear more from him.

'I have ten more people with me standing outside. Sir, we are farmers, we

have our own fields there. But last month a builder captured all our land and

said he is going to make a big residential society and a shopping mall there.

He has prepared fake papers of our lands. He is asking us to sell our fields to

him or he will get it anyway.'

'So why don't you go to the police and register your complaint?'

'We went to the police, but they are not registering our case because of the

builder's political connection. The inspector threatened me saying he will

arrest me for any false allegation if I go there again.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'It seems to be a real trouble, but how can I help you with this?' Sid looked

puzzled.

'Sir, we know you can do anything. If you will be ready to help us, any

builder can do us no harm. You are our last hope. We are sure if you take our

case we will surely win.'

Sid was in the dilemma. He wasn't scared of any builder, but he never took

troubles for free earlier. Shuchi was skeptical to witness the incident.

'Sir, the land is all we have. We can't do anything other than farming. If they

will snatch our land from us, we will die, sir. We will die...' the man

continued with folded arms.

The emotional moment brought tears to Shuchi's eyes. Sid looked at Shuchi

and without giving a second thought he just said, 'Ok, I am with you.'

Sid called Akash and ordered him, 'Note down every detail related to their

village and that builder. Inquire about that builder, by the evening I want to

know everything about him, where he eats, where he sleeps and with whom

he sleeps. I want to know him more than his father knows him.'

Rambabu stood up, wipe the water in his sleep-deprived eyes and tried to

smile, but it was not so easy for him.

'God bless you two...' were his parting words. His blessing was bigger than

any fees for Sid.

It was for the first time he took any case with no money involved in it. Yet he

felt the best he ever felt in his career before.

'There is something I want to say to you, please don't mind,' Shuchi said.

'Okay, shoot,' Sid felt nervous.

'Thanks that you accepted that case. You are not what you think of yourself.

You are a lot nicer person in your heart.'

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'Thanks,' he said.

'Yes, I know I am changing, and the reason is you.' Sid thought.

Sid was feeling a soft ache in his heart called love.

'So what about your fees?'Shuchi asked innocently.

'No way, I won't take money from you,' Sid said.

'No, no you have to take it,' Shuchi pleaded.

'You have already done charity for the day by accepting that case. Now it's

okay if you charge me,' Shuchi chuckled.

'Give me something other than money, if you really want to,' said Sid.

'Okay, what?'

'How about a dinner date with me?'

Shuchi passed shy looks, didn't say anything.

'Consider it my fees. Please don't refuse,' Sid guessed her hesitation and

said.

'Okay then, we can go this weekend,' Shuchi confirmed.

'I must leave now. I will email you the rest of the documents by the evening,'

said Shuchi and left from there.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**14**

Shuchi came to the hospital keeping her head bowed to the ground.

She was wearing a burgundy turtleneck t-shirt and skinny blue denim. The

regular smile on her face was clearly missing that day. She still managed to

look divine without her magical smile.

'Hey Fish, why you are looking so sad? Did you spot someone prettier than

you?'I asked.

She didn't laugh at what I said. Usually, she does.

'Nothing ya, there is no such reason,' she said.

'Tell me. I am a magician. I can make it go away.'

'I am feeling like life has become a treadmill, running so fast, still reaching

nowhere.'

'That's quite philosophical. But why are you feeling it?'

'It's about the NGO I started. We have identified forty kids who require

hernia operation,' she said.

'It's good that you spotted the disease. Why don't you just do the operation?'

'We need to appoint surgeons and logistics to do it. We need funding for it.

And our NGO has no source of income. I don't know how we will get the

money. There is no way visible to help those kids.'

'Don't worry Shuchi, where there is a will there is a way.'

'Ah! I wish if my grandfather had left me a will of Rupees 100 crores. But

there is no will and no way in my life.'

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'Don't worry, I will ask my dad to donate the money. After all, charity begins

at home.'

'You are misinterpreting the phrase, Rahul. I can't take money from you. It

has to be a teamwork.'

'Then why don't you raise funds from the public.'

'I don't know how to do it. I just never asked people for help before.' _Pretty_

_girls never ask for help, helping them is an opportunity for boys._

'Oh come on, it's not at all tough to ask people for a donation. You just need

to play with their emotions,' I said biting an apple from the fruit bowl kept at

my table.

'Aha, I know how you impress girls and then you play with their emotions,

but how can I play with people's emotions,' she said in a playful tone. She

also picked up an apple from the basket and rubbed on her apron to clean it.

'First of all, tell me, have you registered the NGO?'

'Yes, Siddhartha did it for me.'

Ah! The mere mention of his name saddens me. I cursed myself thinking why

I asked her to meet a lawyer in the first place.

'We have to make an appealing advertisement asking for donations and then

telecast it on the television.'

She was just staring at me flabbergasted.

'And I could do the modeling in the ad for free,' I chuckled.

'Rahul, we have to make an ad for poor kids, not for a rich brat. And it would

cost us a fortune to telecast an ad on television. If we would have that much

money, we could do the operation easily, no need to raise fund then.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Then we could easily publish an ad in a leading newspaper. The cost is very

less that way and we can get lots of good people who can donate.'

'Really?' her eyes sparkled as she imagined it.

'It's an awesome idea. We can also take pictures of the kids who need the

operation and then publish it with the ad. It will touch people's heart,' she

suggested. Her idea touched my heart that very moment.

'But don't forget to give the official bank account number of your NGO with

the ad so that people can deposit money to that account,' I reminded her.

'I will do it,' she said. 'But what if it won't work?' Her face turned gloomy

again. 'It's tough to do good deeds in life!'

'You know that feeling Shuchi, when you are on a jumping board and you

look down at the water, it looks so high up. But it actually isn't so high!

It's a kind of metaphor about everything that looks tricky in our life. So the

only possibilities are to go back to sit on the side and look at the impossible

or to dive in and surprise yourself!

And the thing is one who takes the risk and dives in, comes back up, so no

drowning. See just go for it and if it doesn't work, no problem, cause we all

come back up and breathe again.'

'Awww, you are so caring Rahul. Be my dad in my next birth,' she said and

giggled. _Girls can giggle at anything._

My speech worked and in a jiffy, she left to prepare the ad. When something

comes to her mind, she becomes restless until it's done.

This is something I love the most about her. On the other hand, I ignore my

work up till eternity.

110

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_Arpit Agrawal_

####

'Hey, what happened? Have you sent the ad to the newspaper?' I asked her

the next day.

She looked miserable once again. The world stops spinning on its axis for a

while when she is gloomy. _At least my world!_

'I don't know when all the troubles will go away from my life. I went to 'The

Hindustan Times of India' newspaper yesterday for them to publish the ad,

but they said they are all booked for this month and they can't publish my ad.

I also told them that it is for a noble cause and they should consider it as a

charity, but they said, they don't believe in charity.' She was sad, very sad

that day. All her happiness and optimism vanished all over again.

'I still left the copy of the ad there and requested them to see if they could

manage a space. I am just waiting for good news now,' said Shuchi and

became quiet.

'Don't you worry girl. You will soon get good news from them. Soon, very

soon...' saying this I left the room. I knew how to deal with the news agency.

I called my dad's secretary to arrange the number of the editor of the

newspaper.

'Hi, is it the editor of THOI,' I said as he picked up the phone.

'Yes, who is this?'

'I am Rahul Patel, owner of Patel groups of Industries. We publish front page

ads with your newspaper if you remember.'

'Oh, yes, sir, of course, I know. Tell me, sir, what can I do for you. Is it

regarding the ads we have finalized for this month?' asked the editor.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Yes, it is regarding the same. Cancel all the booking of ads from my

company to your newspaper for this month and for all the coming months.

We don't want to do business with you anymore,' I said in a firm voice.

It beat the shit out of the editor. He was nearly dying. The newspaper

business is based only on ads; they can't afford to lose their giant client at

any cost.

'Sir... but why, sir, what happened, did we do something off beam?' the

editor asked in south Indian accent with utter shock.

'Your newspaper is very much business oriented. You guys don't do a little

bit of charity. I don't want to publish my ads in a newspaper who doesn't

know their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).'

'Sir, I don't know what you are talking about. Which kind of social

responsibility you want us to do,' the editor asked me in a hurried voice. He

was panting as if he completed a hundred meter run.

'You remember a doctor came to you yesterday on behalf of an NGO.'

'I got it, sir. You will see that ad published tomorrow.'

'And do one more charity to me, never let her know that I called,' I said and

hung up the call.

I was going to Shuchi to enlighten the news to cheer her up, but on the way, I

realized that she will become happier if she will directly see the ad published

in the newspaper tomorrow. It would be a grand surprise for her.

The next morning, I went a bit early to the hospital to show her the

newspaper as I know she never read the newspaper at her home.

'I am very hungry; I haven't taken breakfast at home today, can we please go

to the cafeteria?'

I asked to trick her to go to the cafeteria to read the newspaper there.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'I would love to Rahul, but I already ate.'

'So what, can't you come along with me?'

'Okay, but make it quick.' She agreed to go along with me.

I ordered two orange juices and one plate cheese grilled sandwich. I also

asked the shopkeeper for the day's newspaper.

I kept the newspaper on the table in front of her and was expecting her to

pick up the paper and read, but nothing as such happened. _Girls you know._

I took a bite of sandwich and a sip of orange juice from the straw. I was

getting uneasy that when she will pick the paper and start reading.

'Hey, can we go for a movie this weekend? Why don't you check in the

newspaper if there is any good movie released this week?' I said.

I was sitting fingers crossed and expecting her to pick up the paper and will

also look at the ad accidentally.

'No Rahul, I don't like watching movies much. Leave it'.

'Oh come on, at least check out which movie is released this weekend.'

'I have no interest in movies, Rahul,' she said bluntly.

I was eating the sandwich like a bird, utterly slow to give her more time with

the newspaper.

'You know the big winter sale is going on. It must be given in the newspaper

that which brand is offering the maximum discount.' _She might be a shopping_

_freak if not a movie freak I guess._

I finished the breakfast and she also finished drinking the orange juice

eventually but didn't touch the newspaper.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Come, let's go...' she said, throwing the disposable glass in the garbage bin.

She didn't show a bit of interest in shopping either.

'Let me read the newspaper first,' I said. 'Someone should read at least!' I

thought.

'Come na, I have lots of patients today.'

'It won't take more than two minutes. I just want to read the headlines.'

I opened the newspaper and kept the side where the ad was printed facing

Shuchi and pretend like reading the other side.

'Rahul!' she shouted my name out of enthusiasm as she finally looked at the

ad.

I knew the surprise still I got petrified listening to her shriek.

'Look Rahul, our ad is published here,' she said.

'Oh really! Where?' I said and looked at the other side of the paper with

amazement.

She started dancing out of joy and hugged me. _I never knew that my surprise_

_will surprise me back in this way._

It was a rapid hug, not a planned one. She held my back with her hands. I

kept my hands in the air, I wanted to hold her waist, but I didn't. 'She might

feel offended.' I thought.

She is fresh, soft and divine. I couldn't resist anymore and hugged her back. I

kept my hands at her waist gently.

We hugged for half a minute and then she released me. I regretted keeping

my hands there. 'She released me so soon because I made her

uncomfortable.' I thought. Or maybe I was just over thinking.

114

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_Arpit Agrawal_

I can still feel her in my arms, even after she released me. Her fragrance filled

my mind. I wish if time could freeze right there for eternity. Nothing else I

wished for in my entire life and in my next birth.

'Oh, Rahul I am so happy. They said they will publish it whenever they get

some space, but they published it just after a day. Isn't it great? I have to call

the editor to thank him.'

'Yeah, you should really thank him,' I said and smiled.

_It's unconditional love when you do something for someone without looking_

_for the credit of doing it._

_Take my heart, forever..._

**15**

****

Sid's Audi might be travelling for the first time on a torturous road like that.

There were pits in the roads more than the number of scams the politicians

do. Akash was giving company to him sitting in the back seat of his car.

The hot sun was showcasing its best performance that day. Air conditioner

installed in the car proved to be a failure to give comfort to Sid.

'Sir, why are you going there,' asked Akash.

Sid passed a stern look.

'I mean, is it essential for you to go there personally. I could go there and

collect the information if you needed some,' said Akash looking at the bad

condition of the road.

Sid was wearing a cream-colored plaid blazer and a light blue shirt. The 5

o'clock shadow beard made its mark on his fair cheek.

'I want to see it myself Akash. I cannot take chances in this case. The lives of

many villagers are involved with this case.'

Khaprikal – 3 KMs, read the milestone in the roadside.

They were going to the village to see the land captured by the builder from

the deprived villagers.

The village was based in the midst of natural surroundings. The charm of

nature justifies the remark of the famous poet Cowper, "God made the

country and men made the town."

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_Arpit Agrawal_

Two black buffalo matching the color of Sid's car started following the car as

it entered the village. There was a rough road surrounded by fields on both

the sides. After the roller coaster ride, Sid reached the disputed land.

A board saying "Proposed site of Sidil Builders" was installed there in the

field. Most of the villagers weren't able to read the board. Most of them were

illiterate.

'It is indeed a prime location for a new township.' thought Sid.

'Where is Rambabu's house?' Sid asked one villager passing by as they

reached the village.

Akash tried to call Rambabu's number from his mobile, but it was not

reachable.

'Sir, please don't take the land from us,' said the man to Sid unknowingly

with folded hands.

'What!' Sid exclaimed.

'We are not the one you are thinking. You just tell us where Rambabu lives,'

Akash replied in between.

Sid ignored him totally. He barely spends his energy on talking baloney.

'Your car won't go to the street where Rambabu lives, sir. I will go and call

him here,' said the man, looking at Sid's car.

'Ramu bhaiya, someone from the city is looking for you...' he started

shouting right from there and left riding his deprived bicycle.

Rambabu reached there in no time along with dozens of other farmers to

welcome Sid as soon as he comes to know of his arrival.

The villagers are communally knit together. All of them appeared outside of

their houses in a jiffy.

_Take my heart, forever..._

More or less they were wearing a similar dress, off-white vest or kurta and

matching dhoti. Few rich and noteworthy natives among them were wearing

a turban on their head.

The whole village gathered there to welcome Sid after they come to know

that he isn't the builder. They had a slavish respect for Sid.

They offered a particular drink made up of jaggery to Sid and Akash as a

welcome drink.

'Son, it will keep your mind and stomach cool,' the oldest guy among them

said.

At first, Sid was timid to drink that bizarre liquid served in mud cup. Then he

gave it a shot and definitely not regretted it. Akash didn't drink it thinking it

to be unhygienic in a mud cup.

Starting from children to very aged ones were queued in front of Sid, folding

hands. Everybody wanted to see the man who was going to save them from

the brutal builder.

Sid never earned that much cachet in life before. He minted money, which in

due course gave him a lot of prestige, but the love he got there in the village

was diverse. Sid realized what he missed all through his life.

'Show me the sale deed of the land,' said Siddhartha to Rambabu and other

villagers.

The villagers looked reluctant listening to him.

'Go and bring me the papers,' Sid said.

Few of them left for their home to search for the paper, others who knew they

don't have one at home kept standing there keeping a mum.

'What happened?' Sid asked one of them, 'Where are the papers?'

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_Arpit Agrawal_

'Sir, Fire caught my house thirteen years back, my papers were burnt in that

fire.'

'You never applied for a duplicate copy at registrar office?'

The villager stood silent, didn't reply.

Sid asked another villager.

'Sir, water seeped inside my house during the rainy season. My paper got

destroyed in that water.'

Another man said, he mortgaged his paper to the landlord and he didn't get it

back from him even after he repaid his loan.

Only a few villagers presented the original papers.

'This is the reason why that builder is planning to capture the Land.'

'Rambabu, when you came to my office you said you have all the papers.

Where are the papers? You lied to me,' Sid got livid.

'Sir, I agree that we are ignorant villagers. I agree that we should have kept

proper care of the sale deeds as they are very important. I agree that all of us

don't have the papers, but it doesn't mean in any way that the land belongs to

that builder. This land belongs to our ancestors. We have been doing farming

here for decades.

That builder is trying to take advantage of our weakness.'

'Okay, now let me go. I will come back very soon with a solution,' Sid said,

all set to go from there bare handed.

Rambabu became a little sad and dissatisfied, maybe he was expecting a

solution right then.

'Ok, sir, we will be waiting for you,' said Rambabu and followed Sid to his

car.

_Take my heart, forever..._

The Audi R8 Courpe left the village fluttering the dust all over the road.

120

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**16**

After few days Shuchi was sitting miserably again, the same way when she

got refused by the newspaper editor.

_Where do girls get that look from, which make guys do almost anything?_

'Why are you looking sad again? What is it, constipation?' I asked.

'Shut up! When was the last time you talked straight words to me?'

'That would be boring, trust me. Tell me, why you are looking as if you are

the captain of a sinking ship?'

'Because it is true, my Titanic is really about to sink.'

'But why, what is it this time?'

'We registered our NGO first. Then also prepared that appealing ad, then I

anyhow managed to get it published in the newspaper, but nothing of it

actually worked. We haven't received enough donations yet to do the

operation.'

'What!' I got surprised.

'Yes, we need at least five lakhs rupees for the operation, but we have

received only 3 Lakhs yet. If we won't get the rest of the amount, how we

will perform the operation?'

'Only three lakhs? We would have raised more funds had we started a

political party instead.' I thought.

Shuchi sit there making a sad face. She was wearing a salwar suit; it was a

radiant combination of grey top, maroon bottom and maroon dupatta.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'I can donate it. 2 lakhs isn't a big deal,' I said innocently. _I could just do_

_anything for her._

'Why would you donate it alone, no way, I won't take it from you,' she said.

Because she knows I will do it for her, not for the charity.

'That's why I didn't tell you that I called the newspaper editor; I know you

won't let me help you.' I thought.

'Okay, let's hope for the best and wait. Good things happen when we wait,' I

said and patted her back.

Few days passed and she came to me again. This time she wasn't gloomy

anymore, she was immensely happy instead.

'Rahuuulll guess what' she said singing my name.

'What?'

'Suddenly, miraculously, few Good Samaritans donated the money required

for the operation' she shouted out of excitement as soon as she entered the

room. 'It is just thirty thousand less, but that I can easily manage that from

my salary.'

'Congratulations' I stood up and exclaimed.

She was damn happy that day. The entire miracle happened again. She

hugged me again. Even tighter this time. I smelled her hair again and felt the

softness of her body at my chest again.

Her happiness made me realize that each penny which I deposited into the

account of her NGO was worth it. I know she asked me not to but how

anyone can see the girl of his dreams gloomy and do nothing about it.

I didn't deposit the exact amount because that way she could doubt that I

made the deposit.

122

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_Arpit Agrawal_

Shuchi left spreading happiness again. There is something about her. I always

get positive vibes talking to her. As it is said, pessimists say the glass is half

empty, optimists say the glass is half filled, but my girl doesn't waste much

time in just saying, she finds out a way to get some more water to fill in the

glass and then give it to thirsty people.

I wanted to share it with my mom. I unlocked my secret drawer and bring out

my diary and started writing in it.

_Mom,_

_Today I want to share something personal, please don't tell it to her... I think_

_I love Shuchi. She is really nice mom. She is just like you._

_I feel happy when I am with her and the best part is, she feels the same. I am_

_not scared of anything. I don't even feel hunger if I am talking to her._

_Whenever my phone beeps I wish it is a message from her. Whenever my_

_doorbell rings, I wish her at my door._

_And it happened automatically as you always said. I never tried to fall in love_

_with her. I wonder how making her happy seems to be the only right thing to_

_do._

_I know mom, you have sent her to me from the heaven._

_Soon I will share my feelings with her. I think she already knows, still, it_

_needs to be said.'_

__

Shuchi forgot her notepad at my cabin, she came back to pick it up. She

entered without knocking and she noticed me writing the diary.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Hey, chap! What are you writing in there? Show it to me,' she said trying to

snatch the diary from me.

'No Shuchi, it is personal,' I said hiding it behind my back.

I quickly put it in the locker and kept the keys in my pocket.

'Oh come on, tell me, are you writing a love letter to your girlfriend,' she

said teasing me.

'It is a letter filled with love but not a love letter...' I said miserably. I was

missing my mom and it was evident by my facial expressions.

'What happened, are you okay?' she asked in a concerned tone.

'Yes, I am fine, it is a diary given to me by my mom.'

'Oh great, you never told me about your mom, where is she.'

'She is no more... I was a kid when she left me forever. I liked writing from

my childhood, so she gifted me this diary. I believe whatever I write in this

diary goes directly to her.'

'Oh, I am so sorry for her, what had happened to her?'

'Can we just not discuss this please...?'

'Awww.... I never knew.'

'You never knew what!'

'That you are this sensitive.'

'Sometimes I feel you don't know me at all.'

####

124

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_Arpit Agrawal_

I called her at night before I went to sleep. We are friends now; I don't have

to think of a reason to call her anymore.

'What are you doing?' I said to start a casual conversation.

'Reading a book saying "how to avoid late night calls"' she said.

'Your book is a failure then. There are few calls you couldn't avoid.'

'Like?'

'Like from any patient, your parents or from your boyfriend.'

'Don't talk about boyfriends. They create troubles in life.'

'And you think girlfriends are easy to handle!'

'Of course. Any doubts?' she said in an obvious tone.

'You can't feel the dilemma of a boyfriend. We only know.'

'Aha! I can't feel it because there is none.'

'You want to feel it?' I asked.

'How?'

'Okay, I have an idea. You become a boy and I will be your girlfriend.'

'I am not going to do a sex transplant just to know this,' she giggled.

'I didn't mean that. I am talking about Role-Play game.'

'Now what is it, Rahul? I better sleep instead.'

'Come on, it is fun. It's a game in which the participants assume the roles of

characters and collaboratively create stories and talk like that. I will talk like

_Take my heart, forever..._

your girlfriend to you and you talk like my boyfriend and then you will

realize how harsh it is to answer a girl.'

'Okay. Seems fun. You start.'

'Hi baby, we have not seen any movie for a while. Come soon, we will go,' I

said mimicking a girl.

'Okay.'

'When will you come to pick me?' I said.

'Just a sec,' she said.

'Awww, just in a second. This much you love me.'

'I said wait for a second. I am working.'

'Whenever I call you, you are busy with your boring work. Now leave that

work and come soon baby. Time is running fast and I don't want to miss the

beginning of the movie.'

'Darling please wait I am in the office.' She called me darling, what if just in

a game.

'I have been waiting for so long now, if you will not come soon, I'll go with

someone else.'

'Work baby.'

'You know how many boys proposed to me?' I said. Girls may not say it, but

they think about it all the time. The number of guys proposed them is like a

score for them.

'Haha. Okay, I will ask my secretary to cancel my further meetings.'

'That's better.'

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'So are you wearing that dress today?' she said.

'Which one my sweetheart.' This game was a perfect chance for me to flirt

with her.

'The one I gifted you.'

'Yes, honey and I also did 10 kg of makeup for you.'

'Hahaha, girls don't say that in real,' stated Shuchi.

'I reached your home. Standing at the entrance. Come here,' she said.

'I crept downstairs and meet you.'

'Hi, how are you?' she said.

'I lean on to you and planted a kiss on your cheek,' I said.

'Areyyy...' She felt shy maybe. 'Girls don't kiss first.'

I am playing a girl in this role-play, but I am a guy at heart.

'Today only I shaved. Don't make my cheeks dirty by your lipstick,' she

said.

'Awwww.'

'Hehe, what is this awww?'

'This is what girls say when they don't know what to say next.'

'Now start your bike,' I said.

'Come baby hold me,' she said.

'I did'. Oh boy! I was actually getting shy.

'Why are you looking at other girls at the signal?'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Who?'

'See straight. I'm jealous.'

'Aauuchhhh another breaker, ride slow baby what's the hurry?' I said.

'Starting of the movie,' she said.

'I'm waiting, go and park your bike,' I said like a girl would say at the

theatre.

'Okay sweetie, your superman will be back in a second,' she said.

'Waiting for you like craaaazzzyyyyyyy.'

'I am back,' she said in SRK style.

'I see some stores in the mall. Baby, I want that wrist-watch.' Girls behave in

a mall like children do at a candy shop.

'Hold my hand, else you will go for shopping,' Shuchi said. 'First movie,

then shopping.'

'If you want to get the benefits in the movie, let me do shopping first,' I said.

'So cheap,' she said.

'Kidding.' I laughed extra loud to cover my poor joke.

'I want popcorn and a large coke,' I said.

'You fat football. How much you will eat?'

'Awww, I asked for both of us,' I said.

'Ok baby. The movie starts.'

'What are you doing, _hath hatao_ ,' I said.

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'Why?' she said.

'I don't like it.'

'You don't want me to hold your hands?' she said.

'No honey, people are watching us,' I said.

'They are busy watching the movie.'

'Boy kissed the girl,' she said.

She was playing it so well that I was feeling like kissing her in real. I couldn't

say anything and went silent.

'Abey shy ho tu...' she said.

'Awwww,' I was just lost in thoughts.

'I love you,' I said.

'What!' she said.

'I said in the role-play.'

'I think I get it now. Being a boyfriend is not so easy,' she said to end the

game and she ignored my 'I love you'.

She was blushing; I could sense it in her voice.

'Yeah now you get it,' I said. Thanks to the one who invented this game.

'We should sleep now. Good night. Miss me,' she said.

'Why?' I said with a chuckle. 'Why would I miss you?'

'I bet you will,' she said and disconnected the call.

_Take my heart, forever..._

We were certainly more than 'just friends' by then. I really wish if we could

do all the things in real what we discussed in the game.

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**17**

'Akash get me a diamond ring, the prettiest one available in the store,' Sid

said to Akash.

'Sir, for you?' asked Akash getting surprised by the weird demand by his

boss.

'For a girl. Take this blank cheque. I have signed it, fill the amount in it and

get me the most beautiful ring available in Mumbai.'

'Sir, is it to gift someone?' Akash just asked out of curiosity.

Akash crossed his figure after he asked it, he was expecting a rude answer

from Siddhartha like, 'it is none of your business' or similar.

But Siddhartha politely replied, 'Yes, I have a date this evening.'

He told Akash the truth in a single line, without being offensive this time. Sid

was changing. Finally!

Sid took the ring which Akash bought and didn't even care to ask for the

price. The only thing occupied his mind was to meet Shuchi.

Sid was wearing a designer white shirt and a bespoke custom made red velvet

tuxedo jacket on top of it, clubbed with well-fitted trouser and pair of the

formal shoe including roundish tiptoe, black, textured and silver brooch. Sid

was looking like the bridegroom of a big fancy wedding. He reached to pick

up Shuchi in a black Limousine which he specially hired for the occasion.

It was a luxury sedan with a partition between the driver and the passenger

compartment driven by a chauffeur. Sid called Shuchi as he reached outside

her house.

_Take my heart, forever..._

She came out of her house and got surprised looking at the Limo, she didn't

expect it.

'Awww, this is just way too much Sid,' she said keeping her hands in her

mouth.

Sid pecked her on the cheek slowly like a gallant gentleman. Shuchi found it

utterly weird, but she ignored it.

'I always had this dream. A black Limo and a gorgeous girl wearing a

backless dress' replied Sid.

Shuchi found it a bit weird still she blushed.

Shuchi was wearing a simple knee-length white color dress tailored in regular

fit, with golden color stilettos working its best in adding the glamour to her.

She was underdressed for the occasion as compared to Sid, for her it was a

usual dinner.

They went to the 'Ocean – The Pan Asian restaurant.'

It's an open terrace restaurant in the heart of Mumbai. A gigantic marine

aquarium sporting over 1,400 colorful fishes was picturesque at the entrance.

Chef Nimnu offers a tantalizing menu of 'fruits de mer' with delectable

scallops steamed to perfection and prawns on sugarcane. Lobster Chilli Basil,

Khaukswe and Steamed Sea Bass showcase the ocean of variety.

It was around eight in the evening, the restaurant was adjacent to the

seashore; the sound of waves from the sea was in harmony with the violin

playing in the restaurant in a very low pitch. It needs quite a fortune to visit

such a fancy place.

'I have booked for Mr. Roy,' said Sid as the waiter welcomed the couple.

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'Okay, sir,' said the waiter and scooted out from there with a large grin on his

face as if he just won a lottery. He had a scrawny physique and a protuberant

Adam's apple.

Within a few seconds, he returned with a larger grin and directed them

towards the table booked by Akash for them. It was a separate corner of the

restaurant on the airy roof specially designed for a couple.

Sid pulled the chair for her.

'How is this restaurant? You liked it?'

'It is very good Sid, but don't you think you have done so much of an

arrangement. It is just a dinner treat after all.'

'No, it isn't just a dinner treat.' There were other motives in Sid's mind after

all.

'Excuse me!' Shuchi got surprised, she was not able to understand what was

going on.

'I mean it is a chance for me to meet the best doctor in the city, not just a

dinner.'

Shuchi smiled in response. She was still not getting what was going on.

The waiter served them water and soups. He kept the menu booklet at the

table and stood at a distance to wait for them to decide and order the food.

'Why don't you order for us?' Sid passed the menu towards Shuchi?

'I don't know what to order.'

'What are your favorite dishes? Order them.'

'There is nothing in particular.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Then order something usual, not particular. The waiter was getting

impatient. He so much wanted to snatch the menu from Shuchi and take the

order himself. He still kept standing there with a smile.

This is the only time when we keep a Waiter waiting. And then he takes

revenge by delivering the food ten times delayed.

She couldn't resist it further, looked at the menu and tried to search for

something familiar. The menu was actually a 45-page book of dishes from all

the countries present on planet Earth. They call usual food with bizarre names

in fancy restaurants.

Finally, she found the page with the heading 'Indian Main Course'. She felt

patriotic and ordered, 'Bhindi do pyaza and Kadhai Paneer.' These are the

dishes every middle-class person orders when they go out for dinner. They

ordered butter-rotis and Hyderabadi-Biryani along with it.

The waiter left after he saved the order on his Palmtop PC. The device was

directly connected to the head-chef for order delivery and reception for

generation of the bill.

'There is no hurry, take your time,' said Siddhartha.

'See there a shooting star,' said Shuchi showing him her index figure

pointing at the sky, a sheer benefit of sitting in the open terrace.

The stars were sparkling in the sky and there was a shine in the eyes of

Shuchi too. She is so beautiful that you would never get tired of looking at

her.

'Do you believe in shooting-stars?' Sid said, looking at the sky.

'Make a wish,' said Shuchi, 'just make a wish.'

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'What if I don't have anything to wish for? What if everything I could ever

want is already with me?' Sid replied. Sid was thinking of Shuchi at the

moment.

'Then wish that nothing changes.'

Moonlight fall on Shuchi's cheeks was looking gracious. Shuchi closed her

sparkling eye to make a wish.

Sid was silently staring at Shuchi when her eyes were closed, she looked as

innocent as a newly born baby sleeping.

'What? What are you looking at?' she asked as she opened her eyes.

'Nothing. What did you wish for?'

'I can't tell you, it is a saying that if we share a wish, it won't become true.'

'Do you really think Shuchi that miracles happen? Do wishes get fulfilled by

God? Santa comes at Christmas Eve to gift his beloved children? You believe

in superstition, do you?

Shuchi felt a little offended. Sid's voice was higher than the usual. The

lawyer inside him woke up for a while.

'I know to watch a shooting star and to ask for a wish may not work. I know

that miracles don't happen easily, but, sometimes, all we need in life is just a

Miracle.'

'Miracle is for weak people.' _Siddhartha had the ability to switch a romantic_

_dinner date into an argument._

'You know when we were kids, and we believed in fairy tales, we lay in bed

at night and closed our eyes, and we had complete and utter faith, faith in

God, faith in the universe.

_Take my heart, forever..._

But eventually we grow up and the fairy tale disappears. People start to

change; we just can't trust them anymore.

But the thing is it's hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely. Because almost

everyone has the smallest bit of hope, or faith, that one day they'll open their

eyes and it will come true.

And to talk about that, superstition, it lies in the space between what we can

control and what we can't.'

Sid was just lost in Shuchi rather than what she was saying.

'I am a doctor, I do surgeries and I know if I fold hands in front of God

before surgery, it won't help to keep the patient alive.

If I find a penny and I pick it, it won't bring me good luck. I know saying it

thirty- three times or eleven coconuts won't really help.

But we still hang lemon-chilies at the door; we still rely on superstitions

because we're smart enough to know that we don't have all the answers

because no one wants to pass up a chance for good luck.

I know a shooting star is far away from planet Earth and can't actually fulfill

my wish. Still why to take a chance?'

'Could you please serve,' Sid smiled and said to the waiter as he arrived with

their ordered cuisine.

The waiter nodded and arranged cutlery in front of Shuchi and Sid and served

the delicious food.

'It's an elegant and tasty food,' stated Sid after he took his first bite.

'Indeed,' said Shuchi and started enjoying the food.

'Shuchi I have something to say to you,' said Sid as he finished the dinner

and wipe his hands with the napkin placed on the table.

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'Yes tell me.'

Sid took out the ring which he was hiding in the pocket of his tuxedo, keeps it

on the table and said in a single breath, 'Shuchi, will you marry me?'

'What?' the food Shuchi was eating chocked in her food pipe. She drank a sip

of water from the glass kept in the table.

Shuchi never believed that Sid would propose to her, she might get a hint

from Sid's behavior that he likes her, but she never ever imagined that he will

seriously propose for marriage.

'I love you Shuchi, will you marry me?' Sid repeated himself still sitting in

his chair.

_Any other guy would have knell down to his knees and say these lines with a_

_rose in his hands, but it is too much drama for Sid._

'I am sorry Sid, but we don't even know each other.'

'We have the whole life ahead to know each other.'

Sid was expecting Shuchi to pass a gratifying smile and say 'I love you too'.

Sid was certain that he could impress her with his wealth and glamor, but

nothing as such happened.

'All my life I only hated people, you are the one who somehow changed my

heart and originated love in my heart. I really love you Shuchi, I can do

anything for you, please don't break my heart.' Sid said to fill the awkward

silence between them.

'But I don't love you, Sid. I consider you only as my good friend' Shuchi's

eyes were moist, her voice became heavy.

_Guys see the same girl as his best friend, girlfriend, and wife, but sadly girls_

_need a different person for each role._

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Can I ask you why? Am I not attractive enough to you?'

'No no Siddhartha, you are a very good guy, any girl would be lucky to be

with you. But...'

'But what, what is it? Tell me Shuchi, just tell me. Your silence is killing

me.'

Shuchi didn't say anything. She just didn't look at Sid; keeping silence

seemed to be a better option to her.

'Do you love someone else? Tell me, I can't take 'No' for an answer.'

'Yes. I like someone else.'

Sid became angry listening to her. He almost shouted, 'Who is he?'

Sid's earlobe and nostril turned red.

'Rahul,' said Shuchi all of a sudden. It just fell out of her mouth. She herself

didn't know that she loved Rahul before that moment.

The worst fear of Sid became true. He said nothing after listening to that.

Sid threw a glass filled with water on the ground out of anger. The glass

broke into pieces which scared Shuchi.

It was no easy for him to take defeat, even in personal life.

Shuchi's eyes became moist, she became silent and dropped her eyelids. Sid

kept on staring at her.

Silence filled in the ambience; the melodious tune of Violin wasn't audible to

them anymore.

Tears coursing down her cheeks unchecked, beginning to blur her vision.

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'In any story, there is always a hero and a villain. Don't be the villain in my

story' Shuchi said after a pause looking at Sid.

Sid directed the waiter for the bill, he opened his wallet and kept an amount

of money on the table without counting, but probably triple the bill amount

and left from there without saying a word to Shuchi.

Sid went from there in a taxi and left the Limo with the driver to drop Shuchi

home.

####

Sid went to a beer bar from there. He did not drink usually, but that night

wasn't usual for him.

Sid drowned himself in the shady environment of the club. There were a dim

light and a loud music playing in the bar.

After a few hours of continuous drinking when Sid was close to getting

unconscious, he called Akash.

'Sir, what happened? Are you drunk?' Akash said as he picked up the call

late at night. It was evident from Sid's voice that he was not decent.

'Yes, yes I am drunk today. I never lost my conscious before in life, but

today I am not even able to stand straight, you know why...'

Akash remained silent. He was trying to figure out what was going on, first

the diamond ring and then this.

'You know why?' Sid reiterated in a higher pitch.

'Why, sir?' Akash had to break the silence.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Because of a girl. I am the most dominant lawyer in the country, but today I

am feeling like a loser just because of a girl.'

'Sir, where are you now. I am coming to pick you up.' Akash gets it from the

background noise that Sid was not at his home.

'Akash would you follow my advice...' Saying that Sid tried to stand up

from his chair, but he fell instead.

Akash listened to the noise, it was scary for him. He never saw his boss

losing conscious like this.

Sid tried to say again sitting on the floor, 'Follow my advice Akash, Never

fall in love... It's a trap.

The more you will love someone the more it will hurt you. Never love

anyone the way that you begin to hate yourself. You should have feelings for

yourself too.'

Sid tried to stand up again but failed. He eventually gave up standing up and

sat on the ground comfortably.

'But it is okay Akash, the pain is necessary sometimes, it makes you feel real.

It makes you feel human.'

Sid got completely unconscious and lay on the floor. The manager at the bar

picked up the phone and directed Akash to the address to pick up Sid.

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**18**

'Tell me about that builder. The one who is troubling the villagers' asked Sid.

His eyes were red, because of the booze and lack of sleep from last night.

'He is Prashant Goenka, one of the powerful families of Mumbai.'

'The villagers don't have the damn papers. I don't think we have a strong

case in the court. We have to deal with him out of the court.'

Akash nodded.

'Who else are there in his family?'

'He lives with his wife, his mother and his only daughter. His home is

surrounded by private guards.'

'His routine.'

'Every morning he goes to his office in any of his three imported cars. Every

Sunday he plays golf all afternoon.'

'Any affair or weakness?'

'He is a corrupt murderer, but loyal to his wife and family, never cheated his

wife with another woman.'

'It seems to be a tough case Akash!,' said Sid and smiled, 'loyal husbands are

tough.'

Sid opens another bottle of whiskey, poured into a glass and drank the whole

glass in one sip at his office.

After thinking for a while he said, 'Tell me about his daughter?'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Neeti Goenka. She is 22, studying Arts in college. Mr. Goenka loves his

daughter a lot.'

'Love,' repeated Sid and passed a cynical laugh. 'Love is a myth.'

'We have to kidnap his daughter to deal with him. What say Akash?' said

Sid.

Akash kept silent. This is how subordinates say 'No' to their superiors, by not

saying 'Yes'.

He has seen Sid blackmailing people all through his career, but he never saw

him kidnapping a girl earlier.

Sid looked at him, he knew what Akash was thinking of, but he didn't care.

'Find out where Mr. Goenka plays golf every Sunday. I should play it too.

It's a good sport after all.'

####

Sid reached the golf ground where Mr. Goenka was playing his shots.

'Nice shot Mr. Goenka, you know how to reach your goal,' said Sid.

Mr. Goenka took it as an appreciation and passed a smile. He was wearing a

green cotton collared shirt paired with a mustard yellow golf slack. A soft

spike along with an ankle length socks in his foot and a visor worn in a

forward position.

'I hit the ball at the right place, and it reaches to its goal itself,' said Mr.

Goenka and played another shot. The ball flew in the air and reached near its

goal post. He missed the shot this time. The ball was near the post, but it

didn't score.

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'It seems you hit it wrong this time Mr. Goenka,' said Sid.

'Who are you by the way?' Mr. Goenka felt offended.

'It doesn't matter much, what matters more is -'Who are you and does your

daughter knows about it?'

'What do you mean?' he was shocked at the mere mention of his daughter.

'Neeti is a cute girl. She went trekking with her friends this morning. Do you

know where exactly she is now?'

'How do you know about it?' asked Mr. Goenka. A beam of sweat appeared

on his forehead. He wiped it with his handkerchief.

'I know a lot more things Mr. Goenka, but Neeti doesn't know about her

father at all, does she?'

'Where is my daughter? I won't leave you if anything happens to her.'

Mr. Goenka dialed the number of his daughter in his mobile to confirm her

safety.

'The number you are trying to reach is not reachable. Please try again later,'

came the usual voice from the service provider from the other side. Mr.

Goenka felt a heavy thump of his heart and a chill blew through his spine.

'What do you want? Money? Just tell me how much money do you want. But

don't do anything to my daughter.'

'I don't want your money. I just want to make you a better person.'

'What do you mean, say it directly?' pleaded Mr. Goenka.

'Stop capturing the lands illegally from poor and vulnerable farmers else

someday your family will have to suffer because of it.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'The villagers won't kidnap your daughter, they are not that bad. They will

just go to your wife and daughter and tell them the truth. And after that, you

will be so ashamed that you won't be able to show them your face again.

What will you do with all the money if there will be no family to spend the

money with?

And I will also go to the press with all the farmers. They will tell the truth to

the Nation. No one will buy your apartments or shops once people know that

the land where it is built is snatched from poor farmers unethically.'

Sid took the golf racket from Mr. Goenka and hit the ball slowly. It entered

the hole in the first shot.

Mr. Goenka kept silent. His silence attested that he would leave the shitty

business. At least for a few years.

_For a lawyer, it is good to win a case in the courtroom, but it is even better if_

_they can settle it outside the court. Where they are the only lawyer and the_

_judge too._

'And what about my daughter?' asked Mr. Goenka.

'Don't worry. She will reach home safely at night.'

####

'Sir, did you really set the kidnapping of her daughter?' asked Akash when

Sid returned to his office and tell Akash the whole incident.

He got surprised when Sid told him how he dealt with the case. Every time

when Sid solves any case, he explains it to Akash how he tackles it. Akash

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takes it as a lesson and it also satisfies the big ego of Sid. He finds immense

pleasure in broadcasting his success stories.

'No,' replied Sid with a grin on his face.

'Then how do you know that she has gone for trekking?'

'Facebook. I just checked her Facebook profile. She has updated her post,

"Going trekking with friends. Too much fun."'

'Haha,' Akash passed a loud chuckle.

People flaunt so much on social media that there is no such personal life left.

Everybody is a celebrity on Facebook.

'I knew she had gone for trekking and her phone would be out of coverage.

After all, which service provider provides coverage up in the mountains?

I just wanted to scare the hell out of Mr. Goenka. And I did the same. I got

succeeded in rattling him. Fear of getting a slap is actually worse than the

actual slap.'

'I am sure now; he won't trouble the villagers anymore.'

'You keep an eye on him. Inform me if he changes his mind any time. I will

scare him again.'

'Sir, how you manage to do wonders like this?'

'Look, if somebody pulls a gun at you, it's not always filled with bullets.

Sometimes it is just blank.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

**19**

Shuchi's phone rang, but it left unanswered. After a few more rings she

picked it up.

'What...!' she whispered.

'Where are you, let's go to the CCD. Come soon,' I pleaded.

'I am in the hospital.'

'What? Our shift got over at 4 pm, what are you still doing there?'

'Don't shout,' she said, still murmuring. 'Dr. Awasthi is ill and admitted to

the hospital, so I am here to take care of him.'

'There are nurses to take his care. Don't you think you have other things to

do in life?'

'Like what?' she asked.

'Like dating me, flirting with me, loving me,' I thought but didn't say it.

'Nothing nothing. When you will come back from the hospital?'

'I will call you baba when I will be back. Now disconnect the call. Bye,' she

hung up.

I kept waiting for the call back for the rest of the day, but she didn't call.

_Girls' mobile handsets do not have the feature to call-back._

The next day, I reached a bit early in the morning and saw Shuchi was still

there in the hospital. She was all tired and dull.

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'You spent the whole night here for that nasty Awasthi!' I couldn't believe

what I saw. Awasthi isn't cruel literally, but in a way, he is by falling ill,

which kept my girl awake the whole night.

'Don't say that, he is sick' Shuchi confronted.

'But what is the need to do so much for him. He is your boss, not your dad,' I

immediately regretted what I have said.

'I lose my father at a tender age. Whenever I see Dr. Awasthi, he reminds me

of my father. That's why I care for him. Do you have any problem?' she said,

her eyes got moist while saying it.

_The problem is, you care for everybody around you, and all I care is just you._

'Okay chuck it; tell me what are you doing tonight?' asked Shuchi.

'What do you want me to do...?'I was a bit direct.

'I want you to have dinner tonight.'

'That I will have if you want it or not,' I said making a mockery of her.

Although I got what she meant to say.

'Uff. I mean dinner with me,' she clarified.

'What?' I just couldn't believe what I heard. I always used to ask her out, but

she never agreed and today she asked me herself. _God exists._

'Let me check if I am free tonight or if we have to plan some other day, I am

too busy these days you know,' I said playfully looking at the calendar in my

phone teasing her.

_How can I deny doing something which I always wanted to do with all my_

_sincerity, I mean spending time with her, not the food._

'Sure Shuchi, I will come to pick you up... be ready by 8 pm,' I said.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'No, we will have dinner at my home. Actually, my mom wants to meet you.'

I got butterflies in my stomach. My fair cheeks turned pink.

'Oh don't worry, not a big deal, actually I keep on talking about you at my

home so my mom asked me to invite you over dinner.'

'You keep on talking about me. What do you talk by the way?'I was trying

hard not to blush, but couldn't resist it.

'Shut up Rahul,' she said, dropped her eyelids, didn't make any eye contact

and felt shy.

'Tell me the real motive? Why does your Mom want to see me? "There's no

such thing as a free lunch" I heard it somewhere.'

'It's not lunch, it's dinner. Just be on time, bye...'

####

'I am coming... am coming...' Shuchi came out running from inside her

room as she saw the car parked outside her house.

She was wearing a casual black top and blue denim. Small black crystals

were hanging from the bracelet tied to her left wrist, matching with the chain

of tiny black pearls she wore.

Shuchi's mom just smiled and let her open the door _. Parents know when their_

_baby is in love._

I came out of the car and waved at her. She was standing at the doorstep. I

slammed the front right door of the car and opened the rear left door to take

out the bouquet of flowers.

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The beautiful arrangement of 15 white lilies in the round vase and yellow

roses around them was looking as fresh as her looks. I wish if I could give her

red roses.

I locked my car and walked down the aisle to reach Shuchi. By the time

Shuchi's mom was also standing next to her to welcome me.

'Awww...Is it for me?' asked Shuchi looking at the flowers. She raised her

hands to take the bouquet. _Girls just love flowers more than anything._

'No, these are for the beautiful lady here...' I said and presented the flowers

to her mom.

_You ought to impress the mother-in-law first._

'Oh, I'm flattered, son. Thanks for these,' said her Mom and adjusted the

flowers in the vase, kept on the study table on one side of the living room.

Even in her mid-forties, she managed to look pretty. After all, she is the

source of my girl's beauty.

'Come inside, make yourself comfortable,' said Shuchi. She was so happy as

if a baby got his favourite toy from the market.

I went inside and sit on the sofa-set kept in the living room. Her living room

wasn't gigantic, but a perfectly balanced one. It was just a cozy little room

with two sofas that lay against two of the four walls. The third wall has a TV

and DVD case affixed to the wall.

Few of her framed pictures were posted on the wall near the TV. Two of

them were from her childhood days. I went there and gave a close look at

those pictures. She looked utterly cute, even back then. The picture of her

convocation receiving a medical degree was also there.

'What would you like to have?' she asked formally, interrupting me from

looking at her gallery.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'What are the options I have?' I asked.

'Ranging from anything to everything,' she said with a smile.

'Let's start with water then.'

Which water, 'hot, cold, lukewarm? Distilled, mineral or Tap water? In a

glass, tumbler or bowl?' _She was happy like a child who just got a lot of_

_bubble wrap to pop._

'Surprise me,' I said. 'Get me anything a human can consume.'

'Okay, I will get it for you.'

I drank a little and keep the half-filled glass of water on the tea-table placed

in front of the sofa.

'You have come here for the first time, hope you could find our house

easily,' said Shuchi.

'Actually, it isn't the first time.' I thought.

'Yeah, it's easy. You are quite famous here Dr. Shuchi.'

'So I heard a patient died in your wing yesterday.' I asked to kill the silence.

'Didn't you get anything else to ask her?' I shouted at my brain.

Her mom was sitting next to her, staring at me as if I don't belong to planet

Earth. It's not all my fault, it's not easy to talk to your crush when her mom is

around. And death is not a taboo to discuss if you are a doctor.

'Yes,' she handled well my question with a one-word answer.

'How many siblings you have?' asked her mom. She said to change the topic.

'I am the only son aunty.'

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'What do your parents do?' It seems she started my matrimonial interview.

_Indian parents you know._

'My Dad is a businessman. You might have heard of Patel group of

Industries.'

'Oh yes, so is he your dad. Rich people!' her mom sighed and raised her

eyebrows.

'So when are you planning to marry?' she asked the next question.

'As soon as your daughter says 'Yes' I thought.

'Mom! No more questions please,' Shuchi interrupted to shut her up.

'I am so famished, let's eat first,' she said.

I and my future mother-in-law sat at the dinner table. She started to bring

hotpots from the kitchen.

'And the entire cuisine is here,' she announced.

She laid the plates for me and asked, 'What do you want, South-Indian,

Chinese, Spanish, Thai, or Continental?'

I looked at the small size of the hotpot she kept in front of me and asked

surprisingly, 'You have cooked all these dishes?'

'No, but I have the number of a restaurant which can deliver all these cuisines

if you want.'

'That's so sweet of you. Order me some Chinese then, I love Chinese,' I said

teasing her.

'Awww, but today's special cuisine is South-Indian,' she said and served me

what she cooked anyway.

_Take my heart, forever..._

_When girls give you options, it's just for courtesy, you are not actually_

_allowed to choose._

I dipped the round and soft idlis to the bowl of sambhar and was about to take

the first bite when the doorbell startled me.

'Who could be there this time,' said Shuchi.

'I will go and get it,' said her mom and opened the door. Shuchi continued to

serve me more sambhar and coconut chutney.

'Come inside,' said Shuchi's mom and welcomed Iyer aunty.

'I was so busy you know, but when I heard Dr. Rahul is coming I had to take

out some time. He saved my life after all,' Iyer aunty entered blabbering and

joined us at the dinner table.

Shuchi passed a smile to Iyer aunty and went to the kitchen to get more Idlis.

'Mom, can you help me here please,' Shuchi called her mom inside the

kitchen.

'Why-did-you-invite-her?' she almost shouted at her mom. More idli was just

an excuse to talk to her mom in private.

'I didn't invite her. She invited herself,' her mom plead non-guilty.

'Then how does she know Rahul is here tonight.'

'Yesterday evening we were chitchatting and it slipped out of my tongue.'

'Now-you-have-to-get-rid-of-her,' she said.

'Oh come on, she is not that bad. Bear with her,' said her mom and went to

attend to her guests.

Shuchi's mom served a plate full of idli to Iyer aunty too. She ate four of

them without taking a breath. _Idlis are like oxygen for South-Indians._

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'Rahul is an excellent doctor,' said Iyer aunty to Shuchi's mom. 'Shuchi you

should learn something from him.'

'Yes aunty, you are right. I am constantly learning from him. Isn't it doctor

Rahul?' said Shuchi.

I just nodded. Embarrassed.

'I think I should go now,' I said after the dinner. It was no longer safe to stay

in front of Iyer aunty.

'Come, I will drop you to the car,' said Shuchi and followed me.

We reached near my car. She didn't say anything, just stood silently next to

me. Maybe she was expecting to hear from me.

She tucks her hair behind her ears and continued to look at the ground and I

was staring at her blatantly.

'What!' asked Shuchi as she noticed me staring at her.

'Awesome...' I said. The word in my heart came into my mouth.

'What?' she said again, but in a different tone this time.

I was busy staring her beauty which was augmented by the moonlight.

'What is awesome?' asked Shuchi again. She wanted to hear the praise from

me so badly.

'Food, the food was so awesome. You are a magician of culinary art,' I said.

'Awww, thanks.'

'And?' Shuchi asked after a pause. Girls love it when someone praises them.

'And your mom is awesome too. She is too kind in nature.'

'Thank you so much...' said Shuchi and give up asking me anymore.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I gently held her hands and said, 'and you are awesome too.'

Shuchi dropped her eyelids again, passed a smile and said, 'Thanks.' She was

not putting any efforts to take her hands back from my clutch this time.

After a few minutes, I got into my car, scroll down the window shield and

asked her,

'Tomorrow is a day off so can we meet?'

'But why do you want to meet me again? We just met today,' she said

intentionally to tease me.

'Why would anyone not want to meet you?' I said.

'Because other people aren't crazy like you,' she said smiling.

'Oh come on, I have something very special to say to you. Please, let's catch

up tomorrow.'

'What? Say it now,' Shuchi might have guessed what it is.

_The only thing special a guy has to say to a girl is 'I love you'. Girls also_

_have three special words for guys, 'I'm pregnant.'_

'No, you will have to wait till tomorrow.' I said.

'Ok then, but I won't be there for long.'

'Shall I pick you up from your place?'

'No. I have my scooty!'

'See you sharp at 5 in the evening. Nariman Point.'

'I am not going for a surgery that you are giving me a sharp time Mr.'

'Haha, I will be there in time your highness, you can come late.'

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'That's better. But there is one condition.'

My heart sank. What could be that condition, I was wondering. Does she

want to come with her mom? Better to ask her, 'Yes, tell me what it is?'

'You have to buy me _Kalakhatta_ there...'

'Of course, my dear, what else are we going for?' I heaved a sigh of relief.

####

I reached home and started writing in my diary.

_"Mom,_

_I think the time has come to tell her how much I love her._

_Do you think she will say 'Yes'? I am scared. Fear never felt so good before._

_Well, I think she has to. Are you happy, mom? Once she says yes, I will also_

_tell this to Dad._

_I really love her, mom. I know everything about her. I understand how she_

_thinks, I get her humor, I could predict what she's gonna order in a_

_restaurant and she also does the same with me._

_I just feel complete when I am with her._

_Hope she feels the same."_

__

__

_Take my heart, forever..._

**20**

I was waiting at Nariman point for my girl to show up.

I saw couples holding hand in hand, looking towards each other, lost in love,

sharing ice-cream from a single cone.

'I will also get my girl today. I will present her with the ring and hold her

hand forever,' I thought.

I was wearing the usual blue denim with cream color V-neck T-shirt. There

was nothing fancy in my look.

Shuchi showed up after a while wearing a Stripe Churidar Suit of grey color,

open straight hair, without any makeup, just a kohl and, lip-gloss. She was

carrying a small packet in her hands.

'She brought a gift for me,' I thought.

She came near me. I wanted to hug her, but I compromised with a handshake

instead.

'What is it?' I asked, pointing towards the packet.

'She might have brought a ring for me too.' I thought. I was getting impatient

to see that little surprise.

'I thought you were hungry waiting for me, so I bought you dhokla along

with green chutney,' she said.

'Dhokla, are you a Gujju too?' I asked to tease her.

'No,' she said.

_But you will become after you marry me._

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'I am not, still I love dhokla. It is so soft and delicious.'

'That's so caring dear,' I said.

What a charming gesture. This is what I love about her, she is just so simple.

She could have brought anything expensive, anything to show off, but she

bought me dhokla instead, dipped in love.

I started eating and finished it in less than five minutes. I was in a hurry with

the dhokla, partly because I was really hungry and partly because I wanted to

wrap up the dhokla episode soon and come to the point.

It started raining here, not the typical Mumbai shower, but a very sluggish

one, small water droplets falling on her face were shining like pearls. The

cool and gentle breeze of air was playing with her soft and silky hair. She

was busy caressing her black waist-length untied hair.

Her presence was making the whole ambiance aromatic, everyone present

there was blissful. There was only love in the air, everywhere.

She finally gave up struggling with her hair. She opened her handbag which

was hooked over her shoulder to get a rubber band to tie her hair making a

ponytail behind.

I wish I could hold her hands and stop her from doing it. I wanted to untie her

hair again and look at her struggling with it. I wanted to tuck it behind her

ears every time it covered her face. I was ready to do it for the rest of my life,

for my next birth and all the other births.

'So tell me what is the special occasion, that you invited me today?'

'The occasion is you,' I said. She blushed. Her thick eyelid drops whenever

she blushes.

'Weather is too good, isn't it? I just love it,' I said, didn't know how to start it.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Is it just the weather or you love something else?' she too wanted to hear it

from me.

'There are lots of things I love...' I got her hint.

'Like what?' she said.

I held her hand gently and said, 'I love it when you become shy and drop

your eyelids. I love it when you let me hold your hands while crossing the

road and slowly pull it afterward.

I love it when you listen to each and every boring detail I share with you

every day at the hospital.

I love it when I start humming a song and forget the lyrics and you complete

it up to the end.

I love it when we say goodbye to each other and still talk for hours. I love to

see your jealous face when you see me flirting with the nurses.'

I bent down on my knees, gotten the ring out from my pocket, present it to

her and closed my eyes.

My brain stopped working and handed over the command of my actions to

my heart. Even after I close my eyes, I could effortlessly envision her

standing in front of me.

Copying from a lot of movies, and romantic novels, I had prepared a speech

for that special moment, but I forgot the whole thing the moment I saw her. I

forgot my name, my religion, the reason for my existence, all I remember

was just her.

We were standing in the middle of the crowd, there were people noticing me

bent down on my knees. Few were laughing at me, but all I cared that time

was for her happiness.

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Still holding her hand I said, 'I smile more often nowadays and you are the

reason behind it. You came into my life and became my life so easily. How

can you make things so clear, which I can never understand without you?

'Whenever I have kids, I want them to call you mom. I want to pick up our

baby names together. I want to see your childhood again in my daughter. I

want her to have a smile and a nose like yours.'

'I want you to make tiffin box for our kids and wave goodbye standing at the

door when I go to drop them at school. I want my son to keep his first salary

at your feet and my daughter to gossip with you all day long about her

husband.'

'I want to get older with you; I want to get wrinkles on my face with you. In

my very old age, when all my teeth will shed, I want you to still laugh with

me.'

'Like this rain, I want the rest of the rains and summers and winters in my life

with you.'

She held my hand so tight. She was as happy as I was. I could sense her

happiness. I continued to say looking deep into her eyes, 'I want to spend

Holi, Diwali, Karwa Chauth and all my festivals with you. In fact, each day

of my life is a festival if you are standing next to me.

Every Night before I sleep I want to plant a good-night kiss on your forehead.

I want to sleep every night holding you, hugging you, cuddling you. I want

you to rest your head on my chest and I want to wake up smelling your hair

every morning. I want to put vermilion on the partition of your hair every

morning of my name.

I want to hold your hands and feel lost in your arms forever. You have to pick

someone someday, why don't you choose me, love me, marry me.'

She didn't say anything. She just looked away happily, she was feeling shy.

This meant she loves me too. Still, I wanted to hear it from her.

_Take my heart, forever..._

Everything was like a dream to us, like a fairy tale when the havoc happened

all of a sudden. Of course, there is a demon in every fairy-tale.

I heard a loud noise and felt a thrust of air there. I opened my eyes and saw

everybody running here and there. I saw people's dead body all over the place

around me. That was a bomb-blast, may be a terrorist attack. Within a minute

I heard another blast, this time a few meters away from where we were lying

on the floor. It created a grievous atmosphere.

I have witnessed bomb blast victims earlier too, and it was horrible to witness

them, but being a victim and suffer through the process is a real disaster.

Being doctors we put on our white court to save lives, to defy death, but once

we take it off, we are vulnerable, just like anybody else. Human.

There were crying faces everywhere, some body parts lying around us on the

ground, no beam of hope, only sadness and screaming sounds of pain.

People were screaming and running here and there. The beautiful and

seraphic evening turned into a havoc of bloodshed in a fraction of second. I

fell down on the ground due to the pressure of air.

As soon as I get back to consciousness, I searched for her. She was there at a

distance, lying on the ground like several other innocent victims of their own

fate.

Blood was oozing from her head, she was not conscious. I sat there on the

ground, held her head in my lap, and shook her face. Few silent drops of tears

rolled down from my eyes on her cheeks. There was the excessive noise of

people running and evacuating the area, but all I could hear was a long and

deep silence.

I called her name, but she wasn't replying. She was lying in front of me, not

able to talk to me. Two minutes earlier, she was happy, so happy that she was

dancing with joy, I proposed her to live with me forever, I planned for a

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happily ever after life, but now I don't even know if I could talk to her again

or not, could I save her or not, will she be alive or not.

I felt like I'm moving in slow motion and everything around me is moving so

fast. And I just want to go back to when things were normal.

We never know the biggest day of our life is the biggest day. Not until it's

happening. Not until we're right in the middle of it. It was still the biggest day

of my life, the day when my girl is going away from my life, or from her own

life.

Someone called the ambulance and it reached in no time with its screeching

siren on to pick up the injured. They started picking the unconscious people

on a stretcher and carry them to the ambulance. Few patients were bleeding

severely making a puddle of blood on the stretcher.

They were carrying baskets full of ice with them to carry the body parts lying

over there in order to preserve it.

It was Bhola who came accompanied two other guys to pick Shuchi.

As soon as he saw us there, he couldn't carry himself, his face puckered and

he burst into tears. He touched the feet of Shuchi first, looked above at the

sky to pray for her and then carried her inside the ambulance.

How could he ever imagine that one day he will lift the girl on the stretcher

who once helped him in getting the job of lifting people?

Shuchi was lying in the ambulance, I looked out for the wedding ring,

because of the shock of the blast I lost my grip and the ring fell from my

hands. I found it in the ground where I was lying; I picked it up amid the

hustle and bustle, kissed it and sat in the ambulance holding Shuchi's hand.

Four vehicles filled with police officers and bomb squad reached to search

the place looking for more bombs to diffuse. They didn't find any, as the

bombs had already done what they meant to do. Why they didn't search for

_Take my heart, forever..._

the bomb before it created the havoc before it blew my Shuchi away from

me.

They say lightning never strikes twice, that's true because it doesn't need to.

It ruins everything in the first attempt.

_"Mom,_

_You left me when I was a kid. I hardly remember your face, but I remember_

_the pain in my chest I felt when dad told me you were dead and I would never_

_ever be able to see you again._

_I cried for hours and there was no one to pamper me. There was no one to_

_hug me and feed me when I was hungry. I anyhow grew older with the pain_

_buried somewhere deep inside me._

_Mom, today I am feeling the exact same pain inside my chest again. Shuchi_

_who used to be the life of this hospital is lying today in the hospital bed_

_struggling for life. I can't live watching her like this, but I have to take care of_

_myself. I have to look good when she opens her eyes and look for me._

_Please ask God to bless her._

_You went away without even telling me, but please ask Shuchi to stay; I don't_

_want to lose my love again mom._

__

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_Arpit Agrawal_

**21**

Chief of surgery was standing at the hospital entrance along with his team of

trauma surgeons to attend the patients in the ambulance from the blast site.

They were already informed by the police to be prepared to accommodate

patients.

Christ Care Foundation has never witnessed such a trauma scene earlier.

Since the hospital was nearest to the blast site, every patient was admitted

there by the rescue officers. Hundreds of patients were admitted to the

hospital at that time and still counting.

The ambulance came and reversed itself, allowing the doctors to enter from

the rear door of the vehicle. Ward boys in the van shifted the patient from the

ambulance bed to the stretcher of the hospital on the count of three.

Dr. Awasthi was standing there to attend patients, but he never expected the

next patient he was going to see would be none other than Shuchi.

His blood froze the moment he saw Shuchi in the stretcher.

'What happened to her?' he asked me.

'We were also there, at the blast site,' I replied.

'Take her to the OR,' shouted the Chief looking at her grave form.

'Oh no!' The chief exclaimed, holding his forehead with his hand.

Shuchi was wheeled towards the Operation Theatre. I was walking along

with her, holding her hand. Each one in the hospital has a special attachment

to her.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You stay here,' said Dr. Awasthi, asked me to stay outside the OR.

'No, I want to go with her,' I said, still crying.

'It's my order,' Dr. Awasthi went inside and shut the door in my face.

I was not allowed to go inside, maybe because I wasn't acting like a doctor at

that time, I was more like the relative of Shuchi. _A relation yet to establish_

_between us._

I was waiting outside in the common area like the patient's relatives do. They

wait for the doctors to come out of the OT and inform about the well being of

the patient, leaving everything to God.

It was the first time for me to be on the other side of the door.

I dialed Shuchi's mom, to call her to the hospital. Though I didn't tell her the

whole truth over the phone. One more phone call I made, don't know why but

I felt it important too, I called Sid.

'She is stable now, but still unconscious,' Dr. Awasthi came out to declare

after around two hours of operation. 'We have to run some tests to do further

treatments.'

There was a weird silence in the hospital ward. Shuchi's mom and Sid

reached there in no time and asked me about her health. I told them the whole

condition.

We were still there in the hospital lobby, when Dr. Awasthi reached there,

keeping his head grounded.

'Did you get the results of the tests?' I asked.

Dr. Awasthi nodded.

'What is it Dr? Why aren't you telling me?'

I snatched the report from his hands, 'Congestive heart failure (CHF)' I read.

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I turned silent too for a while, then I explained it to Shuchi's mom, 'Shuchi is

suffering from CHF.'

'What?' she exclaimed.

'It is a disease in which the heart muscle is failing severely in its attempt to

pump blood through the body, and in which all other available treatments are

no longer helping to improve the heart's function.'

I tell her the exact definition I memorized during college days.

'Shuchi is on ventilators now. She needs a heart transplant otherwise she will

die,' stated Dr. Awasthi.

'What is a ventilator?' asked Shuchi's mom again.

Dr. Awasthi was left by then to check other patients. There were a lot of

patients in the hospital that day, doctors from other hospitals also came to

treat the blast victims.

'If the patient has a heart attack and respiratory failure, she will be put on a

ventilator,' I explained.

'Respiratory failure occurs when the lungs don't take in enough oxygen or

don't get rid of enough carbon dioxide. If a patient is unable to breathe

normally after a heart attack, a mechanical ventilator can help them breathe

until they can do it on their own.'

'Ventilators are sometimes called respirators or breathing machines. It is like

an artificial heart, keeping Shuchi alive,' I explained.

Aunty burst into tears listening to me.

'Will she be all right? Tell me when she will be all right...' asked her mom.

I wasn't sure about the correct answer to what she was asking. It was one of

the most difficult conundrums even for the expert doctors.

_Take my heart, forever..._

Being a doctor I have witnessed the heart transplant cases earlier, and to tell

the truth, the rate of survival is less.

When other patient's relative asks us, we explain them some useless statistics.

We tell them that as per our medical history out of 10 only 4 patients stay

alive after the surgery. Our profession doesn't allow us to give false hopes.

But Shuchi wasn't just an ordinary patient.

'Of course, she will be all right, trust me,' I said looking at her eyes.

Dr. Awasthi joined us again. Sid was sitting near us on the bench. He had not

spoken a word since the time he arrived there. He was standing there like a

mannequin. Something nagging at the back of his mind.

'Why don't we transplant her heart and give her a new one?' asked Sid based

on his limited medical knowledge.

'We don't have a healthy heart to transplant,' said Dr. Awasthi.

'Why you don't have a heart? Have you checked in all the organ banks

properly?' Sid's voice was higher than the usual. He was gnashing his teeth at

the situation.

'Heart is a rare organ to get. We can obtain eyes and other organs from dead

bodies, but not a heart. Once it stops beating it is of no use.'

'So when we will get a heart?'

'No one can say that. We just have to wait.'

'What if we will never get a heart for transplant?'

Chief fumbled for words and then decided to keep silence.

'I can't let her die just because there is no potential heart available for

transplant. I will give her my heart instead. Do the surgery, I am ready for

this,' said Sid.

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_Arpit Agrawal_

Sid got excessively emotional for her. Things were getting out of control in

his mind.

'After all, she only lives in my heart and what I will do of my heart without

her' Sid thought.

'Don't get emotional Sid, we can't take your heart!'

'But why, what is the problem?'

Law doesn't allow us. We can't kill a perfectly healthy person to save the life

of another,' said the chief.

'Then who can donate his organs according to the law?' Sid asked Dr.

Awasthi taking special interest to the mention of law, as he knows to

manipulate the law very well.

'A man who is brain dead or going to die because of any other reason other

than heart failure. Only such a person can give us the consent to donate his

healthy heart. In case the man is unconscious, his family can also give us the

consent to transplant his organs.'

'Have you checked the organs donation bank across the world? Isn't there

anything we can do?' This time I asked Dr. Awasthi losing my patience.

'Please carry yourself, Rahul. Shuchi is more than just a patient to me.

Whenever I get sick, she takes care of me like my daughter. We have also

checked with California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA which is

the largest organ donation bank in the world.

They also don't have any such person who can donate heart at this moment.

And if they get a potential donor, they have their own waiting list.'

'I know what you are feeling son. But you know it yourself that we can do

nothing other than just wait. We just have to sit down and wait for someone

to die with a healthy heart,' said Dr. Awasthi.

_Take my heart, forever..._

Siddhartha left the room in aversion. He was not one of the persons who

accept defeat so easily. Sid came out in the lobby and sat on the black sofa

placed there for the visitors. A slim LCD TV installed on the wall was

telecasting some local news channel. Few relatives of patients in the hospital

were watching that.

He was not able to feel anything. Vent installed there was throwing very cold

air, but Siddhartha was not able to feel it. His mind was numb. All the words

said by Shuchi right from the first day when he saw her were echoing in his

mind. 'Promise me; you will think of others. You will think of people first

before thinking of yourself'. 'Don't be the villain in my story.'

Two drops of tears emerged from his eyes and got absorbed in his beards, he

was senseless, not able to hear the noises around him, the smell of the

medicines didn't bother him anymore. He wanted to shout loud and let all the

pain inside him go out into the endless world, but he was just unable to utter a

word.

"We need the organ of a person who is about to die for any reason other than

heart failure." The words of Dr. Awasthi were echoing in his mind too.

Meanwhile, someone raised the volume of the television.

News correspondent standing in front of Delhi High Court shouted the

breaking news, 'Fastest decision taken by the court ever, death sentence

announced to the mastermind of the bomb blast in Nariman point. He will be

hanged till death by next month.'

Everyone present there was happy that the guilty are getting punished. Sid

got contented too, but for different reasons.

There was a brim of happiness in his face too listening to the news.

'I know what to do... I know who can donate his heart to Shuchi,' said Sid

and left the hospital in a rush. As if he knew where he could get a heart for

Shuchi and he didn't want to waste a second after that.

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'What came to his mind all of a sudden?' Doctor Awasthi and I were

wondering.

If we could possibly guess what Sid thought; then what would be the

difference between the biggest lawyer and an ordinary man.

Sid called Akash and asked him to reach court directly with some papers.

_Take my heart, forever..._

**22**

Morning newspaper hit the door with unusual news the next day.

There was Sid's colossal image on the cover page of all the leading

newspapers of each language in the country.

I and Dr. Awasthi hardly slept the whole night in the hospital. Bhola came

running towards us holding the newspaper.

'What happened?' I asked.

Bhola didn't reply. He was still panting, he just gave me the newspaper.

He wasn't literate enough to read the news himself, but he overheard

somebody talking that there is something printed about Shuchi in the

newspaper.

I was thrilled enough to get a run of goose bumps all over my body as I held

up the paper.

I knew there was something big cooking up in the mind of Siddhartha the last

night when he went from here but didn't realize he will make it a news the

next day.

Siddhartha filed a 45 page written appeal to the Supreme Court. He presented

the writ petition in five sets. One set each was presented to the honorable

judges in the panel and other are for filing purpose.

What he filed in the PIL was covered by the media. I read the headlines of

'Times of India':

'A new Law proposed by Siddhartha – The Trial Lawyer'.

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The entire article reads as below:

"Siddhartha Roy, one of the leading lawyers in the country filed a distinct and

unique petition yesterday. He called it, 'Tit for Tat'.

According to him, the court should order the terrorist who is under arrest for

the bomb blast in Mumbai to bestow his functional heart to Shuchi, who is on

death bed because of the bomb-blast caused by the terrorist.

In fact, Sid demanded that all the prisoners who are already announced a

death penalty to donate each of their body organs to the patients admitted in

the hospitals waiting for organs from all over the country. This will help

overcome the scarcity of organs needed for transplant in our country.

'If anybody causes damage to humanity which leads the victim in the jaws of

death, then it is his accountability to aid human in repairing at every feasible

cost, even if it means donating his own body organs,' Sid says.

Siddhartha further said, 'If police catch a burglar, they try to recover the theft

money from him. But when police catch an assassin who harms and inflicts

serious and life-threatening injury to someone leading to damage of vital

organs of another person; why they don't try to recover that body organ from

the convicted? Isn't it the same thing? Or maybe it is all the more important

for us to be taking action.'

When asked more Sid said to the media, 'We are killing them anyway by

hanging them with a rope till death. And that way it is a pure loss of the

human organs which is a rare virtue.'

'The only difference in my demand is the prisoners will die doing something

good at least by their death.'

'The person who did nothing good his whole life, who killed people, can't we

give him a last chance to do good at the time of his death. Wouldn't it

decrease his sins for their next birth?'

_Take my heart, forever..._

Siddhartha was getting mixed reactions from the populace of the country.

This is a unique idea in itself and now, the fate of Siddhartha and thousands

of patients in the country waiting for healthy organs are looking for the

verdict of the court."

I folded up the newspaper and smiled for the idea of Sid, I smiled probably

for the first time after the blast.

Shuchi always used to tell me that Sid is different. She once said that Sid

thinks out of the box, but I never knew that his thinking can save the life of

my girl one day.

Sid got the earliest date of next week for the hearing of his petition. He had to

get it approved in the first hearing itself; Shuchi can't wait for the time it

takes for any law to be passed in India.

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**23**

'Hello Mr. Siddhartha,' Sid got a call late at night the next day he filed the

PIL.

The female voice sounds familiar to him, but he couldn't make out whose

voice it was.

'Who is this?' asked Sid.

'I am Nimisha Dutta here, from 'Sidhi Baat.'

'Oh, so you came again to laugh at my situation Mrs. Dutta,' Sid just passed a

smirk on call.

'I never personally enjoy people's situation, Siddhartha. But what to do, it is

in my bloody profession. My success is to cover people's failure. But don't

worry, this time I have called to invite you to my chat show.'

'Oh, so you want to defame me in your chat show. This case is something

personal to me Mrs. Dutta, please don't use it for the TRP of your show' Sid

was not a mood to fight anymore.

'I am offering a hand towards you Sid, now it depends upon you that you

treat it as a helping hand or a snake in the grass.'

'But why would you help me?' Sid asked the obvious question.

'Because I owe this one to Shuchi.'

'How? I don't understand it.'

'It's a long story, she operated on my son. I want you to win this case and get

the PIL passed in the court so that it could save her in turn. And for this, you

_Take my heart, forever..._

need support from the public and the politicians. And I bet an interview at my

show could do wonders.'

Sid kept silent. He never felt so vulnerable before.

'I hope you want to save her more than I do. See you tomorrow at 10 am at

the studio.' Nimisha hung up the call.

It bounded Sid to attend her chat show; it was for good after all. _Good deeds_

_follow us, even after we die._

Sid, the sober-suited lawyer reached the studio half an hour before the

shooting began. Nimisha was wearing a dark grey body fit blazer and a

trouser of same fabric with a buttoned-up white shirt. She was looking pretty

and elegant, a complete businesswoman.

'Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I Nimisha Dutta, your host for the

show; welcome you to the most viewed chat show of the Nation 'Seedhi-

Baat'.

Today, we have a very special guest here; he is neither a politician nor an

actor. At 29, the guy is having a stellar career that's not only talked about in

legal circles but has made headlines around the country. A bear of a man who

stands 6 feet 4 inches, Siddhartha is one of those larger-than-life trial lawyers

\- and a man of the kind they don't make anymore. He fills the room wherever

he goes. He says what's on his mind. And very often, he will guess what's on

yours. You either love him or hate him - instantly. But there's no ignoring

him.

So guys, put your hands together, for none other than Siddhartha Roy.'

There was a roar of clapping by the studio audience, which welcomed Sid in

front of the camera. The big grin on his face was absent that day still his

presence was enough to turn the ambience charismatic. An inner strife had

been popping up in his mind.

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The camera zoomed in on his face after the opening music. Nimisha shook

hands with Siddhartha and hinted him to take the chair placed in front of the

camera behind the coffee table.

Hundreds and thousands of Indians were frozen in front of their TV sets to

witness the most interesting TV interview of the time. It was a revolution in

the country, something more than a candlelight vigil or a hunger strike.

Nimisha knew how to drive the interview very well and how to amplify the

TRP of her show; after all, she had been the host for more than ten years. She

asked the first question from Siddhartha to start the show.

'So Siddhartha, as we all know you are here to discuss the very strange PIL

filed by you in the court. First of all, please tell our audience what is a PIL so

that it will help them to understand what we are talking about.'

'PIL is Public Interest Litigation. It itself says that this is litigation for any

public interest. In the words of some learned people we can say that it is a

litigation which can be filed in any court of law by any public-spirited person

for the protection of "public interest,"' Sid explained himself.

'What is public interest? Can you clarify?'

'Any act for the benefit or general welfare of the public is the public interest.

For instance, an act raising concerns about Pollution, Terrorism, Road safety,

Constructional hazards etc. In all these activities we can clearly see the

concern is the public interest.

It is not necessary that the petitioner has suffered some injury of his own or

has had a personal grievance to litigate. PIL is a right given to the socially

conscious member or a public-spirited NGO to support a public cause.'

'It means anyone can file a PIL, there is no need for the person to be a lawyer

to file it.'

'Yes.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'And where can we file it?'

'It can be filed in any High Court or directly in the Supreme Court.'

'Thanks Siddhartha, this is a good piece of knowledge for us. Now, since

your PIL relates to organ donation, let us call Dr. Jatin Kothari, a

Nephrologists at Hinduja Hospital to share some facts and figure about the

condition of organ donation in our country.'

A man in his forties, wearing a well-ironed formal shirt and trouser emerged

out from the audience as the camera focused on him. He was wearing

spectacles and had wrinkles on his face. He took his seat in front of the

camera. An extra chair was kept to accommodate him.

'Dr. Kothari, first of all, tell us how many people die in a year because of a

lack of healthy organs?'

'Lack of organ donors causes 3,000 needless deaths a year. The problem is

most of us don't think of our organs as potential gifts of life. If we can get

organ donation, thousands can receive a new lease of life each year.

Regrettably, there is a huge gap between the need for organs and the supply

in our country. As of January 2008, there were at least 44,185 people waiting

for donor organs, and 31,576 of them were awaiting kidneys. The other

12,609 needed hearts, livers, lungs or other transplantable organs.

Last week, a young man died in a road accident in Mumbai. His brothers

were willing to donate his organs, but couldn't. Their state for the donation

was that we shouldn't tell his wife about it as she wouldn't be able to bear it.

We obviously couldn't retrieve them without her consent, so we didn't,' said

Dr. Kothari.

Every year the pool of end-stage kidney-failure patients in India, who need a

transplant to stay alive, swells by three lakh. An equal number suffer from a

failure of the liver, the heart, lungs or intestines. Worse, however, is the

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failure to offer these patients a simple cure: an organ transplant!' continued

Dr. Kothari.

'That's really a big crisis. Supply is very less than the demand. Now we need

some miracle to control the state of affairs,' interrupted Mrs. Dutta.

'And also the Cadaveric transplants, in which a brain-dead person's organs

are retrieved and transplanted into an organ-failure patient, are still unheard

of in most parts of India. In fact, the Indian Society of Organ

Transplantation's website says that cadaveric organs account for less than 4%

of the 21,000-odd kidney transplants performed so far.

In other words, the 4,000 kidney and 500 liver transplants carried out in our

various hospitals annually are the results of live donations in which the

patient's relative donates an organ. A donor can live with one kidney and in

case he donates three-fourth of his liver, it regenerates to its original size in

six weeks.

The apathy is apparent when one looks at heart and lung transplants which

can only be carried out with a cadaveric or deceased donation. Barely 20 of

these transplants are performed every year in India. The demand-supply ratio

is pathetic even with regard to corneal blindness: 2 Lakh corneas are required

every year; barely 50,000 are donated.'

'Thanks, doctor Kothari for enlightening us on such a serious topic. We

really need a good solution to this problem and I hope that Siddhartha's PIL is

the required solution.'

The doctor went to sit in the audience again. Mrs. Dutta said, 'Siddhartha,

now please put some light on the PIL which is filed by you.'

Sid looked into the camera, as confident as always. However, the soreness in

his eyes was evident.

'I will explain to you all about my PIL, before that Nimisha you have to

answer few simple questions.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'Sure ask me,' Nimisha smiled a little and said.

'In your childhood days, when you were in pre-school, had some bad boy

broken your toys what would you have done?'

Nimisha passed a louder chuckle. Had this question asked by somebody else

she would have overlooked it considering it to be a joke, but as it was asked

by the most prudent person in that room, she tried to answer.

'I would have broken his toys too.'

'But what good will happen if you break his toys? You won't get new toys

anyway!'

Nimisha and the studio audience passed an obvious gesture. They couldn't

come up with a better solution.

'I have a solution to this problem. Instead of breaking his toys, take them

home. In that way, you will get new toys and he would get punished too by

losing his toys.'

Siddhartha then looked towards the audience and asked one gentleman, 'If

you are travelling in your brand new car and a truck comes and crashes your

car from behind. What you will do?'

A gentleman stood up from his seat, he was little hesitant to answer, maybe

he was nervous thinking he was on TV. He still replied, 'I will ask the driver

to pay for all my loss.'

'Exactly,' said Siddhartha and stood up out of excitement to express his

feelings, possibly as a habit of him in the courtroom. The cameraman

adjusted the camera instantly to capture him into the frame.

'Exactly the same way my PIL is. What I want is simple. When someone hits

our car, we don't go and damage his or her vehicle, we simply ask them to

pay for the loss and buy a new one. An eye for an eye is never a solution.'

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'"An eye for an eye", you just quoted Gandhi,' Nimisha interrupted.

'Yes, I support Gandhi's quote, but I want to modify its meaning a little.

Gandhi said if someone makes you blind; don't do the same to him.

I say take revenge. Make him blind, but by transplanting his eyes to you.

Police catch murderers and terrorists. Court gives them capital punishment;

we kill them because they kill somebody. What good we get out of it?'

'So do you want to say we should not kill them?' Nimisha interrupted again.

It was getting interesting. Siddhartha came back to take his seat again.

'When we catch prisoners who are charged with murder, we should force

them to fix the damages they created to human. Just giving them capital

punishment won't fix the already caused damage.'

'Then what should be done according to you Siddhartha. How they can fix

once it is destructed?'

Hundreds of thoughts were running through the mind of Siddhartha. The

more he was trying to forget everything, the more he had to remember all

those bad events. He had to say that loud and clear, no matter how many

times it is required him to say.

After all, the fight for truth and justice is always more painful than that of

false and injustice.

Siddhartha was about to elaborate his perspective in details when Nimisha

interrupted him, 'It's time for a small break. Don't go anywhere; we will

continue to talk to Siddhartha about the latest sensation in our country after a

short break.'

The show was live so they had to wait for three minutes until the

advertisement was aired on the television.

'You want coffee,' asked Nimisha as the spot boy offered them coffee.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'No thanks,' said Sid. He sat keeping his head down.

Nimisha took one cup of coffee and checked for her makeup in the break.

After the commercial ad, Nimisha started her job, 'Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome back to your very own show where our special guest today is

Siddhartha, and we are talking about the one of its kind PIL filed by the best

lawyer in our country,' she started it again.

She sounds a little repetitive, but this is how they fill the time.

After a very small pause, Nimisha requested Siddhartha to further explain his

perspective. TV anchors have an awesome presence of mind, for which they

get handsomely paid.

'What I want is, if we kill them, because they kill innocent people, it will be

the same somewhat like we break the bad boy's toy because he broke our

toys. Prisoners destroy someone's body organs, we should take their

functional body organs and use them for medical purposes. It will be like 'Tit

for Tat'.

In the hospitals in India, lots of people die every day because they don't get

the organ for transplantation at the right time.

We are killing the criminals anyway, so why don't we use all the organs of

their body to give new birth to many of our people. In this way, we will be

able to utilize the body which we are killing anyway. It is like organ-recycle.'

The thud of claps filled the room. Audience from all over the country were

getting goose bumps. It sent shivers down Nimisha's spine too. Those who

have lost their loved one because of the lack of organs in hospital beds

termed it as a miraculous idea.'

'It's an interesting idea Sid, but tell me one thing...' Nimisha started cross

questioning Sid, it was a part of her job after all. She is not allowed to agree

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with the guest's views so easily, that way the show will be over in a mere ten

minutes. It's her duty to stretch it for an hour.

'Do you think people will like to have organs of criminals? I mean, people

hate criminals and how can they ever accept that the organ in their body

belonged to a criminal once? How could anyone live with it the whole life?'

She actually asked an interesting question. There was utter silence in the

room; the studio audience was staring at Sid for the appropriate answer to the

question. Everyone, including Nimisha, was confident that Sid must be

having a well-prepared answer to this too, but he or she just wanted to hear it

from Sid.

'Ma'am, if you don't mind, can I take this question?' Before Sid could answer

an old man from the audience raised his hands and said.

She nodded and passed a microphone to him.

The old man said, 'I am the father of a young girl. Two years back some

goons threw acid on her face when she was returning from college. There

was no fault of my innocent girl. I can never understand that why they did

this to my daughter.

She is blind now because of the acid. The world is just a dark place for her

after that day. She couldn't get an eyes transplant because there are not

enough eye donors in our country. And those who have donated are not a

match with my daughter's eyes.

So if Sid's PIL will pass and I get new eyes for my daughter, I won't mind if

they are from a terrorist or a murderer.

At this point in time, all I want is Eyes for my daughter, a bright future for

my daughter.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I appeal to all the people in the nation that we all should support this idea. It

will alter the lives of many people,' said the old man with folded hands

looking into the camera.

The man's eyes were filled with tears as he completed his statement. The

cameraman was doing his work tremendously well; he captured his tears in

close-up and telecasted it live. For a country of emotional people like India,

the show resulted in a miracle for Siddhartha.

The youth of the country who are not actually interested in politics and law

also started taking interest in Sid's PIL. It was the time for crores of TV

viewers in India to understand the situation, to accept the change and to

welcome the good in the bad.

After that old man, all the other audience present in the studio also stood up

and started clapping nonchalantly. Everyone's eyes were filled with hopes;

the hope to win, to change, which the world is yet to witness.

She took another commercial break, this time a shorter one. Everyone in the

audience wanted to come forward and to meet Sid personally, they wanted to

shake hands with him, take pictures with him, touch him.

You can meet him after the show ends said Mrs. Dutta and managed the

crowd.

'I have one more doubt,' said Mrs. Dutta after the show resumed. She got

script prepared from the writers sitting behind the camera in the break who

helped her with the content for the show.

'If we will take out their organs without their consent, what about humanity

and their religion? Isn't it making us criminals too?'

'If we talk about humanity, we are doing a favor to the criminals only' replied

Sid.

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'It is accepted in every religion that, killing a human is the biggest sin and

saving a life is the greatest virtue.

The one, who has committed the crime of killing someone, has committed the

greatest sin and they will go to hell after their death. But by giving them a

chance to save the life of others using their organs, we are giving them a last

chance to do something good for humanity.

Maybe then God will forgive them for their sins and blesses their soul after

their death.

'What an amazing idea Siddhartha, mind-blowing!' nothing came to her mind

after that. 'Our country always supports change; we supported Anna Hazare

and now we will support you, Mr. Siddhartha.'

So with this energetic talk, I would like to conclude our show for today.'

At her close up shot, Nimisha said, 'If you also think that the PIL filed by

Siddhartha should be passed by the government, send us your votes.

Airtel users Type:

SID_PIL_YES if you think it should be accepted. Or,

SID_PIL_NO if you think it should not be accepted.

And send us to the numbers on the screen.

See you next week, same day, same time, only on your favorite show 'Sidhi

Baat' with a new innovation of our country, with a new celebrity guest. Till

then goodbye.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

**24**

The day has come when the first and perhaps the last hearing of the case was

about to happen.

News correspondent was crowded outside the High Court on the big day. No

matter if Sid wins the case or loses it, it will be still a breaking news for them.

People from all over the country were keen to know what stand court would

take on the strange PIL filed by one of the most capable lawyers in Indian

history. The chat show done by Sid also aided to gather the crowd.

Almost all the natives of village Khaprikal were also present there to support

Siddhartha.

A media personnel was reporting live for her channel, 'Today is the hearing

of Siddhartha's PIL. Let me tell you who is the judge today, he is a man with

uncommon influence and capability. The "People's Judge", who is a famed

and significant judicial figure of the century.'

'His judgments are a replica of lucidity. He was equipped to use the law for

its true purpose - in the interests of fairness and justice. He had a fabulous

feel for ordinary people.'

'His views were echoed by the former Prime Minister of the country, who

said he was probably the greatest judge of modern India. He combines a love

of liberty with a passion for justice. His life and work provide brainwave for

the generations to come.

After a year of teaching at the Law School as a professor, he decided on a

career at the court - "because I was ambitious and saw it as the best way to

advancement" is what he says.'

'He is none other than Justice Jaishankar Menon, we all are excited to

witness what he decides today.'

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Sid would have never imagined that he will face Justice Menon again in his

life, but it happened. Like good deeds, bad deeds follow us too, as it says,

'what goes around comes around.'

He is the same Justice Menon whom the MLA got transferred to save his son

from the half-murder trial.

Sid reached the High-Court in his black BMW wearing a Burberry Milbank

black colored Suit and his black colored lawyer's coat on top of it.

When Sid fights a case, he hardly cares for defeat. His confidence in his case

is what helps him win the case. But it was not just a court case for him this

time. It was about someone's life, someone he loved.

It was about crores of the people of the Nation for whom Sid thought for the

first time.

There is always a bizarre delight when we do something for others, devoid of

any self-motive and Sid was feeling the same. He had a motive though; he

had to keep his promise given to his love.

It was the month of winter, cold breeze of air was trying its best to pierce

people's exposed-to-air parts, but it was facing a tough challenge by the rage-

filled in their blood against terrorists and criminals.

The court hearing started when justice took his seat. Justice Menon passed a

smirk as he saw Sid in the courtroom. His memoirs with Sid screened in front

of his eyes.

Sid was called to explain his case to the honorable judge.

Sid looked at Justice Menon, the fact that he got him transferred made him

nervous to present the case in front of Justice Menon.

Sid was reluctant to stand up and to start the hearing. But he anyhow gathered

some courage and started doing what he does the best.

'Sir, I have filed a petition in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the

Constitution. I am here to make an appeal. I request the court to order all the

prisoners who already have been announced the death penalty to donate all

their functional organs to the patients who need a transplant in the hospital.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

There was a panel of two other judges supporting Justice Menon in taking the

decision. Justice Maheswari and Justice V. Reddi. The two judges seemed

convinced listening to the idea of Sid, but not Menon.

The jury went for a solicitous conversation over the case followed by the

lunch break.

Sid went to the judge during the lunch break for the second time.

'May I come in, sir,' asked Sid, as he knocked the door to Menon's cabin.

'Yes please,' Menon replied courteously. He saw Sid and passed a smile.

'You again,' he said with a smile.

'Come to join me for lunch. I hope you won't mind eating plain chapattis

with me,' Menon said taunting Sid.

He was taking lunch in his tiffin prepared by his wife again.

Sid cried. Right in front of him.

He didn't cry when he heard of the bomb blast, he didn't even cry when he

heard that Shuchi is suffering from CHF and she needs a transplant. But the

thought of losing the case because of his old sin threatened him a lot.

'Sir, I just wanted to tell you that I am a changed man now,' Sid said keeping

his head down.

He was actually guilty for what he did.

'I apologize for my conduct in the past. Please do not let our history affect

the future of this case. This case means a lot to me.'

Justice Menon was listening to him calmly. He was as calm as if the character

of Lord Krishna as it shows in the episodes of Mahabharata.

'You know what Siddhartha?' Justice Menon said as he offered his water

bottle to Sid.

Sid looked at him wiping the moisture in his eyes drinking water from the

bottle of Justice Menon.

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'You might be a changed man now, but I have not changed a bit. I still take

plain chapatti, not biryani. And I do not hold grudges.'

It was quite a relief to Sid.

He knew Menon is a man of his word. He regained his confidence in the case

which was shaky when he saw Menon hearing his case.

'Thank you, Sir. I expected the same from you,' said Sid and left from there.

After lunch, the hearing resumed in the courtroom. The panel started their

discussion again on the issue.

According to Sid, it was an easy decision. They should just agree to it in five

minutes, but the court doesn't work that way. They have to hypothetically

create problems first and then discuss it.

One of the jury members raised his words about the violation of human

rights.

'This is a nice idea Siddhartha, but there is one problem. I don't think we can

do it,' said one of the Justice in the panel.

The entire courtroom was enveloped in pin drop silence.

'What is it, sir?' Sid asked confidently.

'We cannot fetch the organs of prisoners without their consent. It will be the

violation of human rights?'

'We kill them without their consent anyway?' said Siddhartha instantly.

There was a huge round of applaud by the public and media persons listening

to his answer. Judges found his answer logical too.

'Sir, the prisoners I am talking about have already conducted inhuman acts.

They are not precisely human. We shouldn't bother about their human-rights.'

Judges also smiled listening to Sid, they tried their best but found it difficult

to cross-question Sid. They weren't able to find any loophole in the PIL.

_Take my heart, forever..._

There was nothing left to further dissect the topic after that; the apex court

announced their verdict.

Justice Menon announced, 'The court is convinced by the idea introduced by

Mr. Siddhartha and henceforth instruct the police to hand over Karim Khan

alive to Christ-Care Foundation on the date when his capital punishment is to

be executed under strict police security.'

'The court hence announces that, from now on, all the prisoners who will be

sentenced to death will have to donate all their functional organs to the needy

for those organs.'

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**25**

After the PIL was passed by the court of law, a team of three doctors, Dr.

Awasthi, Dr. Prasad and Dr. Shrivastava, were all set to operate Shuchi.

They were the three prominent heart surgeons in the country. They intended

to take out the healthy heart of the terrorist and give it to Shuchi. The next

day afternoon was programmed for the maneuver.

They double checked for all the vital medicines, and injections required at the

time of surgery and left for home to take rest. After all, they were expected to

create history the next day.

Dr. Awasthi's phone rang late at night.

'It might be from the hospital,' thought the doctor and picked up the call.

'Hello, is it Doctor Awasthi speaking?' asked the firm voice over the phone.

'Yes, who are you?' asked Dr. Awasthi unable to make out whose voice is it.

'Doctor, are you the one going to operate Karim _Bhai_ tomorrow and

transplant his organ to that girl?'

'Yes, I am doing it. But this is not a sober time to talk about it. Call me

tomorrow,' considering the call from a journalist Dr. Awasthi said so.

'Listen to me carefully doctor! If you won't do as I say, your time will not be

sober anymore,' the voice over the phone was almost shouting.

'Who are you? What are you talking about?' It frightened Dr. Awasthi. He

asked in a wobbly voice.

'I am from "Al Qaeda,"' the caller introduced himself.

We are not your Indian Government. We deliver what we promise. Listen

carefully with open ears' Dr. Awasthi was listening with trembling hands.

_Take my heart, forever..._

'You will not operate Karim Bhai tomorrow. And also instruct the same to

other doctors in the panel.

If anybody will touch Karim Bhai tomorrow, we won't let him see the sun

next day,' saying this the terrorist hung up the call.

It was enough to scare the shit out of Dr. Awasthi.

Awasthi was a veteran doctor. He had saved many lives, but never at the cost

of his own. The threat call was made from an IP phone which made it

impossible to trace.

Finding no alternative he right away called the other two doctors and

elucidated them the whole situation in plain words.

The trio reached the hospital to discuss it further.

The unexpected presence of the three at the wee hour in the night frightened

me.

'The operation is in the afternoon, why you three came at this time. Is there

any complication in the operation?' I asked nervously.

They remain tongue-tied. It was hard for them to confess that they are

bothered about their lives more than that of their patient. No matter if the

patient was Shuchi who has done a lot for the hospital.

'What is it Doctors? Why aren't you telling me?'

'Dr. Awasthi received a phone call from the terrorist. He warned us not to do

the operation. Or else he will kill us,' said Dr. Srivastava.

'Oh, I was worried if there is any medical complication,' I heaved a sigh of

relief. It was not a problem at all according to me.

Don't get scared of the terrorist's lame threat. They can do nothing to us. You

are not scared of them right?'

'Actually, we are!' Chief replied.

'We cannot perform the surgery,' chief said, staring at the ground.

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'Dr. Awasthi, please try to understand, she has done a lot for the hospital, and

you can't treat her like this,' I begged.

'Look Rahul, we are so ashamed of ourselves while saying it. We can risk

our lives for Shuchi, but our families' accountabilities are also on our

shoulders. We can't make them suffer for our deeds.'

'But if you won't operate her who else will do?' I asked.

'We could reschedule the operation till tomorrow. And in the meantime, we

can search for other doctors. We have plenty of doctors for heart

transplantation in our Nation.' The doctors were mentally prepared for the

obvious question.

'But the risk of doctor's life will still be there right? We can't risk any

doctor's life to save Shuchi' I said.

'We have to find a way out of it. After winning the big court case; we could

not let her die only because of the threat of the terrorists.' I thought.

I went to the ICU where Shuchi was admitted. I looked at her face from the

glass installed in the wall and started crying again. I cried the rest of the night

thinking of a solution and slept there in the hospital.

'Rahul when the surgery is scheduled?' asked Sid, as he pats my shoulder to

wake me in the morning.

I looked at him with my eyes half open. I didn't have any answer to give to

Sid.

He was the one who fought a huge battle and gets the law passed. If we

couldn't do the surgery now, it will be his letdown.

'Rahul tell me what's wrong?'

Sid looked into my eyes, he might have judged the situation by looking at my

anxious face.

'Terrorists called to threaten the doctors; they said they will kill the one who

will do the surgery.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

'There is nothing to worry; I could certainly organize full police protection

for the doctors who will perform the surgery. Nothing will happen to them,

trust me,' Sid was trying his best to help.

But doctors are common people; they trust terrorists more than the police.

'Where is Dr. Awasthi, call him. I will persuade him. You don't worry Rahul.

Our Shuchi will be all right,' pleaded Sid.

'For how many days you can arrange for the police protection, one day, one

week or one year. Can you cover them for the rest of their lives?

Do you really think the police could do anything? When the terrorist can

come all the way crossing the border and kill hundreds of blameless people,

is it challenging for them to kill just one man?' I shouted at Sid. I lost my

cool, not able to judge between right or wrong any longer.

'Then what we should do according to you?' asked Sid.

'Should we leave her at her state and wait for her to die? Should we all go

home and forget everything about her?' Sid was shouting too. He was equally

irritated as I was or even more.

'I just don't know what to do. I am even ready to kill myself if that could

save her,' I said, this time in very low pitched tone.

'Then why don't you operate her yourself damn it. Aren't you a doctor too?'

Sid shouted, but there was a sense in what he said. 'Save her and take the

bullets in your chest.'

'I cannot risk any other doctor's life to operate Shuchi, but I can do it myself.

I can risk my life! I am a doctor too! It is an amazing idea Sid, but I don't

think I can do it, I have never done a heart transplant before.'

Sid was numb, he was staring at me without saying a word without even

taking the breath for the moment.

'I agree that you never executed any surgery like this earlier in your

existence, but this could be your first. And trust me, you can do it. You have

to do it, for her.'

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'I have watched it a zillion times during my internship. I know the process

with all tiny details, maybe it is the time to do it.' I thought.

It happened to be the next 'Breaking News' in almost all the channels that the

doctors boycott Shuchi's operation and I took the lead to do it myself.

People from ISI also got the news. They were most convinced that after the

threat call no one would urge to do the surgery. But they never knew that

there are people who could do whatever it takes to save Shuchi.

Terrorists were very much committed to what they have said. Two people

equipped with guns were all set to enter the hospital and to kill the doctor

who is performing the surgery.

One of them was wearing a plain white cotton shirt with black trousers and a

matching long jacket to cover the gun he was hiding in his pocket. Another

man was wearing a light blue colored safari suit. They were wearing the

usual clothes with usual looks, hiding guns in their pockets. No one could

make out that they are terrorists looking at them.

They reached outside the hospital without any risk, but there was a tight

security of police near the hospital. After all, it has become a National issue

now. Almost every news channel was covering the news related to the

surgery.

'I will wait here and call you if I sense any trouble. You go and accomplish

our mission,' said one guy among the two. The two guys had to split up when

they reached near the hospital.

Both of them kept a sincere silence for a while, then they looked into each

other's eyes and then they hugged each other. They knew very well that they

were meeting for the last time. The mission they were on was fatal.

Because after he shot me, it would be impossible for him to escape from

there.

The one in safari entered the hospital building. His one hand was in his

pocket, holding the gun. He was keeping his hand so that no one can make

out what is in his pocket from outside his clothes.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I was anxious and equally thrilled to do the operation. I was frightened

because it was the first time for me to do such a tricky operation and I was

excited too because if I will operate successfully my girl might wake up. I

could marry her and live with her forever.

I wanted the heroism to do the unachievable. I wanted to talk to my mom so I

went to my cabin where the diary was kept in his drawer. I started writing on

it:

_"Mom,_

_I need your blessing. I am going to operate your daughter-in-law today."_

I couldn't write anything more than that. Tears rolled from my eyes and

soaked in the page of the diary.

I went to Shuchi's Ganeshu too.

'God, I never visited you earlier. But today, here I am, folding my hands in

front of you. But I am not here for myself; I am here for your Shuchi. Please

don't let her die. I will quit practicing as a doctor if I am unable to save her

today.'

What is the use of being a doctor anymore if I could not save my girl?

I touched the feet of the idol of God and folded my hands for the last time

before entering the operation theatre.

I was frightened to death, but I couldn't afford to be scared at that time. I had

to encourage the fearlessness of the team commissioned with me. Everyone

present there was related to Shuchi in some way or the other. Everyone's

hands were folded and were praying to our respective God.

With three nurses and one monitor operator, I entered the OR to create

history.

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Karim Khan was wheeled inside the operation theatre next to Shuchi. Doctors

sedated him before he was shifted to the hospital under tight police security.

Even in an unconscious state, he looked equally cruel. I just wanted to kill

him the moment I saw him. I wish if I could shoot him with a bullet, but then

I realized I was killing him anyway by taking his heart out. It is the kind of

death every terrorist deserves.

It was almost lunchtime and few doctors were out for lunch, leaving their

apron at their cabin. The terrorist in safari stole one of it and luckily it was a

fit for him. Now the hospital building was easily accessible to him; no guards

at the door doubted his credibility by looking at his appearance considering

him a doctor.

He went near the reception and stood there thinking about what to do next.

By his face, he did not look like a doctor, but the hospital security guards

were not permitted to judge people by their face. They were instructed to

validate if the doctor had the I-card which the terrorist got with the apron.

'May I help you with something doctor?' asked the receptionist.

'Yes, where is doctor Rahul who is transplanting the heart from the terrorist?'

'Checking' the receptionist replied monosyllabically and checked her register

to tell him, 'It is on the third floor, sir.'

Nurses changed Shuchi's clothes with a white surgical gown, which patients

have to wear during the operation.

I started an intravenous line in her hand prior to the procedure for injection of

medication and to administer IV fluids needed for the surgery. Additional

catheters were inserted into her neck and wrist to monitor the status of her

new heart and blood pressure, as well as for obtaining blood samples.

Another catheter was inserted into her bladder to drain her body's waste

fluid. A tube went through her mouth into her lungs. The tube was attached to

a ventilator that will breathe for her during the procedure.

_Take my heart, forever..._

The anesthesiologist present in the room was continuously monitoring her

heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen level during the surgery. The

skin over the surgical site was cleansed with an antiseptic solution.

I took a Scalpel, Blade No 10 to make an incision in the chest of Karim. The

plan is first to get the healthy heart out, keep it in medical solutions to

preserve it for few hours and then operate Shuchi.

I looked at the face of the terrorist. It was hard for me to touch his body to

operate on him. I covered his face with a blanket and then focused on the

surgery as it was necessary to undo the damage he caused to Shuchi.

I took the healthy heart out and dipped it in medicated fluids to preserve it for

a few hours.

Then I made an incision down the center of the chest from just below Adam's

apple to just above the navel of Shuchi. The sternum (breastbone) got divided

in half with a special operating instrument. I separated the two halves of the

breastbone and spread them apart to expose the heart. I saw the injured heart

of Shuchi.

How lucky boyfriend I am. _Does anyone else get a chance to see the real_

_heart of their girlfriend?_

Tubes were inserted into the chest of Shuchi so that the blood can be pumped

through her body by a cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung

machine).

I removed Shuchi's diseased heart after the blood has been completely

diverted into the cardiopulmonary bypass machine for pumping. Then I sew

the donor heart into place. After the new heart was in place, blood vessels

were connected again. Trust me it is not as easy as it sounds.

When the transplant procedure was completed, the blood circulating through

the cardiopulmonary bypass machine is allowed back into the heart and the

tubes to the machine removed.

This is a crucial time in the operation, it is the time which decides, whether

the patient's body accepted the foreign heart or not. Doctors perform all the

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possible compatibility tests beforehand still there is a one percent chance that

the body won't accept the alien heart.

I gave a shock to the new heart with small paddles to restart the heartbeat.

Normally, the heart should have responded and started beating, but

unfortunately, Shuchi's new heart didn't respond well. It didn't start beating

even after the shock. It is a case of heart failure. It is the case when the

recipient body does not accept the donor's heart.

I was utterly shocked to see it. I just could not let her die like this. Sid and I

did everything we could to save her and now was her turn to make some

efforts.

I held her hand and said, 'I love you fish. I really love you a lot. Please don't

leave me alone. Don't do this to me.'

'You know what, the moment I see you, the first thing that comes to my mind

is, I have just wasted 28 years of my life without you.

It is a true saying that relationships are made in heaven as you clearly look

like a fairy that entered my life to make it heaven.

I so much want to spend the rest of my life with you, make kids with you, and

pick their names with you. Dance in the first rain of the season with you, eat

ice-cream in a single cone with you while it is raining, go to a movie and sit

in the corner seat of the theatre with you, party with you, smile with you,

wipe your tears, curl you in bed at night and sleep hugging you whole night.

I want to sit with you in the balcony and talk, watching the moon surrounded

by stars in the sky. I want to hear each and every boring gossip you make

about our neighbors. I want to tug your hair behind your ears every time it

falls.

I want to say 'God bless you' to you every time you sneeze. I want to cook

for you when you are tired and I want to hug you from behind and kiss on

your cheek when you cook for me.

I want to hide your clothes when you come out of the bathroom wrapped in a

towel to tease you. I want to play with water bubbles with you in the bathtub.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I want you to decide what I wear every morning and to knot my tie whenever

I wear one.

I want you to wake me every morning with a kiss on my cheeks. Every time I

wake up I want to see your face first. I want to grow old with you and I

promise I will still love you when your face will be covered with wrinkles.

When we will marry, I promise to fulfill each and every vow we take with all

my sincerity. I promise to give all your troubles my address and I send all my

happiness your way.

I want to take you for a long drive and play your favorite music. I want to

bring you gifts; I want to bring you happiness and the whole lot that I could

give you.'

'I want to marry you.'

'You can't die on me Shuchi. Not today. I swear to die for you, but you must

live for me too...'

I clutched her hands tighter and closed my eyes, I had lost all the hopes by

then, if she won't respond to the new heart very soon, then I have to declare

her dead.

In a few more seconds, the miracle happened. The machine monitoring

Shuchi's heart began to beep. The heart began to beat slowly and then took

the pace.

I stood up and started my work quickly without being emotional any more. I

rejoined the sternum and sew it together with small wires, and then sew the

skin over the sternum. The incision got closed with surgical staples and a

sterile bandage applied over it.

I held her hand gently, kissed it and whispered into her ears, 'Honey, you

remember my bet, I promised you that when I will perform the first big

surgery of my life, you will be the first person I will inform. See, I did it

today.'

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**26**

'How is she?' Siddhartha asked as soon as I stepped out of the operation

theatre.

He was waiting outside the OT endlessly staring at the doors. He was

counting every second in his figure tips.

I removed my surgical mask, gloves and scrub top and stepped out after I

concluded the surgical treatment.

Her mom kept quiet. She was sitting in the waiting hall, chanting the name of

God continuously.

Sid had grown a salt and pepper beard making him look so sick. He and

Shuchi's mom hadn't taken proper meal after the blast.

'How is she?' Sid repeated himself.

I wasn't able to utter a word.

I just didn't have the guts to say. The news I wanted to deliver wasn't bad,

still, I was a bit gloomy. Maybe because the sound of that blast was still

echoing in my ears.

I hugged Siddhartha firmly and started patting his back.

'Tell me, what it is. I am ready for even the worst news, no matter how

horrific it is,' Sid said with a heavy heart.

_We often say that we are ready to take the bad news, but deep down there, we_

_aren't._

'The surgery was successful Sid. She is fine now,' I whispered into his ears.

'What!' exclaimed Sid.

'Yes,' I said, looking into his eyes.

_Take my heart, forever..._

When good news comes after a series of bad incidents, it is hard to believe in

it.

'She is taking rest now, and will wake up anytime soon.'

Few media representatives who were permitted inside the hospital wing

spread the news like fire in the jungle. There was a colossal crowd of

supporters waiting outside the hospital for the good news.

They were the people who were the part of the revolution. It was a beautiful

cluster of people, some who knew Shuchi personally, and some who got

operated by her and others were the youngsters who were supporting the idea

of the PIL.

Iyer aunty was also there, continuously praying for Shuchi.

Nimisha Dutta, the famous press reporter was also present there outside the

hospital. This time she wasn't there with her camera and channel crew, she

was there with her son. Just for the sake of humanity.

Their cheering hum was straightforwardly audible inside the hospital wing.

Every doctor, every ward boy, every patient present in the hospital were in

high spirits for Shuchi, except the terrorists who was present in the hospital

as a fake doctor.

The rage filled in his eyes made him look even more perilous. He had to

accomplish his mission and had nothing to lose in return.

He was holding the gun in his right hand and hiding it in his apron. He

pressed the lift button to call the lift which arrived after a few desperate

minutes of wait.

He was ready to take the staircase, but it was locked due to security concerns.

They open it only in case of fire or some other emergency.

He entered the lift, keeping his head down. He was a little nervous.

Anybody would be nervous who is going to murder someone in the next few

minutes.

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'Doctor's and patient's lift is that way, sir,' said the liftman as the door of the

lift opened. He was trying to enter the common visitors lift.

'Which floor doctor?' asked another liftman as the lift door slid open with a

slight grinding.

The terrorist was lost in his thoughts; he didn't realize that the liftman was

talking to him. How often do people call him a 'Doctor' anyway?

'Doctor, which floor?' the liftman repeated himself. A bit louder this time.

It startled the terrorist. He looked at the liftman in his eyes. 'Third,' he said

and looked down again. There were other doctors in the lift too. Some of

them doubted his behavior, but no one cared. The terrorist whisked upwards

towards my death.

"We never care or look for a terrorist, before the act of terror strikes and that

is why it happens."

The lift stopped at each floor before it reached third. The terrorist was hiding

his desperation behind his face. He was desperate to kill and desperate to die

too after completing his mission.

'Who is Dr. Rahul?' he asked one of the attendants as he reached the third

floor. He was calm, very calm while asking it.

The attendant pointed at me hugging Sid at a distance.

The terrorist might have seen my pictures before coming for the mission, but

he wanted to confirm it. _It is just you ought to be sure before you kill_

_someone, right?_

There were police force and private security guards on the floor near the

Operation Theatre, but they were appointed to catch the terrorist, not a

terrorist who was wearing a doctor's uniform.

The terrorist looked at them, felt a bit scared, but he overcame his fear. He

came very near to me. A closer distance from where no one could miss a

shot, not even a toddler playing with a toy gun.

_Take my heart, forever..._

The terrorists tried to get it right at the first time itself because they hardly get

a second chance.

He took the gun out from the pocket of the apron and pointed it at my back.

He did not have a rescue plan for himself after he shot me. He knew there

was no way he could escape from the third floor, that too after shooting

someone openly amid lots of police force.

He didn't even care. Terrorists live only for a mission, and killing me had

become the mission of his life. After killing me, he was ready to die. And a

man without the fear of life is someone dangerous.

Siddhartha saw the gunman pointing a gun at me when he was hugging me.

The gunman shouted and shot the bullet aiming at my back.

Sid instantly pushed me aside with a jerk and took the bullet in his chest,

which was actually meant for me. It was just an instant reaction to the bullet.

He got the time only to push me, but not to save himself from the bullet. I fell

to the floor.

Before I could understand what was happening, there was a bullet in the chest

of the most influential young man in the country. There was blood oozing out

of his chest.

The gunman ran towards the exit, he didn't get a second chance to shoot me,

as the security guards ran towards him listening to the gunshot.

He opened the apron, threw it on the ground and ran. He was caught by the

guards anyway.

I and other doctors ran to hold Sid. I was not bothered who fired the bullet

and why.

I was more into how to save Sid, who saved me. There was blood, a lot of it,

on the floor. Being a doctor it was not new for me to see blood around me,

but it was for the first time from a friend, and that too in order to save me.

We were already in a hospital, it someway increases the likelihood of his

survival, but the setback was the terrorist shot him from a distance too close

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that the bullet caused all the possible injury in his body. It went through Sid

puncturing his heart.

Sid wanted Shuchi to take his heart and to keep it forever when she wasn't

well. But the irony is, when Shuchi is fit now, he isn't fine any longer.

Hospital staff lifted Sid on a stretcher. He started to breathe heavily, his

condition was serious.

I held his hands tight to support him, we were running towards the OT to take

the bullet out of his body and stop the poison from spreading.

Chief didn't allow me in the OR and went himself with other doctors to

operate him. After all, the terrorist restricted him from operating Karim and

Shuchi, but not the one they shot.

They shut the door and started the operation, to save the man who once used

to save the criminals from the law.

I was sitting on the floor, outside the OR. I wanted to step in and operate him

myself. But they didn't let me in, because I wasn't in the right frame of mind

and emotionally weak. A lot had happened to me in a month.

'Why he took the bullet in his chest, which was meant for me? Why did he

save me?' this was the only thought running in my mind.

Shuchi's mother continued to pray to God, earlier it was for Shuchi, but now

for Sid.

There was no one I could call from Sid's family at the moment of grief. Sid

had no family. Akash was already there, Sid's only friend.

'The bullet tore the membrane of his heart. There is too much loss of blood

from his body. He is in a very critical situation,' Dr. Awasthi came out to

announce.

By that time Shuchi regained consciousness too.

Each one present there was contented and gloomy at the same time. There

were tears filled in my eyes, but I was not able to decide whether they were

tears of joy or of grief.

_Take my heart, forever..._

I would have been happy that Shuchi woke up if this unfortunate bullet

incident had not happened. But it did occur and changed everything.

I went to see Shuchi first. She was conscious after so many days. She didn't

know what had happened in all these days.

It was not the best time to tell her all the mishap, but I had to tell her

nevertheless. There was not much time left with Sid. Shuchi was bold enough

to comprehend the situation. She urged to see Sid without delay.

She got the heart of a terrorist, but there was no change in the love-filled with

it.

I shifted her in a wheelchair and we both went to see Sid in the next room

where he was kept.

It was the same hospital where I and Shuchi meet Sid for the first time and

probably for the last time too.

Sid wasn't awake when we went there.

'Siddhartha,' Shuchi holds the hand of Sid and called his name in a feeble

voice.

Sid slowly opened his eyes, listening to her.

He was feeling immense pain in his chest because of the surgery still he

managed to smile looking at Shuchi.

There was a sense of satisfaction on his face to see Shuchi sitting next to him.

He was feeling how a Superhero feels after successfully killing the baddie.

Like Gandhi would have felt when India got liberty. He was satisfied as if a

man gets food after a week of starvation.

'Do me a favor, Rahul,' Sid said.

'Yes,' I leaned close to him to listen to him, as he was speaking in a very low

pitched voice.

'If I die, donate all my functional body parts to the needy.'

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'Don't say that Sid. You won't die,' I said not making an eye contact. It was

just too hard to look at him.

Shuchi and I burst into tears.

'I always knew one day you will fight for a good cause. One day you will

realize that deep inside your heart, you are a very good man.'

Sid nodded.

'Am-I-still-the-villain-of-your-story,' Sid asked Shuchi.

'No. You are the hero,' Shuchi replied after a pause.

Sid closed his eyes forever after listening to it.

_Take my heart, forever..._

## Epilogue

****

**Two Years Later**

'Where are you Shuchi, come soon with Sid, guests have started coming,

everyone is asking for you two,' I said over the phone.

'Look behind Rahul, I have already reached,' said Shuchi from behind.

She was wearing a red sari with black borders; there were sparkles in it

shining like the stars in the sky.

'You are looking gorgeous,' I held her hand gently and said.

'Tell me something new,' she said teasing me.

We were standing in the middle of the gigantic lawn, there were bright lights

everywhere. On one side there was a stage decorated with flowers. And stall

of various food items was there on the other side.

'Let's move towards the stage,' she said.

'Where is Sid?' I asked.

'He is with mom. They will be here soon,' she said.

'Would you like to take something, sir?' the waiter asked showing us a plate

full of fancy snacks.

'No thanks,' I nodded and climbed up the stage with my girl.

Shuchi's mom arrived carrying our one-year-old baby, "Siddhartha Patel" in

her arms. She kept him in the cradle kept on the stage.

Guests started to come up on the stage with gifts and a lot of blessings.

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Dr. Awasthi came with his wife. Somehow he did not make an eye contact

with us.

The guilt of not doing her surgery was still filled in his eyes.

'Congratulations for the first birthday of your baby, to the new Chief of

Surgery,' said Mrs. Awasthi to Shuchi.

Dr. Awasthi retired which made Shuchi the new Chief of Surgery. She

always had the caliber to do justice to the position.

We had a group picture, with the Awasthi couple.

All our relatives and friends came to bless the child. Iyer aunty came with

Shuchi's mom. We had to ask her to leave as she had started chitchatting and

wasn't ready to leave the stage.

Akash came next with a big bouquet of flowers.

'It must be difficult for you spare time for such events, isn't it?' I said.

'Oh, don't embarrass me sir' said Akash modestly.

'After all, you are the most popular lawyer in the country.'

'All because of Siddhartha sir' he said and looked at the sky missing his

mentor.

'Now Daddy of birthday boy will speak a few words to us,' said the anchor

and handed me the mic as a part of the closing ceremony.

I was shy to hold the mic at first, but then I took it from her.

There were lots of thoughts running through my mind, but I started with her.

'First of all, thanks to Shuchi for saying 'Yes' when I asked her to marry me.

You might propose a girl in a romantic place, like in a garden or a sea beach,

I did the same and had a blast, the real one. Later I proposed to her in

hospital, amid medicines and patients.'

_Take my heart, forever..._

A huge round of cheers and applause from the people out there gave me

goose bumps.

'I was living the best days of my life. I was in love with Shuchi, and the best

part is she was in love with me too. But then the bomb blast happened and it

changed everything. We all were shaken after the whole episode of the blast.'

Her eyes were filled with water. I kept my hand on her shoulder to support

her.

'We can never forget that just because of the courage and wisdom of one guy,

things are back to place now.

He left us forever thinking that we will forget him. He thinks we will forget

his name, but we never will.

We keep the name of our baby boy after him. So that he will live with us

forever.'

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****

**Author's Note**

****

You have reached up to this page means you have finished reading this

book and I hope you enjoyed it too.

In a year or two, you will forget the names of the characters in this book,

and after few more years you will also forget the story, but you will

always ponder how you felt in your heart while reading it.

Words are temporary but feelings stay longer in our heart.

In case you have felt nice in your heart, I request a kind gesture from you

in return.

I appeal you to spend 5 minutes of your valuable time and write a review

of this book on various platforms like:

 Amazon

 Goodreads

 Facebook

 Instagram

Also, share the link of this book with your friends so that more readers

can enjoy reading this book and help me in spreading the idea of organ

donation.

My third book which is based on Nirbhaya's Rape case will be releasing

soon, stay connected to me for further updates.

 Facebook – www.facebook.com/arpit194

 Instagram – @arpit1904

 Email – arpit194@gmail.com

