2

I sat with my love and we were talking about how we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, and how we would take our incomplete vacation together, no matter how busy we were, in our lives. We decided to get out of the routine and enjoy the creation of the God and all its beautiful places. Life is not just about working, it’s about enjoying the fruits of your love, and it’s about living every moment as if it were the last. I had read somewhere that life should not be long but, should be beautiful. We were discussing the same, when suddenly, the phone rang. I looked at my phone, but it wasn’t ringing, and no other phone in the room was ringing, but the ring continued to be there.

My sleep was broken only by the realization that I was still living with my love only in my dreams. It was my phone that was ringing in real life. By the time I could reach it, it had stopped ringing, but it had done the work of destroying the moments I was enjoying with my love in my dreams. I cursed myself for not having put it in on the silent mode before sleeping.

My dreams however reminded me of a shayari (a short Hindi or Urdu poem) which I had written years back and it came back to me with good timing.

Sapnon mein jeeta hun mein

Kyonki haqueeqat mein jeena dushwar he

Haqueeqat mein to woh mujhse baut door he

Magar Sapnon mein, sapnon mein woh meri he, mera pyaar he

(I live in my dreams

Because it is difficult living in reality

In reality she is far away from me

But in my dreams, she is mine, she is my love)

It was ironic that Arjun’s and my love story, although started in completely different circumstances, had suffered not an identical but a similar end. We had both lost the love of our lives. But there was a difference, I knew he was heartbroken and was repenting, but I was celebrating my love, I was happy and at peace with the few moments that I had spent with her.

Suddenly, my attention turned to the missed call I had, it was a Mumbai number, which wasn’t stored on my mobile. My initial gut feeling was that it could be from work, maybe another case that needed my help. But why would they call from an unknown number? I then had a thought that it could probably be from Arjun, and with that thought, my heart skipped a beat. I had learned to listen to my sixth sense, from my love, my fellow detective. This time my sixth sense told me it was something related to Arjun.

I decided to take a walk on the beautiful streets of Gulmarg with my thoughts. I had been vacationing for so many years with memories of my love. I took them along wherever I went, and this time, I brought them with me to Kashmir. My memories and my love, they never left me alone, they were true companions; the three of us started strolling down the streets talking to each other, passing by fresh white snow on my right. Scores of tourists had started traveling to this heaven on earth place again after peace had returned. I never found anyone who visited Kashmir and was not absorbed by its beauty.

My thoughts revolved around the missed call and my hunch was that it was probably Arjun who had tried to call me. Arjun had tried to contact me a number of times initially and he tried to meet me as well, but I always avoided to take his calls or to meet him. I don’t know why but I never felt like it, I was angry at first, sad then, furious at times, unhappy for him, cursed life, cursed love. He evoked so many emotions in me and left me totally confused about how I should feel for him. His letters over the years helped me slowly to form an opinion which was more positive and forgiving about him and somehow, I had started to like him, but I did curse life for throwing up situations which forced or motivated people to act in a particular manner. And then life threw another challenge which forced the same person to repent his deeds, and for the wise then to say, what you sow, so you reap.

My thoughts from a wavering mind then took me to the day when I first met Arjun, fifteen years ago. He was only twenty-one then. I sat in my office when there was a knock on the door. I was expecting him to come and asked him to walk in. I liked what I saw in him as he first walked in, 5 foot 6 inches tall, may be sixty-eight kgs in weight, slim character, well built, well kempt hair, fair complexion, dressed in a nice T-shirt and jeans, had a confident walk and seemed well mannered. It was a pleasing personality and a likable one and he showed his good etiquette when he asked me if he could have a seat. I nodded in affirmation and pointed to which of the two chairs he should take, he acted obediently.

“Good Morning, Mr Rahul,” he said. His voice had a sense of maturity and confidence. I liked it as it made a positive impression about him straight away. His eyes though looked sad, as if he had been disturbed about something.

“Good Morning Arjun! Thanks for coming down to see me.”

“My pleasure. You have a very nice office I must say.” He had good observation but probably much better skills at making someone feel good about something they should not. After all, government offices in India are not the best decorated ones, and the sight of the old red files with a white string knotting them always created an unenviable ambience. The wooden tables and creaking chairs were not the most comfortable and therefore I liked to spend most of the time outside my office. But I certainly kept my office clean and was proud about it and thus took Arjun’s words with a sense of pride.

“Thanks Arjun, though I would prefer better interiors and furniture.” We chuckled. “So, how are you doing?”

“I am fine, thank you. I believe you have called me to talk about Karishma.”

“Yes I have, I saw her picture. She looked beautiful in the picture.”

“And in real life,” he said with pride, “she is the most beautiful lady I have ever seen, and I miss her. Do have any further news on the case?” I could see his emotions change and saw for the first time different emotions of love, this time from feeling proud to feeling sad.

“Well, we have been investigating but haven’t found many clues about what happened to her and how.”

“That’s sad, I hope you can find the culprits soon, I really miss her, detective.”

“I am given to understand that both of you were deeply in love Arjun.”

“Yes detective, we were indeed in love and we were really close to each other. This incident has really broken me into two and I personally request to get to the bottom of this case and find out the truth. Do it for me sir.”

“We are trying our best Arjun and I assure you, you will have answers pretty soon on what happened.”

“What I can tell you is that I don’t know where she is now, but she is still breathing in my heart and she is with me all the time.”

“That’s sweet, Arjun. I called you here today to know more about you. Tell me everything, I want to know everything about you, about Karishma, how the two of you met, don’t hide anything.”

“With pleasure sir, let me first tell you about myself if that’s OK with you.”

“Oh yes, go ahead.” I approved although I may have wanted to discuss Karishma first. But it may be better to know him first so that his perspective becomes clear.

“My name is Arjun Saxena, I am twenty-one years old and I come from Banaras. You would have surely heard of the place.”

“Yes, of course and the tasty Banarasi paan,” I said, unable to resist making the observation.

“Yes, they are my favourite too. My father moved from Banaras to Mumbai to set up his business venture. My father’s name is Mr Navin Saxena and he is an industrialist, he started with a copper smelter and over a period of time, he has forward integrated his business to make Jelly Filled Telephone Cables (JFTC) which use copper as the main ingredient. He has done exceedingly well being a first generation entrepreneur and he has made a very good fortune probably for generations to come. He is very conservative by nature, wants me to follow him in his business, which I am least interested in.”

“Where does your interest lie?” I asked.

“I am more interested in theatre, I want to write, direct and act in plays, and maybe someday make movies.” A smile appeared on his face.

“That’s interesting, please continue.”

“He is still trying to force or convince me into business, but I am quite stubborn. So we have a bit of a conflict zone at home.”

“What was his view on your and Karishma’s love story?” I asked, hoping to get some clues.

“Well, initially he wasn’t happy at all, he wanted me to focus on studies and business and not get swayed away in some other direction. He never opposed it with vengeance but he neither supported it as well. However, after this incident, I think his emotions as a father have arisen and he has become a very good moral support for me in these tough times.”

“What about your mother?”

“My mother is my best friend; her name is Mrs Sarla Saxena. She is the best mother one can ever get; she has supported me, my entire life and saved me from my dad’s anger a number of times. She didn’t study much but she is one of the smartest ladies you will ever find. I know you will ask me so I will tell you, she has always supported mine and Karishma’s relationship; in fact she loved Karishma just like her own daughter.”

“That’s nice; tell me more about you now.” I asked realizing I still don’t know much about Arjun.

“I am a bit of a rebel in character and very stubborn as well. Being the only child, I have been most pampered and I always got what I wanted, this perhaps spoiled me a bit. I have been one of those privileged children for whom people say, born with a silver spoon in mouth. I have had the best clothes, best gadgets, best cars, and best of everything of all my friends. But my parents probably also gave me very good values and therefore I was able to balance my character. I enjoyed my school life, which was an only boys’ school, and probably that’s the only regret I have about my school.”

We both shared a laugh at this; Arjun seemed to have a good sense of humour.

“I always wanted to do commerce and I joined one of the best colleges in town Jai Hind College, near the Churchgate station. The five years spent at Jai Hind College are the best years of my life and will remain so. I got active in stage activities and made amazing friends, I never realized stage would be so fulfilling. You know acting in a play is like living a life, it has all the thrills, tensions, fun, challenge, mistakes, team work, creativity, etc. which life has. If there is anything best that has happened to me after Karishma, it is my stage activities. I was an introvert when I entered college and my first day was quite nervous, I was scared of the first day ragging from senior students. I remember I was so nervous that I went and sat alone near the water fountain in the basement in Annexe Building of Jai Hind college till it was time for the lectures to start. I didn’t want to be in front of people, though generally I was a very confident person and I had a good time in school with my friends. The difference I guess was that for the first time I would be in contact with girls and I didn’t have any great experience of being with them, talking to them. Just few minutes before the lectures would start, I went up to the class and went and sat in a secluded corner. I can’t imagine this was me on the first day.”

“Even I can’t imagine that,” I said as I was enjoying his story and wanted to hear more. He continued.

“The five years in Jai Hind completely changed me as a person. I became an extrovert, confident, humorous, and fun to be with person. My confidence with girls grew so much that I got assigned the title for being a FTF, well, you know, Full Time Flirt. I guess acting on stage, live in front of a college audience builds up a lot of character in a person. What you see today is all because of the time I spent at Jai Hind College and therefore these are the best years of my life and will remain, and of course I also met my love here. I really wish you find out soon what happened to Karishma, as that is the biggest burden on my heart right now.”

I saw the change in emotions on Arjun’s face, from being happy about his college and love life to suddenly being sad getting reminded or Karishma’s absence. At least it was a good start to my investigation and I think I got to know Arjun a lot about him and his character. It was not just his words but his mannerisms and body language that spoke to me, and I must confess I was impressed with him.

I wanted to know a bit about Karishma and was about to ask him, then just like on cue in a play, and ironically so, my mobile rang again and brought me back into the present from fifteen years back. I had to leave the company of my thoughts to attend this phone and as I glanced at the number, it was the same Mumbai number from which I had earlier got a call.

“Hello, Rahul here.” The voice on the other line confirmed my sixth sense on whose call it may be.

“Hello Mr Rahul, this is Mrs Sarla Saxena here.”