Chapter Text
“Devika! Das Sahab ke case ka kya updates hain?”
Kartik was sitting on his ergonomic chair with his legs put up on the table in front of him. He had a paper weight in his hand and was deeply concentrated on rotating it.
Devika was sitting behind him on an easy chair with a newspaper in hand.
“Bol toh aise raha hain jaise kitna badhiya case mila hain!”
“Case jaisa bhi mile, client toh client hota hain. Updates kya hain?”
Kartik turned his chair to face Devika.
“Unka bachcha ghar laut aaya hain. Bachcha jise woh keh rahe the woh basically unka tota hain. Harishankar Das ke koi bachche nahin the. Pichhle dus saalon mein woh bais panchhiyon ko paalte hain aur unhi ko apna bachcha maante hain. Do saal pehle bais mein se ekkis ‘bachche’ hi marr gaye, bacha tha unka aakhri beta, Amrud. Itna wahiyad naam kaun rakhta hain tote ka?”
Devika was irritated as she had to narrate this disgusting case.
“Aage bol Devi....”
Kartik was least affected by her irritation. He kept on looking at the paper weight in his hand and asked her to continue in an emotionless voice.
Devika glared at Kartik for once before she continued.
“Haan toh ek mahine pehle Amrud apne pinjre se nikalkar udd gaya! Sahi kiya! Kyun rahega pinjre mein ek azaad panchhi?”
“Continue Devi!”
Kartik kept on swaying from side to side on his chair.
“Bol rahi hoon na? Amrud udd gaya tha aur Harishankar ji ko laga kisine use chura liya hain. Isi liye humare paas aaye the taki hum unke panchhi roopi bachche ko waapis laa sake. Toh teen din pehle Amrud ghar aa gaya. Aur humari zaroorat nahin padi. Harishankar ji ne 50% payment kiya hain....”
“Payment ki baat nahin hain Devika ji! Baat hain case ki.”
Kartik sighed and stood up from his chair and took a stroll around the room.
Kartik Singh. Age - 35 years. Height - 5 feet 10 inches. Eye colour - black. Relationship status - currently single.
Too much useless information, right?
Not really useless. To be a detective, you need to notice every small big details in all your cases.
Yes. A detective.
Kartik was an engineer by profession but a detective by passion. Kartik loved his passion so much that he now was a jobless person sitting at home in Chandigarh, waiting for a proper case to come to him sometime.
Devika Chaturvedi. Age - 31 years. Height - 5 feet 4 inches. Eye colour - deep brown. Relationship status - dating Kartik’s friend and cyber crime officer, Ravi Kumar. Devika worked at an advertising agency and was Kartik’s assistant in which ever case came to him. Not that it helped much, cause Devika had office and considered herself intelligent enough to not give up her profession which would earn her money, and sit idle at home like Kartik. She therefore wasn’t available much all the time. But Kartik still kept her as his assistant because Devika was very good at planning out things and was a real spontaneous acting girl. Her reflexes were fantastic. So all of Kartik’s cases were laid out by Devika to him in the form of a chart, or Kartik would make a chart and Devika would review it.
Devika was Kartik’s junior in college. She had a crush on Kartik for a long time but never owned up until it was Kartik’s last year in college.
Kartik politely revealed that he was interested in men. He would definitely love to have Devika as her friend but couldn’t reciprocate her feelings. Devika was hurt by this. Kartik realised that and being the kind of friendly and flamboyant person he was, he made Devika feel extremely comfortable around him, and then introduced her to his friend Ravi Kumar.
Ravi was studying computer engineering then, and it was his dream to become a cyber security officer someday. Devika and Ravi vibed quite instantly after they met. Kartik remained as a friend to them and slowly helped in turning their friendship into love a few years later.
It did work out. Ravi expressed what he felt for Devika and she agreed that she felt the same. The trio were great friends and they all lived together in a rented 2BHK apartment. Cause both Devika and Ravi knew what kind of a person Kartik was. And they guessed it just right.
Kartik one day came home saying he left job. When asked why, he replied that he had full proof of a scam going on in the company done by one of the group chairmen and when he brought that into the notice of his boss, his boss blamed him instead saying that could never happen and the chairman was a kind hearted person. He tried to prove it again and then his boss insulted him in front of all his colleagues. Kartik left the job in rage and came back home.
“Tu wahan engineer banke gaya tha ya scam pakadne ka detective banke?”
Devika asked when Kartik came home and sat exhausted on the sofa with his tie loosened.
“Engineer hoon iska yeh matlab toh nahin hain ki galati dekhun aur chup karke baitha rahun? Mujhe jo sahi laga woh maine kiya!”
Kartik was still fuming.
“Achha, sahi kya. Theek hain. Ghatna ko bhool jate hain. Ab aage ka kya?”
Ravi asked him.
“Dekh main aur job nahin karne waala. Ek engineer banke mujhe koi samman nahin mila, ab baari hain mere shauk ki.”
Devika saw determination in his eyes and became sure that Ravi and she were now unofficially the parents to Kartik Singh. They didn’t coax him any further and allowed him to do what he felt was the best for him. Devika later planned with Ravi that they would look after Kartik well.
Kartik dated a guy named Hardik from his college days. It was a six year long relationship and Hardik broke up with him immediately after Kartik left his job. He first politely said that the pride community isn’t that respected in the country. And if they didn’t have financial stability and dignity, the society wouldn’t think twice before uprooting them. Kartik revolted saying the society comprised of majority criminals and fraudsters. He therefore didn’t care about the society. He also said that if love to Hardik was nothing more than being financially strong, then definitely their views didn’t match. For Kartik believed in the theory that ‘if you love me at my best, you must love me at my worst too!”
Hardik said he didn’t believe that love could exist without financial stability and it was then that it was mutually decided that Kartik didn’t deserve him. Both of them agreed that Hardik deserved better. Hardik left cursing Kartik that he’d never find love again.
A relationship of six years which broke in a few minutes had a deep impact on Kartik, who then immersed himself completely in alcohol. He wasn’t out of the insult of his boss and Hardik, someone Kartik knew was there for him for six long years, now left him just because he was jobless.
Devika and Ravi found that Kartik was no longer a normal being. He didn’t sleep for more than 45 minutes a day, ate little to nothing and was always drinking. He cried at nights occasionally and kept a tough look on his face throughout the day.
His state was something neither Devika nor Ravi could tolerate. He was jobless and now whatever savings he had, he was exhausting them over bottles of whiskey.
Devika started to take care of Kartik like his own mother. She would make his bed, put fragrance in his room and scolded him whenever he refused to eat anything. Kartik was grumpy always, but he never spoke a word against Devika. He did whatever she told him to do. Devika didn’t force him to get engaged in activities much but didn’t let him sit idle either. She nursed Kartik like a mother, slowly reduced his alcohol consumption and then stopped it finally one day.
One night Devika heard a sobbing sound from Kartik’s room. She went in and found that Kartik was crying silently there, holding the railings of his window and looking down at the empty street below. She tip toed into the room and gently placed her hand on Kartik’s shoulder.
Kartik hugged her immediately and started to cry hard on her shoulders. Devika hugged her back and gently stroked her fingers through Kartik’s hairs. Ravi came running from the other room hearing his voice. Devika signalled him to keep quiet and to let Kartik cry.
Kartik cried for a long time in Devika’s warm hug and then released himself.
“Hardik ko chhe saalon se jaanta hoon. Kabhi laga nahin tha woh aisa karega. Insaan ko samajhne mein kabhi kabhi zindagi guzar jaati hain, hain na Devi? Pehchaan na itna aasan nahin hota kisiko.”
Devika let Kartik speak his heart out. Kartik spoke for the first time in so many days.
The next morning Kartik was a whole new person. He came out of his room and had tea with his friends in the living area. He discussed with Ravi his plans of opening an office to which Ravi replied that he should first solve a few cases and then spend money on office. It made sense to Kartik. He therefore dropped the idea and selected Devika as his assistant.
“Achha bhai! Raat ko Devi ke paas baithke do baatein kya kar lee, abhi assistant woh bann gayi? Mera koi existence hi nahin raha?”
“Hain hain, existence hain. Tere sivay gundon ke call records kaise track karunga main? Par Devi ko mujhe assistant isi liye chahiye cause she has marvellous instincts and also sharp reflexes. Usse zyada able assistant aur kahan milega mujhe?”
Both Ravi and Devika were initially prepared that it was a child’s play that Kartik started. He would eventually get bored by this and end up joining a job.
But Kartik was adamant. Whatever small cases came to him, he would solve them with great concentration and end up receiving good amounts of money. Devika and Ravi were happy. If Kartik’s passion earned him a living too, what better could it be?
But slowly after a year, number of cases started to reduce and very silly, petty cases came to him.
Coming back to the current day.
“Payment ki baat nahin hain Devika ji! Baat hain case ki!”
Kartik left his chair and took a stroll in the room.
“Dekh Kartik aise kitne din tak chalega? Kab tak logon ka tota kauwa aur pati dhoondhte rahenge hum?”
Devika asked really confused.
“Pati se yaad aaya. Mrs. Agarwal ke pati ka kya hua? Woh case toh maine solve kar diya tha.”
“Haan aur uski payment bhi aa gayi. Unke pati ka affair nahin tha koi, unko kirtan sunne ka shauk tha. Mrs. Agarwal ko bhagwan pe utna bharosa nahin tha isi liye Mr. Agarwal chhup chhup ke Radha Krishna ka naam sunne jaate the.”
“Haan aur ISKCON mandir ke bahar humne unhen dekha tha.”
“Haan. Mrs. Agarwal ne payment kar diya hain pura.”
“Tu jaanta hain Devi? Asli baat kya hain? Hindu dharm kehta hain na satya yug ke baare mein? Mujhe lagta hain yeh satya yug shayad shuru ho gaya hain. Nahin toh crime rate itna ghat kaise sakta hain? Koi insaan dhang se crime hi nahin karta.”
Ravi joked from the side.
“Tum log ko toh khush hona chahiye ki crime rate ghat raha hain. Ulta shokh mana rahe ho! Ajeeb insaan ho!”
Kartik said, sitting back on his chair.
“Shokh nahin mana rahe. Bass teri fikar hain yaar. Tu apne sapne ko follow karne ke chakkar mein yahin bhool gaya hain ki zinda rehne ke liye khaane peene ki bhi zaroorat hoti hain. Aur uske liye paise chahiye hote hain.”
Devika said, concern clear in her voice.
“Haan toh paise toh aa rahe hain. Yeh Mrs. Agarwal ne toh diye na.”
Kartik replied and Devika pinned her eyes over Kartik. Kartik looked everywhere else in the room but not at her.
“Yeh, yeh aath hazar rupaye ka consolation prize tu khud ko de, mujhe nahin chahiye. Tu toh maanta bhi nahin meri baat. Kisne kaha detective na banne ko? Bano. Lekin job kyun chhodna hain uske liye? Job karte karte bhi toh yeh kiya ja sakta hain!”
Devika gave a long offended speech to Kartik.
“Kisi bhi cheez ke liye lagan zaroori hoti hain....”
Kartik started.
“Lo! Shuru ho gaya phirse!”
Devika stood up from her easy chair and went into the kitchen.
“That’s so mean! Anyways, kisi bhi kaam ke liye lagan is important. Woh na rahe, toh na toh us kaam ko theek se kar payenge aur na toh baaki kaamon ko. Isi liye....”
“Isi liye zindagi bhar wahi karna chahiye jisse dil ko khushi mile, dil ko sukoon mile. Kyunki kaam jab ek hi karna hain, toh dil ki kyun na sune, nahin?”
Devika came out of the kitchen with a basket of bread, butter and jam as she narrated remaining part of Kartik’s speech.
“That’s like my assistant!”
Kartik stood up and walked towards the dining table.
“Kartik tu gussa dila raha hain mujhe!”
“Sahi kiya toh. Gussail aurat ko gussa na dilaun toh aur kya karun?”
Kartik even joked seriously and that made Devika even more angry every time.
“Nahin, I’m serious Kartik. Kab tak aise panchhi kho jana ya extra marital affairs ke cases solve karta rahega tu? Your worth is higher than all this.”
Devika said as she put butter on a slice of bread and handed it over to Kartik.
“Detective ka kaam kya hota hain pata hain? Sach ko dhoondh nikaalna, aur musibat mein phase logon ko wahan se mukt karna. Bass! Phir chahe musibat kisi ki panchhi udd jaana ho ya kisi ka biwi bhaag jaana, baat toh ek hi hain! Aur pata hain private detective kyun hoon main? Kyunki sarkari detective aur police ko ghanta phark nahin padta koi musibat se nikle ya nahin. Aise situations mujhe nahin pasand. Isi liye private hi sahi.”
Kartik always spoke this lightly and casually and it made Devika worry even more about him.
“Tu jaanta hain is waqt tujhe kis cheez ki zaroorat hain? Ek bande ki; jiski baat maan ke tu zindagi bhar chal sake. Kyunki meri toh sunna bandh kar diya hain tune. Ab apna pati aayega tabhi tujhe sabak milegi. Woh tujhe aise majboor karega kaam karne ke liye, tab maza aayega! I’m waiting for that day.”
Devika said as Kartik looked at her with suspicious eyes.
“Kabhi kabhi main sochta hoon, ghar mein hi do do criminals hain jo dost banke baithe hain. Bahar dhoondhne ki kya zaroorat hain? Tum donon mere barbadi ka conspiracy bana rahe ho?”
Ravi laughed at this.
“Nahin Kartik. Conspiracy barbadi ka nahin, tujhe sambhalne ka bana rahe hain. Pyaar ke bina zindagi mein kya hain? Agar pyaar na ho, zindagi mein aur reh hi kya jaata hain?”
Devika sat down beside him and gently spoke.
“Tum donon ho na. Aur kisika pyaar nahin chahiye mujhe.”
“Arrey yaar!”
Devika stood up irritated again.
“Chhod chhod Devi, Kartik ke saath baaton mein koi kabhi jeet nahin sakta.”
Ravi commented on seeing Devika really angry.
“Saro jaake jahan mann ho. Phir rote rote mere paas mat aana!”
Devika took the plates and went into the kitchen.
Ravi looked at Kartik who was deeply concentrating on reading a newspaper.
“Ghoor kyun raha hain aise?”
Kartik asked Ravi without shifting his eyes from the newspaper.
“Kuch toh bata Kartik. Aise kaise chalega? Dekh Devi ke saamne maine kaha nahin kuch, woh jhik jhik karegi lekin....”
“Achha, main jhik jhik karungi?”
Devika over heard Ravi from the kitchen.
“Nahin mujhe toh bass jhik jhik karna hi aata hain na? Main kuch aur bolti hi kahan hoon? Meri zaroorat hi kya hain? Jhik jhik karti hoon tabhi toh tum do dost mujhe thoda sa importance dete ho. Warna kabhi dete? Fikar bhi hain tum donon ko kuch, ki ghar kaise chalta hain......”
Ravi stood up to console Devika who kept on shouting. Kartik took a deep breath.
“Shukr hain meri zindagi mein koi nahin hain!”
Kartik sighed as he spoke. Though the words were spoken in a manner which sounded of relief and sarcasm, deep within Kartik knew he wanted to be loved, he wanted to feel needed.
Ting tong, ting tong, ting tong, ting tong, tinggg tong
The doorbell rang all of a sudden.
“Arrey ladna bandh karo abhi. Koi aaya hain....”
“Tujhe kyun lagta hain main jhik jhik karti hoon? Mujhe achha lagta hain kya?”
Ting tong, ting tong, ting tong, ting tong, tinggg tong
Neither Devika stopped shouting, nor did the visitor stop ringing the bell. Thus, Kartik left his cosy space and went to open the door.
“Kartik Singh...yahin ghar hain unka?”
A man was standing at the door. He was hardly 33 years old and was wearing a blue t-shirt, a pair of trousers and a casual pair of slippers. His face was red, eyes swollen as if he had been crying for a long time and was infact crying even now, at Kartik’s door. He was shivering slightly, which explains the reason behind the constant ring of the doorbell. He looked exhausted as he had dark circles below his eyes. Seemed like he hadn’t slept well for many nights.
“Ji, main hi Kartik Singh hoon. Aap pehle andar aaiye.”
Kartik helped the man inside his house. Seeing a stranger enter, Devika and Ravi stopped too.
Kartik helped the man inside and made him sit on the sofa. He had stopped by crying then. Devika got him a glass of water and kept it in front of him. The man had horrified expressions all over his face.
“Paani.”
He looked at Devika as she said and then at the glass of water and broke down to tears again. He started to shiver once more as he cried bitterly. Kartik sat beside him and rubbed his back to calm him down. He continued to cry.
“Ji, are you okay now?”
Kartik asked the man when he stopped crying and shivering after sometime. He nodded in response.
“Abhi bataiye. Kya kaam hain aapko mujhse? How can I help you?”
Kartik had a calm and cool voice in which he spoke. The man therefore calmed down and looked at Kartik who had now changed his position and was sitting in front of him.
“Kisine mere tauji ka hatya kar diya!”
The man spoke, his voice becoming heavy again.
“Aapka naam?”
“Main Aman....Aman Tripathi. Businessman Vishwanath Tripathi, woh... mere tauji the. Main unka bhatija hoon.”
“Achha. Aman, aap mujhe khul ke bataiye ki aapko kaise aur kab pata chala ki kisine aapke tauji ka hatya kiya hain?”
Kartik asked, fine lines appearing in his forehead. Devika and Ravi also sat down on the chairs. They realised that finally Kartik got a case which he was dying to solve for so long.
“Tauji roz ki tarah kal raat ko ghar aaye aur unhone chai mangwayi. Uske baad toh woh apne kamre mein chale gaye.... Raat ko khaane ke samay taiji ne unko bulaya, woh aa bhi gaye.....khush hi the. Sabse baatein karte karte khana kha liye, aur phir sone chale gaye. Aj subah.... Navya unka chai lekar gayi tabhi usne dekha ki.....ki kisi ne tauji ko aise pichhe se maar diya hain. Khoon tha unke charo or. Navya ke cheekh se hi hum sab daudke gaye aur dekha.....”
Aman’s eyes moistened again.
“Navya kaun?”
Kartik asked.
“Navya....meri chhoti behen.”
“Achha.....”
Kartik replied, thinking something.
“Haan, aap please chaliye. Ajay bhaiya, tauji ka bada beta, unhone aapko bulane ke liye kaha hain.”
“Aapne Kartik ke baare mein kaha se jaana?”
Devika asked.
Aman looked at her and then at Kartik. Kartik was looking at him too.
“Woh Mohit ne suggest kiya. Mohit, mera bada bhai hain. Uske boss ke kisi gharelu case mein Kartik ne madad kiya tha. Mohit keh raha tha ki Kartik ji se achha....”
“Achha, Aman aap log ka ghar kahan hain?”
Kartik asked, stopping him in between.
“Ji, Panchkula se thodi door. Aap kab aa rahe ho?”
“Hum abhi aate hain. Aap apna number mujhe de dijiye, main thodi der mein aata hoon.”
Aman gave him his phone number and Kartik consoled him by saying that he would definitely find out the murderer of his tauji. Aman left after that.
“Kya lagta hain Kartik?”
Ravi asked from behind as Kartik watched Aman walk down the street from his window.
“Patience, Ravi, patience. It is important to concentrate before you decide and act.”
Kartik said as he looked down blankly at the street.
“Ek minute. Decide tak toh theek tha, lekin act? Tu soch raha hain tu jayega ya nahin? Itne dinon baad achha case aaya hain Kartik.”
“Hmmm....”
That’s all Kartik said, in reply to Devika’s concern.
“Creep!”
Devika rolled her eyes and went away.
“Kya soch raha hain Kartik?”
Ravi asked.
“Pata nahin.....”
“Pata nahin? Kya....”
Ravi’s phone rang. He excused himself and left the place, leaving Kartik alone by the window.
He kept on staring blankly at the busy street below.