CARRY YOUR OWN PARCEL!

 

            Soni Gaur, a petite, fair lady in her late twenties but her flawless skin & regular sturdy regime never made her age reflect. Her fit body & dedication made her a perfect Assistant Superintendent of Police of her batch. Soni had always been passionate about her goals. 

            Soni was having her breakfast when she heard an e-mail notification. Unlike the usual times, she rose to check whose email it was but the sender was hidden & private. She couldn’t stand her curiosity & opened the email. She stared at the email message on her computer, her mind racing so fast that the words blurred together and no longer made any sense. Just three lines, but enough to make her life--the life she’d worked so hard and sacrificed so much to build--begin to crumble around her. She stood there paralysed & choked. A long breath from her lungs regained her consciousness.

Khar headquarters was flooded with policemen & usual chaos from the complainers & loud cries from the criminals were audible even to the passers-by. Soni's grey eyes were searching for her fiery boss. She stormed into her cabin, dialed two numbers over her intercom & ordered a cutting chai for herself. She further hastily dialed a number from her cell-phone but there was no response from the other side, so she decided to drop a voice message, “Sir, please call me as soon as you reach the headquarters. It’s urgent!” She leaned back on her chair & closed her eyes.

"TRRIIINNGGGG….!!!!" rang the phone. She picked up the phone to answer. She instantly left her office to meet the Superintendent of Police, Aruj Dikshit. The fury in the poised man's eyes instantly vanished as soon as Soni entered his cabin. Always clean-shaved & musky, Aruj had a special place in Soni's heart & somehow Aruj too couldn't resist having hearts for Soni. But never had either of them confessed their feelings to each other. "Soni, what urgent talk you had to do with me?" enquired Aruj. Soni couldn't keep herself quiet, "I want to be on the terrorist Shifa Ahmed case." Aruj had always been impressed with Soni's straight-forward & bold nature but this time Aruj was shocked. He had just returned with the same file & he hadn't yet mentioned it to anybody. Aruj was in firm denial, "I am handling this case. You are still under the training period. Moreover, you are not eligible to handle this case." Soni was firm enough to convince Aruj. Aruj was more curious to know how Soni knew about the case & why was she so desperate than being not convinced. Soni was in a tight spot. For a moment she got blank & didn't know what kind of explanation was right. She explained, "The school that she blasted was the same school where I studied & I lost my fatherly figure in the same blast.” Aruj was still not convinced, "I cannot let you be on this case for such a personal reason. I'm sorry. This is not a personal war." Aruj picked up the intercom to dial the number but the obstinate lady forced him to put that down, "It might not be for you. For me it is. Moreover, you very well know I'm more than eligible for this case. Please you have to recommend me." Those resolute eyes persuaded Aruj to agree.

The investigation was at its peak. All the teammates had activated their hidden resources, the most active of them all was Soni's. Though Soni was the junior-most teammate yet her sources had proved to be the strongest. After all the struggle & hard work, they came across a man who dealt in such suicide bombs. He led the team to various other moles & their hideouts. But each time they faced a dead-end. Soni was all so involved in the case that she hardly took care of her health. After the day's long streak, Aruj dropped Soni home. As soon as she dropped out of the car, she fainted & dropped down. Aruj rushed out of the car to pick her up. He placed her on her couch & rushed to get some lemonade for her. Aruj could see Soni growl unconsciously. Day after day Soni's health worsened & Aruj could no longer stand that.

Aruj decided to spend some time with Soni. They were seated on her couch post-dinner with dessert in each one of their hands. Aruj held her hand & pulled her into a warm hug, “I’m afraid to lose you.” He cupped her face in his hands & explained, “This is your first big case & you are so involved in it that you hardly take care of yourself. I’m sorry to say this, if this continues, I’ll have to remove you from the case.” Soni’s special moment was now her fierce moment. She grew red with fury, threw Aruj's hands from her face & stood up to protest, "This is not done. It's the matter of my life, don't you get it!?" Aruj opposed, "NO! It isn't. You cannot lose yourself like this in one case. My decision is final & firm. You are staying away from this case." Tears shone in her eyes & in no time they were flooded. She clenched her fist & banged the near-by table so hard that almost instantly her palm swelled red. Aruj rushed to grasp her hand & stop her from doing it further, "Stop it, you obstinate lady! You are weakening me like this." Soni protested, "You are weakening me. I thought you'll be my strength, but you are making me weak. This is really important for me, please!" Aruj was silent. He stared directly into her wet eyes. Without speaking a single word he left her place, leaving her all alone in the lonely silence.

Soni was up, awake all night with the fear of the invading nightmares of the bomb-blast & the email that she had received. She had become a nut in a nutcracker. She had to be in the case whatsoever the consequences were. The next day she was on time with the other teammates pondering over their next move. After all the clues, they concluded that they won't be able to solve the case unless they visited the affected area. Their next destination was Patnitop, Jammu. Soni kept grabbing Aruj's attention but Aruj's anger was at its peak & he maintained the distance all the while. The bomb blast had occurred in a small local school in Nashri village. They started their investigations & interrogations. The villagers led them to the school where only its remnants could be found. Soni had started becoming a passive soldier. She followed the commands but suddenly she took a back seat. Aruj's anger was slowly dissolving with this. The ambience, the weather had started becoming their witness of a secret romance. Soni made efforts to dissolve the distance that she had created. Aruj could no longer remain away from Soni. Their love was blossoming amidst the cold, lush green mountains.

"Sir, we couldn't find anything in the school. Everything was destroyed by the terrorist. But we have discovered something really striking. The person who ran the school also ran an orphanage. His name was Zakir Siddique. The old haunted building adjoining the school was the orphanage. Maybe we could find some lead from the building," reported one of the officers in charge. The building had been sealed by the police ever since the bomb blast. Aruj managed to unseal the building with the help of Jammu police. He further investigated the list of the people who died in the blast. It was one male adult & one senior female who happened to be their daai & 15 kids. Aruj ordered the old records of all the 15 kids. All of them were the residents of the same orphanage. "Janab, the adult male who died was none other than Zakir Siddiqui & his own daughter was made to wear the suicide bomb by the terrorist," mentioned a senior inspector of Jammu police who happened to be one of the investigating officers of that blast. He further mentioned about a constable who assisted the main officer & that he could provide them good information.

Aruj & the other officer went to that constable & sent Soni with others to investigate in the building. Aruj learnt from the constable that he knew Zakir Saab very closely & that he was a very secular man. He had children of all religions in his orphanage & treated all of them equally. He never gave special provisions to anyone, not even to his own daughter. Aruj inquired, "Do you remember his daughter's name? Do you remember how she looked?" The old man pondered for a moment & frowned, "Soni. She was the same as her name. She was very pretty & fair with light eyes & curly brown hair. The poor girl faced a worse fate." Aruj's mind started racing as soon as he heard the name, Soni. He asked one of his officials to redirect him with the list of the people who died. He found the name of Soni Siddiqui. Aruj & Soni met at their government quarters with the other officials. One of the officers reported their investigation, “Sir, we found only a few records from the building. All the records were almost destroyed.” Soni further stated, "Sir, it seems the suicide bomber was very well aware of the orphanage & the school. She had very well cleared all the proofs behind her. But we couldn't find a single record named Shifa Ahmed. Plus I don't even remember someone with this name. So she couldn’t have been a part of the orphanage.” Aruj was disappointed with the report that he had got. He was now getting annoyed with the dead ends. He immediately ordered two of the officials to investigate the outskirts of the state whether there are any militant training camps. Soni could see the fury on Aruj’s face. She decided to divert his mind.

That night Soni helped Aruj relax with her charm. And finally, their love had no boundaries.

Aruj chose to re-investigate the orphanage himself the next day early in the morning. Soni was still asleep when Aruj left in the early hours of dawn. He measured all the nooks & corners of the building. He didn't leave a single table unturned. He came across a room that happened to be Zakirsaab's room. Aruj was scanning the entire room with his eagle eyes. The entire room was a mess & the way the room was messed he was sure of one thing that someone with a personal grudge did this. He wore his gloves on & started surfing through the cupboard. He came across a small black & white photo album which was very weirdly destroyed. In every photo, only one single person's face was darkened, not leaving a single picture. Aruj kept searching for clues in the entire house but he bore nothing out of it. It was almost noon & he decided to return to the headquarters when suddenly something struck him & rushed towards each & every room. He counted the number of beds in the dormitory, & counted the chairs in the dining room. He further checked the lockers. He saw a uniformity in each thing. It numbered to be 17. He pulled out the paper from his pocket & counted the number of kids that died in the blast. It numbered 15, so there might be two people who were alive after the bomb blast. “One should be Soni. Who must be the other one?” pondered Aruj.

Aruj reached the quarters & the first thing he did was go through records of the orphanage which were just 13. He assumed others were destroyed but how & why was the question. Aruj locked himself in the room & drew a flow chart. After jotting down a couple of notes he came to one single conclusion that the suicide bomber was a part of the orphanage. He couldn't come across Zakir Siddiqui's daughter which the old constable had mentioned. The photos that he saw had a single photo blackened. He assumed that the blackened person must be Zakirsaab's daughter. For that, he needed to know where the missing person was. He called up the J&K police station. After strolling for almost an hour, his phone buzzed. It was from J&K police. He informed that they were shifted to a Home for all orphanage in Chenani town, Jammu. Without even informing anyone he geared up his car & vroomed to the mentioned address.

 “Are you Mr. Aruj?” Aruj turned around to face a woman in her forties. Aruj introduced himself to the woman & narrated about the case he was working on & that he wanted to see their records of the year 2000 intake in the orphanage. He was surfing through the records when he came across a familiar name, Soni Gaur. He asked the woman whether anyone accompanied Soni Gaur. The woman led him to the library where the other lady was. Her name was Fatima Ahmed. "How do you know Soni?" asked Aruj to Fatima. "We escaped from the school together. I cannot forget that day. She came to me suddenly when I was working in the school. She said she had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen. And she forced me out of the school into the orphanage building. And as soon as we reached the building there was a big blast. Poor girl lost her father." Aruj's eyebrows raised at it, "Father? But only Zakirsaab died in the blast." Fatima responded, "Of course! Zakirsaab was his father." Aruj, "But his daughter, Soni Siddiqui died in the blast." Fatima, "Are you out of your mind? Wait. We had two Soni's in our orphanage." Aruj's mind started racing & started building up the scattered blocks. Aruj & Fatima had a long discussion about Soni's childhood.

"Welcome back Soni Siddiqui! Or should I say, Shifa Ahmed!?" Aruj taunted as soon as Soni entered her room. Aruj was sitting on the chair facing the door. Soni was paralysed. "How could you do this Soni?" Fatima spoke from behind. "Fatima aapa!?" Soni realized her camouflage was now revealed. She shattered down on the floor. Her life crumbled down. Her perseverance was down to earth. Soni gathered up her courage & proceeded to fetch her laptop. Aruj was terribly heartbroken. He didn't look into her eyes once for he knew if he did he would breakdown. Aruj snatched the laptop from her hands & sneaked into it. The email read:-

Salaam bibiji,

We have heard that the terrorist Shifa Ahmed has resurfaced after all these years, who happens to be none other than you. We even know you have hidden your true identity. Become our secret spy or the rumour that we have spread shall be the reality.

Yours sincerely,

ISIS

Soni’s eyes were flooded with tears & embarrassment. Aruj took out various documents from his bag -  her application form from the Home for all orphanage, a photo of her & her father, her photo with Fatima, real Soni Gaur's identity & lastly the application form which was obtained from the hidden militant training group on the outskirts of Jammu. "This is enough shreds of evidence which prove you to be a big-time traitor. Do you even realize what fate you will face after I file these..?" Soni broke her silence, "Yes. I am Shifa Ahmed. I hated my secular father. I was his biological child yet I was always treated the same as the other orphans. I was treated as an orphan so I chose to be an orphan. I came to know about the militant training camps where they trained to make bombs & help create a new identity. They gave me a new name Shifa Ahmed. I wore the suicide bomb & went to the school when it suddenly struck I too shall die in this. So I fooled Soni Gaur & asked her to exchange our bags which contained the explosive. She died being Soni Siddiqui, a martyr & I took her identity. Fatima aapa was too much in a state of shock that she didn't realize that I showed my identity to be Soni Gaur." There was an awkward silence in the room. "I never thought my past would come up like this in my life. All these years I had been fighting with my past & to fight that I decided to join the police force. I'm ashamed of myself. I was just saving myself. Trust me Aruj, I'm not a country's traitor." Aruj loaded Soni's gun & placed it on the table. Then he took out the handcuffs from his pocket & a paper with her confession, placed on the table alongside the gun & commanded, “You can exchange your bags but not the burden of your deeds.”

Soni signed the confession paper & surrendered. She chose to be the police's puppet instead of ISIS' to face the punishment of loathing her parcel to someone else!!