The Return - Chapter 7: I lied to my God!

"Its me Saab Hari!"
"Hari? What are you doing here? Who gave you the keys? And whats all this?"
"Saab, Shalini madam gave me the spare keys. She sent some pohe. I thought you liked having adrak chai. So I made some. Are you ok saab?"
"Oh", Malwankar saab lost the smile on his face. "No its ok Hari. I thought it was....never mind"
Why did Shalini madam and Sandeep saab not tell him. I don't understand what they are thinking. If I was returning home to Burhanpur. I would have sent a letter to everyone that I was coming back. I may not be living in Mumbai like Satendra. But Pune is also a big city. I don't know when I will go back. I can't go back till I make enough money to buy the land back. I hope I win the Maharashtra lottery this week. I started smiling unknowingly.
"What is it Hari? Why are you standing there like that. Get me some tea. I am starving"
"Yes Saab.", I scampered back to the kitchen. Sandeep saab gave me a thumbs up and smiled at me.
"Go Go", Sandeep Saab whispered to me as he gave me a plate of pohe. Malvankar saab was reading the paper.
"Saab I need to go back to work. Do you need anything?", I kept the tray on the table.
"Hmm No. Wait tell Shalini to give me a call"
"Ok saab", I just realized I had to see the lottery result. "Saab, can you look at the Maharashtra lottery result. If you don't mind, can you see if my ticket number is..."
"Arey how many times have I told you? All this is utter nonsense. Luck wuck is all bogus. You should not waste money like this on lottery tickets.", I nodded and turned to leave. "Wait. Come here! Whats the number?"
I pulled a ticket out from my pocket. But it was a toll receipt from the Mumbai-Pune highway. I panicked. Malvankar saab would know if I showed him this.
"Whats the number baba? I am getting late"
"Uhm it is 14566789", I covered the receipt in my palms and read the receipt number.
"Are you sure? Thats just 10 numbers. What are the last 2 numbers?"
"Aah 9 and 2", I mumbled. I was already backed up to the door, ready to leave.
"Ohh Hari! You missed by 2 numbers! But I still say you are wasting your time with this lottery shottery."
I nodded and closed the door.

"Hari. Did you keep all my bags back in the car?", Sandeep saab had sneaked out of the back door.
"Yes saab. But why did you make me lie saab. That also to Malvankar saab. I have never lied. You don't know I would have been dead if he hadn't been there. Even Krishna bhagwan would not rid me of this sin.", I recalled the time when I was helpless on the streets of Mumbai. Tears rolled down cheeks without my knowledge. I rarely let emotions get to me like this. When Baba died, I was 15. I had to close the doors of the toilet and cry all alone. After all I was the man of the house. I could not let anyone from my family see me like that. But I was thousands of kilometers away from my home. Here I could shed tears publicly without any care. Maybe I was just venting the sorrow from the day Baba died. Or maybe it was from when we were thrown out of our land by the Zameeendar.

"Arey Arey you are so emotional man!", He put an arm around me. "You remember Mahabharat. Krishna Bhagwaan said you can lie if it is for a good cause. Look I am meeting him after a long time. In the evening he is coming to Shalini Madam's house. I will surprise him then. Maybe you can tell him yourself ok? Now stop crying like a girl. How old are you? You are not a kid anymore to cry like this."

"22 saab", I pretended a smile and wiped my tears. I still made a promise to visit the Krishna mandir in the evening.

"Ok so you know the plan now?"

"Yes Saab. At 8 pm I will come to Shalini Madam's house for dinner. Then I have to get all your bags back to Malvankar Saab's house"

"Yes. What about now? I need to go somewhere to take a shower and change."

"Sir Shalini Madam said I should take you to the bungalow"

"Let's go then"

The Return - Chapter 6: The Happiest day of my life!

I woke up 15 minutes before the usual time. I lay in bed for the inevitable 6 gongs on the old clock. The same gongs that Sandeep dreaded every morning before school. God it just feels like yesterday. As I grew older the memories were more vivid than earlier.

I got ready like every other day for my morning walk. I had been regular every day of my life since I left the military. Every day except the day Savitri left me. It was good exercise. But more than that I used to enjoy the different conversations I had with people I knew. As the work day started, each of them had responsibilities to take care of.

The sky looked clear but I still carried an umbrella. I didn't need a walking stick. Never used one never will. But sometimes my knees gave up and I needed my umbrella. As old and crickety as it was, I had used the same one for 35 yrs. When we used to take a stroll around the park, I used it to cover Sandeep from rain and shine. Haha I even gave him a nice beating with it when he made those drawings on the new paint.

"Oye Ramdev."
"Jee Saab"
"Why are you late?", I said to Ramdev as he rushed from his cycle to give me my Loksatta.
"Here it is Saab. Sorry my cycle had a puncture in the morning"
"No problem. I got my newspaper on time.", I smiled at him and started walking to the park.

"Beep Beep", I heard a few horns in my lane.

Is that Shalini's car? Why is Hari driving it? Maybe her parents are visiting.

"Tukaram. Get me my regular"
"Here it is Malvankar Saab. Wheat Grass Juice"

Tukaram always kept a glass for me even though it got over at 5 am. I finished it by the time I reached Shalini's clinic.

"....Hey I gotta go attend a patient. I will talk to you later.", Shalini cut the phone as I entered the room.
"Good morning Beta. You seem really happy"
"Nothing Kaka. It is Saturday. So I am getting off half day. You remember I am cooking dinner today."
"Yes Beta I remember"
"Yea Yea. You always say that. You forgot last month."
"Aga I told you that day I was having a headache. I would have.."
"You would have made it if Sandeep was cooking", She said with a smile on her face.
"What nonsense? He cannot cook. And what does that have to do with today? I don't want to spoil my mood by thinking about that traitor"
"Ok Ok Kaka Sorry. I was just teasing.", She said with a bigger smile. I don't know what I would have done if Shalini had not moved to Pune. I couldn't be mad at her even if I wanted to.
"Accha I got to go home. I have a rummy game at the army club at 4. I will see you in the evening. Bye Beta"
"Bye Kaka"

As I reached the bungalow, I saw the gate was open. 20 years in Pune and I had not seen a burglary. Not in Major Vishwanath Malavankar's house at least. I pushed open the front door. The house was filled with the smell of ginger tea and Pohe.

"Who is it? Who is it I say", I shouted. I saw my reflection in the mirror carrying the umbrella like a bat. The big glasses, frail body and toothpick hands. When did Major Malvankar start looking that way?
"You survived 3 wars Major. You can take him down", I repeated it in my mind as I peeked into the kitchen. There was a shadow of someone. As I took steps towards the kitchen, I could hear my heartbeats getting louder. Someone was walking out. I took position beside the door to take a swipe at him. As he came closer, I stopped my umbrella midway.

"Sandeep? Is that you?"