“Oh! Riya! It’s good that I met you before you left,” Mr. Banerjee continues unctuously. “Listen Riya beta, I have no personal grievances against you. I want to speak to you as an elder; a nice girl like you shouldn’t get involved in this case. Take back your statement and forget all about the case. Let the police do its work. A court is not a place for a lovely girl like you.”
Riya responds furiously. “Mr. Banerjee, what I need to do is my own business and I don’t need anyone’s advice on it! I have said what I had to say in court. So please don’t ever try to talk to me again.”
“Look, you are like my daughter Riya!” Banerjee raises his hand to touch her head; Riya instinctively retreats to dodge it and in the process buries her face in Arjun’s chest. Arjun grabs Mr. Banerjee’s hand tightly as he is about to touch Riya.
“You heard Riya? Just leave her alone, else…”
Arjun twists Banerjee’s arm strongly before letting it go with a strong jerk.
Banerjee feels his wrist, “I’ve been a lawyer for more than thirty years … and I’ve brought several criminals to justice. So keep your attitude to yourself, Arjun! I have been mindful of Riya but if I get down to the level customary in this profession, I can create such a web…!”
Commissioner Pratap interrupts, “Mr. Banerjee!”
“Commissioner Sahab. You know the reality of the courts. You should have told the kids; this is not a walk in the park. It will be best for all of us that we get to terms with the reality of this case and what we really want out of this case.”
He mockingly salutes goodbye and walks away. Riya slowly moves away from Arjun. She has completely wet his shirt with her tears.
“Uncle, can you please drop me home? And can I request a big favor uncle? I do not want today’s incidents to be discussed with papa, mummy… or anyone!” She glances at Arjun for a moment; he is about to speak but Riya walks to the exit. Commissioner Pratap follows her. Arjun is left in the corridor to ponder alone as he clenches his fist helplessly. This is what he had wanted to warn Riya about earlier in the morning but could not find the courage to frame his words correctly. A burning rage was driving him wild. Eventually, Arjun started walking towards the secure back exit from which the Commissioner had taken Riya.
The case today hung in the balance. Riya had completed her part in factually identifying the killer but Mr. Banerjee, for all his wickedness, had made Riya’s eyewitness statement appear conditional to the issues he raised today. Riya will have to go through a blood test to prove that she is not a drug addict.
“I’ve let her down,” Arjun tells himself. A seemingly simple witness statement in court had turned into an affair that included mudslinging. At the end of the day, the trump card had been clearly quashed in this game.
A shroud of guilt hangs over Arjun’s head as he rushes to catch up with Riya.
Reshuffling the Cards
When Riya came home accompanied by the Commissioner, Arjun was hot on the trail and followed her in just a few minutes later.
“Oh you guys are here already?” Shanti welcomes Commissioner Pratap, “Hello bhai sahib, please come in. Hope everything was fine today at the court?”
“Yes; everything was fine, mama,” Riya responded instead.
“Namaste, bhabhi ji. Thanks to Riya’s help we have progressed so much in this case. You don’t know how brave your daughter is!” the Commissioner added.
“Mama I am a bit tired, can I go up please?”
“OK beta!” Riya excuses herself and immediately rushes upstairs to her room.
“Come in bhai sahib, please have some tea.”
“No bhabhiji, I will take your leave. I will only say that your kids have a great responsibility, and they are doing a beautiful job. You should be proud of your daughter.”
“It’s our good fortune that she has got an opportunity to do something for the country. Though the person I’m really proud of is this son of mine!” she touches Arjun’s cheeks affectionately, “He is the one who has done all the hard work and really deserves all the credit.”
“You are absolutely right.” The commission says his farewells. “Nice meeting you Mrs. Saxena.” Shanti sees off the Commissioner and returns to Arjun.
“Come beta, will you eat something?” Shanti asks Arjun.
“No aunty!” Arjun responds hesitantly, “Can I speak with Riya?”
“Yes beta, go on. You don’t need to ask me about it. She must be in her room.”
Arjun approaches Riya’s room upstairs. She is on her bed, crying, with her face on her pillow. Arjun stands next to the bed for a moment, at a loss for words to console Riya. Before he can speak, Riya starts talking, her words muffled up in the pillow.
“Arjun please leave me alone. I do not want to talk about anything.”
“Riya … please don’t misunderstand the events today,” he sits by her side and holds her arms to pull her up but she resists with all her strength. “Riya… Please listen to me!”
Finally, Riya gets up and faces Arjun, “What should I listen to Arjun? What’s left to be said anyway? Arjun, no one has talked to me in my life like this. No one!”
“Riya…I know…” Arjun stutters.
“All right go on. I am listening. Tell me, what more do you want to say to me?”
Arjun is lost for words, seeing Riya all ears; he bites his lips staring into her eyes. Even though he wants to say so much, he can’t say a word and continues to simply stare at her instead.
“Well done, Arjun!” Riya continues sarcastically, “You fulfilled your friendship today! I went there trusting that you will take care of me.”
“Riya … look… I…”
“Huh… And I thought I was doing a service for my country. Mr. Banerjee said nothing wrong, did he? I really did think all this was like a walk in the park … I wore my finest outfit to court, like a little girl going to a party! How foolish of me!”
“Riya … please don’t take this the wrong way!”
“You would have known Arjun, wouldn’t you? That they ask such bizarre questions in the court? Did you know?... Arjun, please answer me!”
Arjun is silent and does not respond. Riya shrugs and nods her head, frustrated when she realizes she has been let down by her dearest friend.
“Why? Why did you do this to me, Arjun? … Why didn’t you tell me?” she finally wipes away her tears, composing herself with a look of intent on her face, “Arjun, please leave me alone. Please don’t ever try to talk to me … I don’t want to talk u again…ever!”
“Riya… please don’t say that. I know what happened was wrong… but…”
“Arjun please just go, leave me alone!”
That very moment Shanti’s voice is heard in the corridor outside the room.
“Beta, what are you guys up to?” Just as she walks in, Riya hastily walks over into the bathroom, “What’s up beta?”
“Nothing much aunty.”
“OK, beta, ;tell me, was everything fine in court?”
“Yes, aunty; Riya testified as a witness. She has been a great help, aunty.”
“Will she need to go to the court again? I really feel nervous about all this.”
Riya walks back into the room at that moment, having wiped off her tears and washed her face.
“No aunty. Riya has given her evidence and identified the killer. She will not need to come to the court again. Leave the rest to the police and the officials from here on.”
“Mama, you shouldn’t bother Arjun with such small things. He showed such great valor today and I’m sure he must have so much work to do… the case and everything. Right, Arjun?” she replies in a mocking tone that her mother fails to pick up.
Arjun gets the hint and nods. “OK, aunty… I think I better get going.”
“OK, beta.” Arjun leaves the room immediately. “Are you all right my sweetheart?” Shanti hugs Riya and soon walks out of the room. Riya gets up and goes to the window to watch Arjun walking across the garden between their h
ouses. She moves away as Arjun turns around to look back at her house.
A range of emotions, mostly anger, cross Arjun’s mind, driving him mad, primarily because of his utter helplessness to do anything. He walks into the house and into his room unnoticed, without speaking to anyone.
An air of uneasiness lingers over the next few days amongst the two estranged friends. Riya has taken a stance to completely shut herself off from Arjun, avoiding him at home, school and during events with family or friends. She has chosen to keep herself busy with her classes at the school or at the library. No one in the house notices the difference. Riya even chooses to keep her best friend, Puja, out of the loop; this is a rarity, as she had always shared all her feelings and secrets with Puja in the past.
The incident, for a change, has made Arjun a regular attendee at the MBA school, more than he had been in the past. Arjun and Riya exchange glances at school, but only from a distance. Every time Arjun tries to approach Riya, she simply avoids him. Even though they meet in class, in the corridors or at home, Riya simply dodged Arjun on all occasions before he can speak a word. Needless to say, Riya has a long backlog of missed calls and messages from Arjun, as all his requests to meet up to explain things to her have fallen on deaf ears.
As if this was not the nadir in the relationship between these two friends, things are about to get worse, before getting any better.
The Nadir
A few weeks pass without the world around them noticing the drift between the two friends. On another dull dreary wet day, Arjun’s car comes down the road to the MBA school. He gets off to walk to class, chatting with a few friends on the way, when another large car stops nearby. Mr. Banerjee gets down. He asks a student for some directions and walks up to Arjun when he spots him from a distance.
“Mr. Arjun! How are you?”
Arjun doesn’t respond.
“Look I don’t believe in idle chat, so let me come directly to the point. However, let me clarify something: the world should not think that I’m a traitor because I’m defending the ISI lieutenant-general in this case. You know that, in the course of my career, I’ve brought so many terrorists and criminals to justice. However, you and R&AW are following a course of action that you think will serve the country, although you seem to forget that Pakistan is our neighbor and we need to rise above petty skirmishes to create a strategic and diplomatic relationship. Such baseless allegations will only degrade our relationship and encourage such terrorist acts rather than reducing them. Do you understand, Mr. Arjun?”
“Have you said what you wanted to say?” Arjun responds in a cold tone of voice. “Mr. Banerjee, you can leave now if you’ve made your speech.”
Banerjee is infuriated at Arjun’s attitude. “I will go, Arjun; I was only trying to reason with you because I thought you are a logical person. But if you cannot understand simple logic then let me put it bluntly instead: I’ve not lost a single case in my career. And I know the system very well indeed. I know how to twist it to get my way around it. In court, I barely spoke a few words and you can already see the outcome; just imagine if I had really stooped to it, I can create such arguments and get such witnesses into court that your friend Riya will be unable to face anyone in this world. And once her testimony falls apart, this case has nothing left to stand on.”
Arjun retreats; he is about to leave with his head hanging down, but instead suddenly turns back and slams Banerjee’s face with one forceful swing of his fist. The sudden blow flings Banerjee on the road.
“What did you say?” Arjun picks him up by the collar of his shirt. “Riya won’t be able to show her face to anyone?”
Arjun’s friends, who are standing aghast nearby, rush in to grab him and separate them but Arjun still kicks Banerjee. Meanwhile, the news of the hubbub on the road has reached the classroom; one of the girls rushes back to Riya to tell her what’s happening. Riya leaves the classroom immediately. Outside, Arjun manages to escape his fellow students, who are holding him back, and grabs Banerjee again; in the scuffle, Banerjee falls on the road. Arjun is about to punch him really hard this time when Riya appears.
“Arjun!”
Arjun stops in his stance, with his fist shaking with vigor and power right on top of Banerjee’s face, ready to thrash Banerjee this time. He pauses for a moment upon seeing Riya, although he continues to hold Banerjee by the collar of his shirt with his other hand. Riya rushes in and forces herself to try to pull Arjun’s arm away.
“What are you doing Arjun? Who do you think you are? For God’s sake, will you stop? Just let it go, will you?”
Arjun lets go off Banerjee’s collar.
Banerjee is completely shaken and hastily retreats to his car, “Arjun, you will pay dearly for this! I won’t let you go!”
“Get lost, Banerjee!” Arjun yells at him scornfully.
Riya pushes at Arjun in disgust, “Will you go about hitting everyone? Waah! You are some Rambo, Arjun! Will you just do me a favor and spare me from all this? Just stop all this will you?” She folds her hands in a derisive manner. Arjun doesn’t respond and continues to simply stare at her. Expecting a response but not getting any, Riya walks away immediately, feeling extremely disgusted and disappointed. Arjun stands there for a moment, his fists still clenched in fury. The other students standing around him disperse slowly. Gradually Arjun also walks away, gets inside his car and drives away with a large screeching start, leaving a trail of burnt rubber marks on the road.
Meanwhile, at home, Puja has heard of the incident through common friends and she rushes over immediately to meet Riya in her room.
“Riya, what’s all this? What happened? Please tell me. Don’t you dare hide anything from me. Tell me what happened in the court, Riya! All this started at the court, right? Tell me please!”
Coincidentally, Riya’s sister Priya is also at home and both are horror-struck listening to what Riya has to say, as she discloses the agony that she has been put through during the court proceedings. However, Priya is supportive of Arjun and is stunned to learn that Riya has turned her back on him.
“But how could you do that to Arjun, Riya? Wasn’t it you who said that if dogs bark in the street they should be ignored, right? You know that all this is just a gimmick by this cunning lawyer …it doesn’t mean a thing! How is this different from that eve-teasing incident at the park? You were so mature and understanding about that!”
“Those guys were just road-side ruffians, didi. But this is different! Those words from Mr. Banerjee in front of the whole courtroom!” Riya covers her face with her hands and starts sobbing, thinking of her nightmare at the court.
“I can understand all that, sis, but you cannot blame Arjun for this!” Priya responds to her sister. “Arjun has been feeling guilty because of this incident, though you know very well he has nothing to do with it. You are playing into the lawyer’s hands, Riya. Tomorrow if you retract your statement because of his stupid rumblings, you will nullify all the good work that Arjun has done for this case… and for our country! Riya, I didn’t expect this from you.”
“What should I do, didi?” Riya sobs, hugging her sister as Puja looks on.
“Riya, my dear! Do what your heart feels is right. Who is Banerjee to you? Nothing! And who is Arjun to you, to all of us? Don’t care about the world. If you think calmly, you will know what’s right, and I trust you to do the right thing!”
Priya pats her sister’s head and walks out of the room to allow Riya the space to think things through for herself.
That night, Riya found it extremely difficult to sleep, as she lay in bed looking blankly at the skies outside. Had this episode pained Arjun as much as it did her? Priya is right, Arjun is not to blame for this. On the contrary, he had always been a true friend to her, by her side when she needed him. He would have thrashed those ruffians in the park the same way he thrashed Banerjee had she not restrained him.
However, the incident in court was different. The sudden unexpected attack had hurt her most. Sh
e was caught off guard, not expecting it at all, with that element of surprise leaving her shattered. Of course, Banerjee knew that his allegations had no basis in fact and were baseless and false. And yet, he used this ploy to shake her, break her alliance with Arjun, and use this case to defeat the cause. And she can never let that happen. She can never let Arjun fail; she can never let her country fail.
Now that she has thought it through, Riya curses herself. How could she have been so insensitive? How could be so selfish and stupid to fall into the trap laid by the cunning lawyer? When Arjun most needed the support of a friend, she had deserted him, and worse still, blamed him for everything. But she cannot be so heartless to let him suffer any more now. Riya decides that she will talk to Arjun the first thing in the morning. That’s the right thing to do. She must put it all behind her like a bad dream…like a nightmare to be forgotten the very next morning.
Dreams
Riya has a restless sleep that night. She tosses and turns on her bed and soon meanders into a dream. She sees herself standing amidst lofty mountains in a picturesque but sheer dry white desert. Her beautiful hair is fluttering in the strong wind. She can see for miles. The distant hills adore an otherwise barren and white desert landscape.
There’s a man standing with his back towards her. He slowly turns around, but Riya cannot see his face. He is holding a child in one hand. Oh! What a cute little baby…probably eight months old? Riya is watching closely, smiling gently and admiring the innocence of the child gurgling and kicking in the man’s hands.
Suddenly, the man holding the child moves his other hand, which had been hidden, from behind his back. When it comes into full view, Riya notices that he holds a gun in his hand.
Cold Love Page 7
