“Sir. Aapne mujhe bulaya?”

“Yes. Dr. Nidhi. Please come in. Meet Dr. Armaan Malhotra. He works with WHO. Kal hi India aaye hain, ek project ke liye.”

“Hello Dr. Malhotra,” Nidhi shook hands with him, “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here Dr. Nidhi. Waise Ashutosh aapko ye batana bhool gaya ki main iska bachpan ka dost bhi hoon.”

“I am not surprised. Dr. Ashutosh apni personal life ko hospital se bilkul door rakhte hain. I think isliye he is so admired professionally.”

“All right. I am sorry,” Ashutosh said, “Dr. Nidhi. Armaan mere bachpan ka dost bhi hai.”

Armaan and Nidhi laughed.

“To ab kaam ki baat shuru karein?” Ashutosh said.

“Yes Boss,” Armaan said. Nidhi noticed that he was clearly a very jovial person, unlike the serious, even if caring, Dr. Ashutosh.

“Jaisa ki maine tumhein bataya tha Armaan ki Dr. Nidhi to experience hai gaon mein kaam karne ka…”

“Mujhe Sir?” Nidhi was surprised, “Mujhe kahan experience hai? Abhi dedh mahine pahle to maine internship shuru ki hai. Aur poore time yahin kaam kiya hai.”

Armaan looked at Ashutosh and Nidhi.

“Don’t worry Armaan. Confidence is not her strong point and she is humble to a fault. Dr. Nidhi – aap already phone par apne gaon ke logon ki beemariyan diagnose kar rahi hain, right? Chhota sa tele-medicine center to aapne khol hi rakha hai. The other day, Armaan, she had shown me pictures that were sent to her mobile by someone in her village. Those were of a child, who could be suffering from small pox. We diagnosed from the photos that it was indeed small pox and asked the parents to take him to the hospital. Otherwise gaon mein woh kuchh jhaad-phoonk karwate rahte aur bachche ki jaan chali jaati.”

“That’s great,” Armaan looked impressed.

“Dr. Nidhi,” Ashutosh addressed an embarrassed and baffled Nidhi, “Dr. Armaan is hoping to implement a tele-medicine project here as an effort from WHO to make medical services accessible to all.”

“Really? That’s a great idea!” Nidhi was clearly excited.

“Of course, shuruat feasibility study se hogi. But we are working to make Kotnis General Hospital a part of the initiaitve where the diagnosis will be done remotely and medical care suggested accordingly. We will form a team of doctors for that. Mujhe laga ki main pahle aap se poochh loon kyonki shayad aap interested hongi.”

“Yes Sir. Sure Sir. I mean… Yes Sir.”

Armaan smiled seeing her flustered like that. He also did not miss how Ashutosh was looking at her in adoration.

“Okay Ashutosh,” he said, “Main abhi chalta hoon. Dr. Nidhi – aapka phone number main Ashutosh se le loonga aur jab is project par kaam shuru hoga – I will get in touch with you.”

“Sure Dr. Armaan. Thank you very much.”

“See you.”

Nidhi also got up to leave after Armaan.

“Dr. Nidhi,” she stopped when Ashutosh addressed her, “Aapki Dadi ke paas sugar monitor pahunch gaya tha?”

“Yes Sir. As expected unka sugar level bahut high hai. Lekin khaane mein kuchh bhi parhej karwana bahut mushkil hai unse.”

“Aisa kyon?”

“Bina cheeni ke chai nahin piyengi. Aur din mein kam-se-kam paanch baar chai ki zaroorat padti hai unhein. Apne ghar mein mithai na bhi layen, lekin kabhi kissi ki shaadi, kabhi kissi ke bachche ka janm, wahan munh kaise nahin meetha karengi. Bahane hain actually. She has got a sweet tooth – mujhe pata hai. I think chai ke liye to main unhein sugar-free bhijwa doongi. Lekin ye mithaiyan, doodh-dahi… Bolti hoon cream nikaal kar doodh piyen, unka BP bhi high rahta hai. To kahengi ki ghar mein koi akaal pada hai kya ki doodh bina malai ke loon.”

Ashutosh laughed, “Ab mujhe samajh mein aaya aap bachchon ki zidd kaise handle kar leti hain itni aasaani se. Aapko bahut ziddi patient ko handle karne ki aadat pahle se padi hui hai.”

“Bilkul. Badmash se badmash bachche bhi unke saamne to mujhe angel hi lagte hain.”

“Good. Carry on. Aur haan – agar aap WHO ke project par kaam karti hain, to aap uski jagah ek trimester hospital ki duties se off le sakti hain. You will get the credit.”

“Agar zaroorat padegi to le loongi, Sir. Waise bhi abhi ise shuru hone mein to time lagega.”

“Haan. Abhi to kuchh mahine lagenge. Armaan is working on some feasibility studies right now. But he may contact you once in a while for some work.”

“Sure Sir. No problem. Main chalti hoon.”

“All right.”

—

“Good afternoon, Dr. Mallika,” Nidhi was in the common room during her break, when Mallika walked in.

“Hello Dr. Nidhi. Kaisi hain aap?”

“Main theek hoon. Aur aap?”

“Main to theek hoon Dr. Nidhi. Lekin mujhe Ashutosh ki bahut fikr ho rahi hai in dinon.”

“Kyon kya hua unhein?” Nidhi got anxious.

“Lagta hai ki aapko bhi bahut chinta hai unki.”

“Agar chinta ki koi baat hai to honi hi chahiye. Hamein apne aas paas ke logon ki chinta nahin hogi to kiski hogi?”

“Mujhe lagta hai ki unke past ke zakhm phir se ubhar rahe hain, ya ubharne waale hain.”

“Kaise zakhm?”

“Apne khaandaan ka pata na hone ka zakhm. Uski wajah se apne pyaar ko kho dene ka zakhm.”

“Khaandaan ka pata na hone ka zakhm?” Nidhi laughed slighly assuming that Mallika was joking, “Ye kaisi baat hui? Unke Baba to…”

“Oh! Aapko nahin pata? Unhone kabhi bataya nahin? Woh Ashutosh ke real father nahin the. Unhone Ashutosh ko adopt kiya tha.”

“Kya?”

“Haan. Aur yahi baat jab Niharika ke ghar waalon ko pata chali to woh unke rishte ke liye raazi hi nahin hue.”

“Kya? Lekin aaj-kal in baaton ko kaun maanta hai?”

“Pyaar kane waale maane na maane, unke ghar waale to maante hi hain. Aap apne ghar waalon se poochh kar dekh lijiye. I’m sure unka bhi aisa hi nazariya hoga.”

“Aapne naam kya bataya? Niharika? Dr. Niharika Asthana?”

“Aap jaanti hain unhein?”

“Main Mumbai mein convention mein mili thi unse.”

“Achchha. Waise aapki Mumbai trip kaisi rahi?”

“Achchhi thi. Bahut achchhi thi, in fact. Kai famous aur senior doctors se milne ka mauka mila.”

“Achchha hai. Interns to mostly ghoomne-phirne ke liye jaana chahte hain. Lekin aapne Ashutosh ke paise barbaad nahin kiye.”

“Matlab?”

“Jo unhone aapki business class ki flight aur five star hotel ka kharcha sponsor kiya tha. Are… Main bhi kahan baaton mein lag gayi. Mujhe ward jaana hai…”

With this Mallika walked out hoping that she had sown enough seeds of confusion and questions in Nidhi’s mind to make her stay away from Ashutosh or confront him about his intentions behind sponsoring her trip. Even if she had stayed, Nidhi would not have known what to tell her. Her head was buzzing with the piece of information she had just obtained. Ashutosh sponsored her trip. He lied about hospital sponsoring it. How could she be so naive about it? Of course, hospital did not sponsor it. If it had, she should have gotten her tickets from Dr. Rangnath or someone in the admin. Not from Dr. Ashutosh himself. The letter Dr. Rangnath had given was right. The trip had to sponsored by… Oh my God! What should she do now? Confront him? Return him the money? But how? She didn’t have that money. And why on earth did he do something like that? She would have to talk to Baba.

“Hmm,” Baba thought for a moment, when Nidhi told him what had happened. Then he broke into a smile, “Unhone tumhare saath wahi kar diya, jo hum tumhari Dadi ke saath karte hain.”

“Woh to hai Baba. Lekin Dadi hamare parivaar ka hissa hain…”

“Haan beta. Lekin unhein confront kar ke koi fayda nahin hai. Kya bologi tum unhein? Unhone tumse jhooth bola kyonki woh tumhari khuddari ko thes nahin pahunchana chahte the. To tum bhi ab unhein confront kar ke unki bhavnaon ko thes mat pahunchao. Haan – ye pata zaroor karo ki unhone kitna kharcha kiya hoga. Aaj nahin bhi to jab bhi possible ho, hamein unhein lauta dene honge. Aur aage se dhyaan rakhna. Kissi ka ehsaan jaante-boojhte baar-baar lena theek nahin hai.”

“Theek hai Baba. Jaise aap kahein. Main ticket aur hotel ke prices dekh loongi. Waise pata hai Baba, Dr. Ashutosh ki life bhi bahut complicated hai.”

“Kyon?”

Nidhi told him about him being adopted and what Mallika had told him about his broken relationship with Niharika.

“Lagta hai isi wajah se unhone phir shaadi nahin ki. Aur abhi bhi akele hain,” she concluded.

“Zindagi bahut ajeeb hoti hai Nidhi. Lekin woh bahut achchhe insaan hain. Jitne unhone tumhare liye kiya hai… Mujhe vishwaas hai ki unki zindagi mein bhi khushiyan jaldi hi aayengi.”

“I hope so Baba. Main khana laga doon?”

“Haan. Chalo. Kha kar so jaate hain.”

—

To be continued