She fell silent and spoke after a long pause.

“Kal aapne ek ajeeb si baat kahi thi. Kabhi kissi ghar mein zaroorat na hone ki… Aapke parents?”

“Meri Ma ki death bahut pahle ho gayi thi. Main chhota tha, zyada yaad bhi nahin hai. Babuji purani Hindi filmon ke type ke school-teacher the,” he tried to smile, but his lips pressed together at some painful memories, “Idealist Gandhian. Shahar mein communal riots ke aasaar the. Aur woh ghar par baithne ko taiyaar nahin the. Kyonki unhein pata tha ki jo mari hui gai mandir mein mili thi, woh Muslim logon ne wahan nahin daali thi. Ek local Hindu neta ne dalwai thi. Woh sabko ye batane gaye. Na Hinduon ne unki baat suni, na mussalmaanon ne. Hamein nahin pata chala ki jis laathi se unhein woh fatal chot sar par lagi, woh ek Hindu ki thi, ya Muslim ki…”

She shifted on the bed to get closer to him planted a kiss on his cheek, “I’m sorry.”

“Thodi si unki idealism shayad mere andar bhi aa gayi thi,” he rued.

“Ab bhi hai!”

He shook his head, “Nahin. Woh unadulterated idealism nahin raha, Ananya. Ab main games khelta hoon. Achchhe kaam ke liye bhi khelta hoon, tab bhi games khelta hoon. Risk calculate kar ke, nafe-nuksaan ka hisaab kar ke. Woh idealism hoti to seedhe RG ke paas jaata aur seena thok kar kahta ki mujhe uska sach pata hai aur main woh duniya ke saamne bolunga. Lekin main woh nahin kar raha.”

“Matlab aap woh bewkoofi nahin kar rahe, jo main karti,” she smiled.

“Tumhare andar jo ye self-righteous gussa hai na, Ananya, tumhare liye problems create karta hai, lekin mujhe isse bahut hope bhi milti hai, aur life mein ek purpose bhi.”

“Purpose?”

“Main chahta hoon ki tumhara ye gussa kabhi tumhein kill na karna pade.”

“Aap saath denge to nahin kill karna padega. Ye sahi jagah channel ho jayega.”

“I hope so. Lekin ek baat batao, Ananya. Ye gussa – tumhare Papa ke saath jo hua uska to hai hi – lekin usse bhi zyada kuchh hai na? Subah tum batate-batate rah gayin.”

“Rahen dijiye, Kabir. Purani baatein hai. Bachchi thi main. Unhein dohrane ke kya fayda?”

“Ek baar bata do,” he pleaded, “Apne man se bahar nikaal do un baaton ko. Phir bhool jaana zindagi bhar ke liye.”

She took a deep breath and leaned back against the headboard. Kabir got out of the chair and sat down beside her on the bed. He held her hands and looked straight in her eyes.

“Aap jaante hain na ki log vicious ho sakte hain. Aur jab woh log teenagers ho to unki meanness ki koi boundaries nahin rah jaati. Armaan chhota tha, jab Papa ko arrest kar ke police le gayi thi. Use to humne school bheja hi nahin kuchh dinon ke liye, aur phir uska admission doosre school mein karwa diya. Lekin main 12^th class mein thi. Na to school bunk karna possible tha, na hi board exams se pahle chhodna. Aur… Jo log pahle se hi mere friends nahin the, unki to aur baat hai, lekin mere sabse kareebi dost bhi… Ek Richa ko chhod kar… Aur phir relatives, neighbors. Pata hai unmein se kuchh log mujhse mean sawaal poochhna kaise justify karte the? Woh kahte the ki meri Ma ki halat to already itni kharaab hai. To unse pochhna sahi nahin lagta. Isliye woh mujhse poochh rahe hain jo sawaal unke man mein hai. As if main chhoti thi to meri koi feelings thi hi nahin. Main… Main Ma ko bhi kuchh nahin bol sakti thi aur…”

She started crying, but Kabir gently wiped her tears.

“Ro mat, Ananya. Woh din ab chale gaye hain. Aur jo kuchh bhi bacha khucha jhooth hai hawa mein, woh bhi clear ho jayega.”

“Ek aapka woh article tha, aur uske baad, shayad uske asar se, Papa ko bail milna – ye do mere savior the. Papa ghar wapas nahi bhi aaye tab bhi main in donon ke sahare…”

He embraced her gently and held her for a long time.

When she grew calmer, she got out of the bed and walked to the window sill. Kabir followed him.

“Papa is ghar mein kabhi nahin rahe. Humne ghar change kar liya, purane neighbors ko avoid karne ke liye. Lekin main aksar yahan baith kar Papa ko apne saath mahsoos karti hoon. Kai baar baatein karti hoon unse,” she suddenly chuckled in embarrassment, “Aap mujhe kabhi aise dekhnege to shayad pagal samjhenge. Lekin aisa nahin hai. Main bas…”

He pressed his hand against her lips.

“Explain karne ki zaroorat nahin hai, Ananya.”

—

They met over breakfast again the next day.

“Sir, maine Pravin aur Shehnaaz ke saath kaam kya kar RG Pharma par. I don’t know ki hum kya dhoondh rahe hain. But ye kuchh general numbers hain, aur kuchh observations,” Richa handed Kabir a bunch of stapled sheets. Ananya took it from him.

“Saare clips bhi RG ke jama ho gaye hain. Zyada nahin hain, jaise ki aapne predict kiya tha. Aapko jab bhi time ho hum use dekh sakte hain.”

“Aaj office mein hi dekhenge.”

“Unka sabse bada revenue-generator,” Ananya mumbled poring over Richa’s papers, “ye pain-killer hai.”

“So?”

“Isi dawai mein problem thi, jinse un pachaas bachchon ki death hui thi. Morphine ka percentage high tha.” She handed him some old news clips.

“Ye sab tumne kab jama kiye?” Kabir asked.

“Pichhle kuchh dinon mein.”

Kabir shook his head, smiling. She had been at work!

“Us incident ke baad,” Richa added, “Unhein ye medicine kuchh dinon ke liye withdraw karni padi thi. Us saal their revenue took a big hit and share prices bhi bahut gir gaye the. Lekin later they reintroduced it and since then they haven’t looked back.”

“OTC medicine hai?”

“Ji.”

“Unhone same medicine ko reintroduce kyon kiya? Itni bad PR ke baad? Rebrand kar sakte the?” Kabir wonered aloud.

Ronnied who had been listening thoughtfully until then said,“Ananya, tune kaha ki usmein morphine ka percentage high tha, right?”

“Haan.”

“Aur Kabir Sir, aapko jo papers Sudhir Uncle ne diye the, usse ye clear tha ki unhone apni report mein ye mention kiya tha. Phir bhi woh batch market mein gaya.”

Kabir nodded in understanding, “Somebody knew what they were doing.”

“Kya matlab?” Richa asked.

“Morphine recreational drug ki tarah use hoti hai,” Ananya said and flopped back on the chair, a sudden understanding dawning on her.

“Ananya, apna laptop dena,” Richa asked.

She searched for a while, then said, “Pain-killers ka market bahut fragmented hai. Har chhoti-moti pharma company pain-killer banati hai. Lekin agar RG Pharma ke revenue numbers aur market size ko compare karein, to RG pharma supposedly has ten percent of the entire market. That’s huge for such a fragmented market. Nobody else comes close. That’s odd, isn’t it?”

“Kyonki unka market share pain-killers ka hai hi nahin,” Kabir said growing thoughtful. Then he turned to Ananya, “Tum Dr. Sinha se aur Tinu se baat karo. Tinu se poochho ki use morphine ki illegal trade ke baare mein kuchh pata hai kya, ya pata laga sakta hai kya. Dr. Sinha se pain-killers ke baare mein poochho. Specifically RG pharma ka brand.”

“Ji.”

—

To be continued