By the next meeting the real business of RG Pharma was clear to them.

“Tinu ne kuchh samples Ananya ko diye the, pain-killer ke jo ki drug dealers circulate karte hain. Without fear kyonki ye OTC pain-killer brand hai,” Ronnie informed them, “Sunny ka ek dost ek chemical lab mein kaam karta hai. Usne hamare liye informally tests kiye. Morphine percentage is too high, obviously meant for recreational use and not subduing pain. Bachchon ke liye ye dose definitely fatal ho sakti hai.”

“Dr. Sinha ne mujhe bataya ki doctors RG pharma ke brand ko prefer nahin karte hain prescribe karna. It is likely ki unmein se kaiyon ko pata hai ki there is foul play involved. Unki quality bahut vary karti hai, and he was surprised ki aise drugs ko approval kaise mil jaati hai,” Ananya added.

“Tum log ye do audio clips suno-” Kabir said.

One of them was “Agar apne bheteeje ko bachana hai”.

The other was “Agar apne market position ko bachana hai”.

He played it repeatedly. The first one was not as clear as the second one. But there was no mistaking the accent and style of speech. They were from the same person.

“Iska kya matlab hai?” Richa asked even as she understood.

“Main bhi surprised tha,” Kabir said, “Aath saal pahle jab mujhe woh threatening call aaya tha, to woh record hua tha. Main apne saare calls record karta hoon shuru se hi. But maine ye sapne mein bhi nahin socha tha ki RG ne khud woh call kiya hoga.”

“Actually Sir,” Ronnie said, “Maine thoda aur bhi pata kiya hai ye RG ke baare mein. Iski antecedents respectable nahin hai. Poori family hi gundagardi mein involved hai. Jinke paas black money hoti hain, generic drugs banane ki company kholna unke liye ek front ho sakta hai apni illegal activities handle karne ka. Mujhe to ye wahi case lagta hai.”

“Papa ko idea bhi nahin hoga ki woh kaise logon ke beech phanse hue the,” Ananya felt depressed and buried her face in her hands.

“Lekin hamein pata hai, Ananya,” Kabir said in a determined voice, “Hamein pata hai, aur hum unhein unke game mein beat karenge.”

“Hamara next step kya hoga?” Richa asked.

“We have to approach RG himself,” Kabir replied.

“Main karoongi,” Ananya announced.

“Nahin Ananya. Main ya tum nahin karenge. Mera involvement to woh jaanta hi hai, tumhari identity pata lagane mein use zyada waqt nahin lagega. Phir woh suspicious ho jayega.”

“To main ya Richa…” Ronnie said, hesitantly.

“Tum logon ko reporting ka experience nahin hai.”

“To kya Sunny akela jayega?” Ananya asked, irritated.

Kabir smiled, “RG ko lure karna hai. Ek bada naam chahiye.”

“Kaun? Malvika? Khalid Sir?”

“Manav Gupta!”

“What!” Everyone exclaimed in chorus.

“Aap Manav Sir ko ismein involve karna chahte hain?” Ananya was incredulous.

“Unhein aapke against political plotting se fursat milegi tab to–” Richa said, but was interrupted by Kabir.

“Aur woh mere against plot kyon karta rahta hai?”

“Editor-in-chief banna tha use, aur kya?” Ronnie said.

“Aur wahi main use offer kar sakta hoon.”

“What!” Another combined exclamation went up.

“Aap kya bol rahe hain? Aap KKN chhodne waale hain kya?” Ananya asked.

“Calm down. Main KKN nahin chhod raha. Lekin meri Khalid aur KL se baat hui hai. Kuchh strategic changes ke baare mein.”

As editor-in-chief, a lot of Kabir’s time was going in administrative and regular work. He wanted to focus on investigative reporting, which was what would bring real, solid viewership to the channel. So, he would lead a team to do that, while nominally also being the boss of the next editor-in-chief.

“Agar ye sab decided hi hai, aur unhein editor-in-chief banna hi hai, to woh hamari madad kyon karenge.”

“Doosra editor-in-chief laana decided hai, woh kaun hoga ye decided nahin hai. Aur us decision mein mera major say hoga,” Kabir flashed a triumphant smile at them.

—

“Mujhe bharosa nahin hota,” Ananya told him at home that evening, “Ki aap itne saalon se celebrity interviews le rahe the. Reporting ka itna passion hai aapko.”

He smiled indulgently. “Mere baare mein ab bhi bahut kuchh hai jo tum nahin jaanti ho.”

“Aap apni autobiography kyon nahin likhte? Aur mujhe apna scribe bana lijiye. To mujhe bhi sab pata chal jayega.”

He laughed. “Nahin. Itna narcissist nahin hoon main. Autobiography likhne jaisa kuchh bhi nahin kiya hai maine life mein.”

“Achchha. Phir to aise hi batana hoga aapko. Kya nahin jaanti hoon main aapke baare mein.”

“Tumhein yaad hai jo footage tumne mujhe diya tha, office mein jab mera pahla din tha.”

“Haan. Yaad hai,” she pouted and mimicked him, “News stale ho chuki hai, Ms. Kashyap.”

He laughed, “Kisne stale ki thi woh news.”

“Delhi Kranti–”

“Kisne?”

Her eye widened in surprise.

“Aap?”

“Technically maine is maamle mein tumse jhoothi nahin bola tha, Ananya. Main Delhi Kranti mein kaam karta tha nahin, kaam karta hoon. Hamesha karta raha hoon.”

“Oh my God! Lekin… maine kitna pata lagane ki koshish ki thi, kabhi aapke baare mein wahan se kuchh pata nahin chala.”

“Maine Pandit ji ke saamne shart  rakhi thi ki kissi ko pata nahin chalna chahiye ki main unke liye kuchh bhi kar raha hoon. So he was faithfully keeping his side of the bargain. I am sorry!”

“Lekin aise kyon?”

“Mr. Kashyap ka incident, aur thode hi dinon ke baad mere messy divorce se main bahut disillusioned ho gaya tha. I felt like a failure. Na to main sach ki ladai lad pa raha tha, na hi apni life mein koi financial progress kar raha tha. Phir Tarini aur Anurag ki zimmedaari bhi main lena chahta tha. Isliye maine decide kiya ki main apna career aise direction mein le jaunga jahan mujhe financial stability mile. Isliye, kaafi struggle kar ke, main print se TV mein aaya. Aur yahan par safest, best-paying opportunities gritty journalism mein nahin thi. To mujhe jo bhi karna tha maine kiya. Lekin–”

“Reporting ka keeda nahin mara aapke andar.”

He nodded with a smile, “Maine Delhi Kranti ke liye kaam karna kabhi band nahin kiya. Bas pseudonym se likhta raha.”

“Aap bahut achchi Hindi likh lete hain phir to,” she teased him.

“Yes Madam. Main Hindi medium schools mein padha hoon.”

“Kissi ko nahin pata hai is baare mein?”

“Kuchh logon ko pata hai,” he smiled enigmatically, “Khalid aur KL mujhe yahan mere T News ke kaam ki wajah se nahin laye the.”

“Unhein kaise pata hai?”

“Khalid ke silly external persona par mat jao. Woh industry ka manjaa hua khilaadi hai. Pandit Ji, Khalid, KL ye sab log ek hi time ki paidaish hain. Baad mein alag-alag raaste le liye unhone. Lekin hain to ek hi mitti ke bane hue.”

“Waise agar aap full time investigative journalism mein involve ho jayenge KKN mein, to kya Delhi Kranti ke liye likhna chhod denge?”

“KKN Delhi Kranti mein invest karne ki soch raha hai. Halanki main sure nahin hoon ki Pandit ji maanenge. Unke apne kia kaayde hain. Arre, Ananya!”

—

To be continued