“Oye Junior, What are you doing tonight?” Viraj was stretching his hands across the corner of John’s table and grinning. He had obviously observed John’s rather uneasy expressions since morning.
“Nothing Sir. Home “replied John pretending to bury himself in the file.
“Get ready, we will leave in another 15 min “
“Where to sir? “
“Are don’t ask questions, be ready.”
John nodded in affirmation. As if he had any option. He looked out from the station and it was dark and a lot of chatter, honking going on in the street. A Wadapav wala was shouting at his extreme pitch to attract customers while an Anda Bhurji stall was busy preparing it for his clients. His tawa made the delicious hissing sound while frying. A lot of commuters and travelers were rushing to either catch an Auto or getting out of one. The Police station was near to the Pune railway station.
Where is this Viraj taking me? Thought John. In one night he had gone from loving to hang out with his boss to stay as far away from him as possible. He started counting days since he was here on his fingers.
‘Shit man, it has been just 31 days. Why does it feel like a lifetime? How long am I going to be with this egomaniac? The more I stay with him, the more my chance of getting killed in this yeda’s adventurous cross fire’
“Chal!!” Viraj Waved at John while leaving from the station.
“You drink right?” Said Viraj while parking his bike in front of Indira Bar that was flashing in blue and red.
“Not really Sir “nodded John horizontally while looking at the Hotel bright neon lights
“Chal , Bakchodi mat kar “ Viraj pulled john’s left hand while entering the bar.
The Bar was 15 min’s away from the police station and looking at the way people were smiling and saluting at Viraj , it was obvious this was his regular spot. The hotel’s interior was barely visible in the dim red light that was filled with cigarette smoke as well the smoke from the puja done by the very religious owner of Indira Restaurant, Jagan Mohan Shetty. As John followed Viraj they were passing through tables located on both side with people drinking beers from Kingfisher , Carlsberg to other Macdowels whiskey , Old Monk rum etc along with generous amount chakana which also varied from peanut masala, papad to chicken chilli and other stuff. Most people looked happy and relieved. There were also some lonely souls sitting alone and drinking as well.
They both settled at a corner seat with Viraj stretching himself on the wooden bench with legs spread on it. John was however sitting rather stiff.
“Abe relax now. I am not your boss here. Chill, what will you have? Beer, rum, whiskey, vodka?”
“Nothing Sir”
“What nothing, you have to. Or else you will have to pay the bill, and mind you I drink a lot “Viraj grinned and waved towards a waiter.
He orders his regular Antiquity and then he and waiter looked at John. John when understood he had no option but to drink looked at waiter and asked him for a pint of Carlsberg beer. Viraj also told the waiter to bring Masala Papad and peanut masala as well.
“So you are still upset about yesterday? “
“No Sir “John replied instantly( Although not true)
“Don’t lie. I can see it from your face” Viraj was pointing his finger on John’s face
“I know it’s not the right way to do it, the operation. But when you will be as experienced as I am, you too would do it similarly. See the fear of these Gundas , drug dealers , bhai all trickles down with your first encounter. They are all blow fishes… They look huge but are nothing but a fish filled with air. We are the god, the Shiva, the destructor and they are the rakshasa”
“But Sir, we too are mortals and without proper safety and plan, one day we might end up dead not them.” Said john while taking a sip of the beer. It felt like a bitter pill and he squinted his eyes and tried to gulp it down as soon as possible. To overcome the bitterness he immediately shoved masala papad in his mouth. Viraj was amused by the acts of John and looked at him benignly.
“Are that’s what I am saying. They might be holding gun but they are not trained, so when they shoot it like a kid shooting. We are trained, one shot and the chutiya is dead on the ground. Are you getting my point? That’s why I say we are like heroes. In movies too that’s the reason Hero does not die, these bastard shoot without aim”
He had a point John thought. But still it is dangerous and stupid to go into an operation like that. But he didn’t want to argue anymore.
“So how do you find Pune? “ Viraj asked while finishing his glass and making another one
“It’s good sir. Never been in a big city, quite intimidating to be frank. “John gulped once more from the pint. He had become more relaxed now.
“Don’t worry you will get used to this madness. Then everything will feel usual. I am also from a small town. Been here for last 10 years. Now I can’t live anywhere else than this crazy city” Viraj grinned with starry eye. He definitely liked his city a lot.
After couple of hours they left the bar with Viraj singing a song “Ishq bina .. kya jeena yaaro “ . John too was a little bit light headed. Although, he stuck to just one pint of beer while Viraj had demolished an entire bottle.
They parted ways and John went to his room.
John’s room was located on 3rd floor of an independent building. It was a small 10 by 10 room with a bathroom. The area was nothing but a concrete chawl with tiny building with a lot of rooms. John undressed himself and slept on a very thin mattress and equally thin pillow.
The next morning John was rushing to the police station when he saw a huge gathering on police personnel’s in front of the police station. That not a good thing thought John and immediately tried entering through the crowd. He saw his fellow junior colleague Sujoy Mathur and both waved at each other. Sujoy immediately told john to follow him. Sujoy got into the police van signaled john to sit. As they raced, John asked
“What’s the matter Sujoy? Where are we going?”
“We are going to Jehangir Hospital John”
“Why, what happened?”
“Inspector Viraj is dead”
Everything froze around John. Viraj is dead, his boss is dead. The boss with whom he drank yesterday is dead. The stylish, dabangg cop of Pune is dead. Sujoy was talking to john but nothing fell on his ear. It was like someone had pressed a mute button on the world. Everything looked animated with expression and action but no sound.
Slowly he came back to his senses while Sujoy parked his car in the hospital. The hospital was crowded as usual with a worried, tensed and angry faces. As they were reaching to the main entrance, they heard a familiar sound ramming from their right side. It was an ambulance, from which 4 men with white uniform came out from the rear along with a stretcher rushing inside. They were followed by 2 sobbing women and a kid.
Both entered the hospital .They were greeted with nauseating and foul smell of medicines and other related equipments. John hated the smell and that’s the reason he never went to hospital, and always begged mom to give home remedy or medicine from medical store but not to the hospital, not to the fucking hospital. And here he was… To look at his boss dead body.
On the 2nd floor, in the alley he saw a stretcher and familiar khaki personnel around. That’s definitely Viraj… John sighed. It’s become real now. Sujoy called him closer to look but John didn’t want to have his last memory of his boss as a dead body. He turned and stayed there. After 5 minutes Sujoy came.
“How did this happen Sujoy?” asked John with a trembling voice
“Are, yesterday night Viraj had gone to bust one of the deals of Sawant , the gangster . Viraj managed to kill that harami Sawant but they were 10 people. He was hit with 16 bullets. And as usual he didn’t wear bullet proof vest, nor did he took back up “
“Why did Viraj sir think himself as a hero? Why did he feel that no one can kill him? For a dashing cop like him, this was very stupid assumption he carried along? Why” John shouted, out of frustration and disappointment.
“Oh you don’t know?” said Sujoy
“Don’t know what Sujoy?” asked John, now angry at Sujoy
“Are Viraj sir was not like this always. He was very diligent officer. He followed all protocols and worked well. He had a beautiful wife and a 3 year old kid. But 3 months back while Sir and his family were coming back from their vacation from Goa, a very high speeding car came front near the ghat and Sir lost control and his car flipped 2 times before settling near a pole. Sir suffered fracture on leg, but his wife and kid didn’t make it. Later it was found that the speeding car was being followed by Goa police as it was carrying drugs. After Sir recovered, all he did was bust drug rackets or kill the drug dealer in encounter. It was almost like there was nothing left for him in this world other than catching drug rackets”
John collapsed on the ground. He never knew Viraj sir hid such great pain under that smiling face. He had a death wish and hence he deliberately never took back up or safety. Secretly he wanted to die… He wanted to meet his family. He wanted to die while chasing bad guys.
What a man. John started crying while Sujoy and other police officers came close to console him.
Rest in Peace Viraj Sir… You were truly a HERO
