26 January 2021

Delhi Police Traffic Police Headquarters

New Delhi

"Damn" Arjun cursed under his breath. And then proceeded to embellish that rather puritanical curse word with others more colourful and impactful.

He was sitting in the traffic control room of Delhi Police on January 26, monitoring all the arrangements that had been made for the President's Republic Day speech that was due to start any moment.

Crowds bustled as they took their seats to witness the Republic Day parade, while the Delhi Police Traffic Control was working overtime, what with the major roads blocked for the occasion and traffic re-routed as well as the additional security that had been requested at Kartavya Path, both near Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate.

Ideally, Arjun would have taken his Mom to watch the parade, sitting in one of the enclaves reserved for VIP's. But today, he'd requested to work and oversee the security arrangements for this year's celebrations.

After a futile attempt at trying to trace Gauri's phone and credit card and having police stationed at all bus depots, train stations and airports, Arjun was convinced that Gauri had not left the city at all. And he quite marvelled at her ingenious idea of hiding in plain sight.

Banerjee on the other hand had been easier to find. He was on his way home - to Kolkata. Someone similar looking had been spotted on the Howrah Rajdhani Express. Arjun didn't care so much about Banerjee. He knew Banerjee's scruples were for sale. Hadn't he successfully bribed Banerjee in the past to get him to reveal things about Gauri? He didn't think getting him to change his mind would be that hard.

It was Gauri he was more worried about. That girl seemed oddly attached to her scruples. He remembered an incident where Gauri had refused his help to get a parking ticket cancelled. He'd brushed it off then, but it seemed she was oddly a stickler. And that didn't apply just to her. 

"Why doesn't that girl understand?" he murmured to no one. "Not everything in life is black and white."

He turned around to scan the myriad screens that were broadcasting images from the CCTV cameras installed at various locations on Kartavya Path, hoping to catch a glimpse of Gauri.

When he couldn't spot her, he closed his eyes, drew deep breaths to calm himself, and swore once more.

******

26 January 2021

Bhuleshwar

Mumbai

"Gauri Tai?"

She turned around to face a fairly young man, perhaps an older teenager. The boy looked 18.

"Pehchana?"

When she shook her head, he laughed quietly. "How will you? I was barely 6 when you left. You, on the other hand, still look the same."

A ghost of a smile graced her lips, followed by a slight frown.

"Who are you?"

"I am Damodar Kaka's son, Ajay."

And before Gauri could say anything further, Ajay quickly pulled out his cellphone, punched in some numbers and almost but screamed at the person on the other end of the phone.

"Tell kaku I'm bringing a surprise home for her."

*****

The Republic Day parade had long past finished. The event, bringing heightened emotions of patriotism for the public and a sigh of relief for the police. There were no security breaches. There was also no sign of Gauri. 

As Arjun retired for some quiet time, away from his family and friends, he pondered over where that girl could have disappeared. He had security watching her house, around the clock and was fairly certain no one had entered or exited the house since that fateful day. 

He almost cursed his impulsive reaction. He'd panicked. And no one ever did anything smart in panic mode. In all honesty, he didn't what it was that Banerjee had wanted to tell Gauri. He'd assumed it was something about him, because Banerjee had made it a point to take her away from him. 

And now... He promised himself he would start all over again tomorrow. He'd search Gauri's house again, looking for clues as to where she could have gone. He would also issue an alert on their internal system to nearby states. He hoped he would find it before it was too late. 

It was just as he was climbing into bed, his phone started ringing. In no mood to talk to anyone, he ignored it the first time. It rang again and again and again, until he forcefully picked it up and barked into it.

Whatever he heard, drained the blood from his face, and he looked up once more and screamed: "Why Gauri why?"