by Sana Shetty
Gasping and coughing violently, Vedant crawled away from him. By the time he caught his breath and turned around, his attacker was gone. Vedant’s head wound was bleeding again and he touched it gingerly. Picking himself off the road, he dusted himself and stood up. His head throbbed and he could feel the warmth of the blood trickling down the side of his head. He had better see a doctor, he thought, starting towards the village hospital.
Years ago, his father had helped build the hospital, with a little help from the other villagers. It was not much, just a two storey structure with not too many equipment or doctors. In fact, just the one doctor, Dr Hari Goud, who was treated like a demi-God.
Dr Goud had been an honest to god man, who had spent his entire life looking after the villagers. Money was never a consideration for him. He was also one of the village elders, along with his father, who was looked upon with respect and admiration and used to be called upon to solve the problems of the villagers.
Besides, he needed to talk to Dr Goud. Maybe he knew something about what was going on. He had a steady stream of visitors and patients always ready with village-gossip. He hoped the doctor had heard something from the villagers about his brother or Jay. When Vedant reached the hospital though, he was surprised to find it deserted. It was a far cry from what he remembered. The building looked a little depleted with peeling paint and moss covered walls. Its grounds were unkempt too, with uncut grass and shrubs growing unchecked. The doctor’s old scooter stood against the wall but it did not look as if it had been used for a really long time. Something had to be wrong. The doctor would never allow such neglect. Hesitantly, Vedant pushed open the gate and the rusty squeak sounded loud in the unusual silence of the place. That was another first. The gate was always open, day or night. As the doctor stayed within its premises, you could walk in here at any time and be given attention.
He climbed up the short flight of steps leading to the swivelling door and pushed it open. Inside too, the long corridor was deserted. The wooden benches, propped against the walls on either side, were still there but there was no patients sitting on them, waiting for the doctor. The floor though, was polished and clean with a strong smell of antiseptic. The doors to the room where Dr Goud attended to his patients was shut and locked. Everything was so unusually silent; he could hear his own soft footfalls.
“Hello,” he called out loudly, cupping his mouth with his hands. He heard the sound of flip flops and then a head appeared at the far end of the corridor and in a few seconds, he saw an old man limp towards him.
“What ….? Vedant Birajdar! What in god’s name happened to you?” the old wrinkled face looked at him in shock.
“Sebichacha!” Vedant cried out in relief. “I was beginning to think everyone had deserted the hospital.”
The face was more wrinkled than he could remember and the hair a lot greyer. He was also missing a few teeth, but the gentle, caring eyes were still the same. This was Sebastian, Dr Goud’s assistant. He took care of everything in the hospital. He would usher in the patients or prep them up for check-ups. He would be the one running around the whole day helping patients, cleaning the hospital and would even do the gardening. Years ago, when the hospital had been set up, Sebastian had turned up at Dr Goud’s door, hungry and homeless, asking for some food and in return, he promised to do any work the good doctor would tell him to. He had been a migrant then, with no place to stay and had probably travelled days before he reached this village. The kind doctor took him in, fed him and taught him all that there was to know in running the hospital. Sebastian had become such an expert, he knew the medical terms of any instrument in the hospital or the name of any drug or medicines that needed to be administered to patients in emergencies. He served the doctor loyally for years.
Sebastian hurried towards him and taking him by the arms, pushed him gently down on one of the benches. “Wait here!” he commanded. He limped away and soon returned with some antiseptic, creams and bandages and got to work on his wound. Soon he finished covering the wound and cracking open a vial, administered an injection. He then proceeded to put some stitches and cover it with bandages.
“There that should do it,” he said and started to clear away the mess. When he had finished, he came back and sat next to him. Handing him some pills he said, “Take these. You want to tell me what happened?”
Vedant swallowed the pills with some water and said, “I don’t know, Sebichacha. Someone attacked me on the way here.” He did not want to tell this kind old man about his adventure the previous night or why he thought he was attacked.
Sebastian shook his head saying, “What has happened to our village? Why do people change so much?” Vedant watched him. He looked so old and tired. His shoulders slumped and there were deep lines on his face like Dinkar’s.
“What has happened to the village, Sebichacha? Everything is so different. And this hospital? Why are there no patients? Where is Dr Goud?”
Sebastian gave a sad sigh. “So you have not heard. Dr Goud died about three years ago and the younger Goud…well he ….let’s just say he is not his father’s son.” He fell silent staring at the door to the doctor’s chamber, a faraway look on his face.
“Sebichacha?” Vedant prodded him gently.
Sebastian’s gaze shifted back to him and Vedant could see the tears filling his eyes.
“After Dr Goud passed away, Pankaj, his son continued to come here for some time. At first he followed in his father’s footsteps and all was well. Then suddenly, about a year and half ago things changed. He stopped coming here regularly and even if he did, he would refuse to treat patients who couldn’t pay and well…,” he shrugged. “Some of the things that went on here would have put the good doctor to shame. Eventually, less people started to come here. They preferred to go to that new hospital. And then after some time, Pankaj stopped coming completely. I don’t know what he does anymore. There are whispers, rumours, but for the sake of his father, I hope it isn’t true. He has built a large house just beyond the marketplace and I hear he has bought himself a new car as well. I keep this place up, in the hope that one of these days he will see the folly of his ways and come back. This place is a memorial, a testament of the good doctor. I do not want it to go to waste.” He stopped, looking wistfully around him.
“So Pankaj is a doctor too, huh?”
“Yes. And a really good one too, in my opinion. But the boy has lost his way.”
“Why do you say that, Sebichacha?”
“Well…hmmm…I…” he hedged, as if speaking against his employers son, was not something he relished.
“You can tell me,” Vedant encouraged, softly.
“Well…you are his friend. Maybe you can talk sense into him. They say he fell in with some bad guys and works for them. Some big businessman with deep pockets and shallow morals. The whole village pretends like nothing is wrong. This guy has thrown around some money here, built the school and helped some of the farmers. He even built that new hospital on the outskirts of the village. But there are rumours about him. He is not a good man. They say…..he has earned his wealth by wrong means. Even a gentle and helpful child, like Pankaj is caught up in his charms and I am afraid he will come to harm one of these days,” he said.
“Who is this man, Sebichacha?”
“Does it matter? What worries me is that no one in this village is bothered about what is happening here. People have become selfish and don’t care what happens to the other. Do you remember how the village was under your father? I guess there are no more good men left after the good doctor and your father.”
“I guess it is each one’s personal choice, Sebichacha. If Pankaj is not interested in working here, we cannot force him to. Each one has a right to choose what he does. We were lucky the good doctor spent years serving this village, but we cannot expect generations from his family to do so. I guess it would be selfish of us as well, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, it would be selfish,” Sebastian sighed.
&
nbsp; “But don’t lose hope Chacha. There is still some goodness left. Look at you. You are still here.”
“Where else will I go? This is my home,” he said sadly.
They sat in companionable silence for a few moments.
“Sebicahacha…?”
“Hmm…m”
“Do you know anything about…my brother?”
At the mention of Tarun, Sebastian suddenly stiffened and then turned to give him a long piercing look. It looked as if he was about to say something and then changed his mind, “I hear he has disappeared.” He said sounding cautious and a little sympathetic.
“Yes, did you hear from him? Was he sick or ….?” Ved spread his hands, helplessly.
Sebastian hesitated, as if he was contemplating what to say and then muttered, almost to himself, “Sometimes you have to pay for your deeds, son. You cannot play with fire and hope it will never burn you.” He turned around and gave him a piercing stare and continued, “But…I don’t think I can help you, son. I mean I haven’t heard from him.” As Vedant looked crestfallen, he continued, “Are you staying at the hotel?”
“No…hmmm…I am staying with a…a…friend.”
“Jay’s house, I guess. Hmmm…and have you met Dinkar, yet?”
“Yes. I…did.” He was reluctant to let on that Dinkar was dead. He did not want to upset the old man any more. Vedant quickly changed the topic. “Sebichacha, you said people around here have changed. What happened? Why are they afraid?”
“You have talked to someone. Who?”
“Sunil, the guy…”
“I know who he is.” Sebastian’s voice was thick with disdain. “Will you listen to a piece of advice from an old friend?”
“Are you going to tell me to go back too? To stay away from whatever is going on here?”
Sebastian looked at him in surprise, “Of course not!” he replied. “I wouldn’t say that to you. You need to find the answers you are looking for. God knows, Jay deserves that much at least. And only you can get him justice. That is you should be willing to….” He paused briefly and then continued, “I was just about to tell you to be careful. Like I told you before, people here have changed. Even those you knew very well. Don’t trust anyone. No one.”
Vedant looked at Sebastian in surprise. “You do know something, Sebichacha? What is it you are not saying?”
“I …hmm… nothing that I can tell you, yet. But I will, I promise. I cannot betray…those that fed me. Don’t misunderstand me child. But there are things you will not believe if I told you now. Just know that you need to be careful who you talk to or who you trust.” He looked at the wound on his head and said, “That I think is just the beginning. You will have to be more careful.”
“Please, Sebichacha, if you know something…”
“I really cannot tell you anything as of now. But promise me you will be careful.”
Sebastian stood up and peered down at him. Vedant did not know if it was his imagination or Sebastian suddenly looked even older. “Go now. I will get in touch with you. Give my love to Misha. And yes. Tell her to be careful too. You never know…” he walked away muttering to himself. Just before he disappeared, he called out, “And take care of that wound. Be sure to eat the pills I gave you.”
Vedant watched him limp away with a mixed feeling of compassion and frustration.
Misha and Namita were cleaning up the remains of the dinner, as they chatted. Vedant was in the barn. He wanted to go through the books there, he said. But Misha knew he wanted to be alone. They had been shocked to see him earlier in the evening. All bloodied and dirty again as he had been the previous night. When they questioned him, he said he had been attacked again. He hadn’t offered any more explanations and Misha was getting a little worried. Whoever was out to get him knew where he was. He had not spoken much throughout dinner either, in-spite of Namita trying to draw him out.
“He is upset,” Namita commented. She was doing the dishes at the sink, her eyes on the light in the barn.
“Of course he is upset. His brother is missing and someone is trying to kill him,” Misha replied.
“Yeah I know that. What I meant was he is worried about you …” she looked back at Misha. “I know it is none of my business, but I think he is in love with you.” She declared.
Misha stiffened and turned around to look at her, “That was true a long time ago. It has been eight long years since we have even seen each other and I am engaged to Raunak, now.”
“And do you love Raunak?”
“Of course, I do,” Misha said, without hesitation.
“And Vedant? What do you feel about him?”
Misha hesitated, turning around the question in her head. After her initial angry reaction on seeing him, she hadn’t given her feelings towards him much thought. In fact, they had almost naturally slipped into an easy going friendship again. She was not ‘in love with him’ anymore, of that she was sure. No, he was her past and maybe if they had not lost contact it may have been different. But now she was sure of her feelings for Raunak. She had thought she would hate Vedant forever for what he did to her and Jay, but even that was no longer true. So what did she feel for him? She was definitely worried about him getting himself killed.
She found Namita still watching her and said “I don’t know. I don’t know what I feel for him anymore. He is my past and Raunak is my present. And yes, he is still dear to me as a friend, in-spite of…well…everything. And as you rightly said, it’s none of your business.” She snapped.
Namita stuck her tongue out at her and after a moment’s pause, she asked, “So why do you think he went away? He is obviously still very much in love with you,” she mused.
“Will you let it go?” Misha rolled her eyes at her. “I don’t know why he went away. He never told me and he is not in love with me anymore.” She glared at Namita as she grinned back at her. “You know so much about me and I know nothing about you. So how about I ask you the questions,” Misha shot back at her.
“Fire away. What do you want to know?”
“Do you have somebody in your life? What about your family? Who do you live with?”
“Hey, slow down,” Namita laughed. “One at a time. Do I have somebody? No, not really. All the nice guys have fallen for you,” she grinned as Misha scowled at her. “And..” she stopped, stiffening.
“What….?”
“Sssh! Hear that?”
Misha listened. It was quiet and she could hear the night sounds coming from the woods nearby and then she heard it too. Someone was knocking at the front door, softly.
Misha looked at the wall-clock. It was past ten. Too late in the night, at least in this village, for anyone to come visiting.
“Who do you think that is?” Namita asked as they moved towards the door making as little noise as possible and Misha shook her head.
“And why are they knocking? Why not ring the doorbell?” Misha whispered back.
They stood in the hallway staring at the door. The rap on the door came again. This time a little louder and Namita picked up the shotgun that Misha still kept behind the couch. She put her back to the wall next to the door and nodded at her. Misha opened the door.
“Pankaj!! What are you doing here?” Misha gaped at her visitor in surprise.
Dr Pankaj Goud ducked into the living room, as soon as she opened the door pushing his way in. Caught by surprise, Misha stepped back as Namita moved forward pointing the gun at him, “Stop! Don’t come any further.”
“Hey, I am a friend,” Pankaj raised his hands in the air, taking a step back in surprise.
“It’s alright, Namita. He is Raunak’s cousin and a…a friend.”
Namita lowered the gun and looked him over, suspiciously.
Pankaj lowered his arms and ignoring her, said to Misha, “We need to talk.”
Misha crossed her arms against her chest and looked back at him coldly, “So talk.”
Pankaj’s eyes slid to Namita and then back at her, “Alone,
please.”
“You can talk in front of her. This is Namita Patil, Raunak’s friend and she is staying here with me.”
“Alright then,” he shrugged. “Misha, is Vedant here? Staying with you?”
“And you want to know because….?”
He said, “Please Misha. I know I have not been much of a friend lately. In fact, I have not been much of anything, lately,” he said, running his hands through his thick black hair. He was a handsome young man and like his father, growing up had wanted to serve the people of the village. He had taken up medicine to further his father’s work but lately there had been all sorts of rumours about him. He no longer attended to the patients in the hospital and had let his father’s dream go to ruins.
He was now pacing about the living room furiously and Misha realised that he looked agitated and tired. Her resentment of him slipped a little. True, people said a lot of things about him and even Raunak was not very fond of him. But he had never wronged her in any way. As a child, he had always been sweet and helpful towards everyone. She had never got to know him once they had all grown up. Maybe she should give him a chance to explain instead of being rude.
“Sit down, Pankaj. Tell me what is wrong? Why are you so agitated?”
He appeared startled by her gentle voice and sat down abruptly and then stood right back again and continued pacing. She was feeling dizzy just watching him pace up and down.