DAD

        The reddish-maroon sun was setting in the background as it spread numerous ecstatic colors over the horizon. Somewhere amidst this scenic beauty an innocent little toddler spoke, "I don't fear anything as I have my Dad by my side always!" The gleam on her face was far above that of the retiring sun. As she said this, she leapt forward and jumped off the high platform of the slide in the park..

Two little girls, playing in the park were talking about their fears. One of them explained that she fears the height while the second one said she did not fear the heights, the dark or anything. The reason for her fearlessness was her faith in her HERO- her Dad. As she jumped of the slide her Dad swiftly caught her in his huge arms and pirouetted. The sun had set by now and it was time for the daughter and her father to return home.

"Nisha, today after dinner we will complete the homework and then I will read you the story of Birbal." Raju said to his daughter as they walked back to home from the park. On reaching home, Raju cooked the food simultaneously helping his daughter with her petty Math sums. Later on after the dinner he told Nisha the story of witty Birbal. When she dozed off to sleep Raju got up and started getting ready. He closed the door, locked it well and kicked the bike to life.

In the silence of streets Raju drove to the end of the city and came to halt near the old deserted house. A couple of guys had been waiting for him inside the house. He gave them the packet, took the amount and went back the way he came. The guys sniffed the marijuana and few minutes later they too went away. Raju reached to the red light areas in the city and paved his way to the Hotel Rasleela.

"You are very quick and efficient in your work Raju" said a silver bearded man "I hope you would like to be of more use to us. And so I think of raising you to higher level. "

"I didn't understand Sir. Can you please be clearer?"

"Raju, after the demise of one of our guy last month, our process has slowed down. But now I can see the spark I you and I think you can carry on with his work!"

Raju was dumbstruck. He was at loss of words. Smuggling drugs was one thing but abducting people was a whole different thing! He said he needed time to think. The money involved in this work would certainly be more, but the risk was great. And he was not prepared for it. He took leave of his boss and returned home and lied down beside his sweet little girl in the dingy room. As he was lying on the floor various thoughts of his past life crowded his mind.

He had lost his beloved wife the very next year after birth of Nisha. The only reason for her death was shortage of money for the costly medicines and inability to admit her in some good hospital. He had never felt the crunch of money earlier and this tragedy came all of sudden and devastated his sweet life. He felt like giving up his life, but he had to stay back in this mean and materialistic, money-centered world for the sake of his little daughter. Since then he had opted to any mean through which he could gain money. Just in a year, he had managed to get a small house of his own in the slums of Subhashnagar. He had admitted his daughter in the English medium school and provided her with all the things she needed. He wasn't a KING.... But she was his PRINCESS.

The routine life of Raju and Nisha went on. Every night after Nisha went to sleep Raju would go to deliver the drug packets at the respective destinations. He would get a hefty amount in return. But the rising prices and his desire to have a higher standard of life goaded him to accept the proposal.

"That's nice decision my boy! You are going to enjoy the new work. It isn't as tough as you think. Here in Bihar, every day people are abducted or killed. Don't worry your first victim is very easy and a wealthy businessman. You have to abduct his daughter and demand 1 lakhs minimum. And the interesting part is you know that person. After hearing his name you will be willing to this task as early as possible."

Raju started guessing in his mind, the name of people he hated in his life, but he couldn't come up with any wealthy enemy! He asked his boss to tell the name. The old man said," Jay Rajput"

There was a dead silence in the room.

Nostalgia struck to Raju. He hated this guy from his childhood. Since the early days of his schooling Jay had been a constant hurdle in Raju's way. From the trifle school sports competitions to the girl he loved; Jay had always beaten Raju and surpassed him each time. Raju had liked a girl for the first time ever but even she was snatched away by Jay due to his looks and his pleasing aura with the girls. Raju had tremendous hatred for him but never got a chance to defeat him. This was a chance to make Jay feel small and beg for his daughter. This was a chance to win once and forever.

"I'm ready for this task", exclaimed Raju.

"Our men have gathered information about Jay Rajput. His daughter is around 3-4 years, you won't have difficulty in picking her up after the school this Monday. You have 2 days. Go and check the school area and plan your task. This is her photo. I know your enmity with that businessman and so I have appointed this guy as your first target", the old man explained Raju his work.

Raju had returned home early that night. Next day being weekend he had promised his daughter to take her to the circus arrived in the city. Nisha had completed all of her homework and regular study very quickly and nagged her dad from 4pm to get ready for the circus. The show was scheduled at 6pm. Raju got Nisha ready and he himself dressed up and left the home. All the way Nisha kept on asking about the circus and Raju very lovingly cleared the queries of his daughter.

Raju got tickets and they entered the huge tent of circus. Nisha was marveled by the gargantuan setup, the huge ropes, the elephants and tigers in the backyard.

"This is so big Dad! How do they get such a big cloth? And look there the tiger. What if it comes out of the cage and eats up all the people here?" Nisha had endless questions.

The circus went on for a couple of hours. Those two hours were a fun for Nisha and bliss for Raju as he could see her giggling at clowns prank, astonishing at feats of the gymnasts, and holding his arms tightly at the roar of tigers! Since the demise of his wife, Raju had given up on enjoying things and he would enjoy such moments through his daughter! He loved his daughter very much...

They stepped out of the circus tent. It was dark by then. Nisha had started feeling hungry and she demanded something to eat. Raju came up till the bike, made Nisha stand near the bike and went to get some snacks. The playful Nisha was in high spirits and was trying some few movements of the gymnasts while standing there. While doing that she moved a few paces away from the bike parking and came over the road. She was unaware of this fact. She kept on twisting and turning while a speeding car came through the car parking lot. The driver applied brakes and the wheels screeched to halt.

Soon crowd gathered around the spot. Raju was returning with the snacks. When he saw the crowd and his daughter not near his bike, his heart missed a beat! He ran towards the crowd. He saw the car driver leapt over a small girl and trying to pick her up. He pushed his way through the mob and reached his daughter. Fortunately, there was no blood anywhere, a few scratches over the hand and legs. The driver was thinking to take the kid to hospital in his car. Raju looked up at the driver's face. It was Jay Rajput...

Raju and Jay were in the hospital, waiting for the doctor's conclusion of the diagnosis. Few minutes later the doctor told them there was nothing to worry, Nisha was just unconscious and there were minor injuries. Jay followed the doctor and paid up the fees. He took the medicine list and quickly bought the medicines. Raju was sitting beside his daughter when Jay walked in the room. There was an awkward silence between them. Finally Jay spoke up," It's a long time and we are meeting now like this. Nice to see u pal" and handed over the medicines to his old mate.

Not knowing what to say Raju just gave a smile. He was in dilemma. The guy he hated for his whole life had just saved his life- his daughter. If he had not applied the brakes at right moment, the girl in front of him now wouldn't be breathing now. Jay had also paid up the fees and got the medicines. And the very next day Raju had to abduct this guy's daughter- his life!!!

"Raju, I need to take leave now, my daughter's waiting in the car. We need to go back home. I can understand your condition. What if it was my daughter in your daughter's place!! I can't even imagine. Take care friend. Everything will be fine. We will catch up later" and Jay bid bye to Raju.

Nisha was supposed to stay at hospital for the night and she would be discharged tomorrow. Raju felt his cell buzzing. It was call from his boss and he had asked Raju to come at their usual place- Hotel Rasleela. Raju told him that he was in hospital, but the boss seemed to already know it and so wanted to meet Raju. Seeing that Nisha is fast asleep, Raju kissed her forehead and promised to return back soon. He was unaware what was coming!

"How did you know about Nisha's accident?" Raju asked.

"One of our men was keeping an eye on Jay whole day. When the accident happened at the circus he saw it, and also saw that rich guy took you and your daughter to the hospital. ", the old boss explained. " I hope you remember what you have to do tomorrow", he further added.

"Err... I'm sorry boss; I don't think I would be able to do it now. My daughter is at hospital, I need to take care of her and moreover that guy saved my daughter- my life" Raju faltered while revealing his thoughts.

The old man let a roar of laughter and then fell silent. "I knew you are feeble mind dude, so I called you to meet me here. The task was appointed to you and only you should complete it now. He didn't save your daughter, he put her in danger. Now that you are here, our men are taking care of her at the hospital. Don't worry she won't be touched if you bring us 1 lac rupees, which I know you won't be able to, so instead bring us Jay's daughter and we let go your daughter", the cunning boss spoke out his evil mind.

Raju couldn't say a word. He was in an unfathomable condition now. The guys he trusted had turn up on him, the so called colleagues, sitting beside him in the hospital lobby, were now his enemies and the reason for all this once again was money. He had to choose between his daughter and his daughter's life saver. The numerous thoughts clouded his brain for whole night. Late that night he made a decision, he couldn't risk his daughter for just one good deed by an old acquaintance. He took a short sleep till the sun rose high in the skies.

Raju came beside his daughter who was conscious by now and seemed to be OK now. The usual spark in her eyes had returned. "Don't worry dear, everything will be ok and the doctor will let us go soon", said Raju assuring his daughter. She nodded. After spending some time with Nisha, Raju completed the formalities for discharge and took Nisha home. The men followed him to his home and kept an eye on him constantly.

"Nisha, Dad has to go for some work and he will return soon. Till then you can have sound sleep. I have got you a chocolate also", said Raju as he handed over the Cadbury to Nisha. She willingly took it and opened it up. As Raju was leaving she called him and gave him a piece of the chocolate feeding with her tiny hands. Raju's eyes welled up.

Raju drove along with the other men in the van and waited for the school to ring the last bell. They had not waited for long when the bell rung and the little children came out of the school running. Raju had seen Jay's daughter yesterday night so he could recognize the girl in crowd. She was walking from the school gate to the van standing a few feet ahead. Raju pulled over the van beside her and in a split of second the little girl was grabbed and dumped inside the van. In the noisy surrounding no one could hear the poor girl's cry. The van zoomed past the school building and came to the usual hiding place of the boss.

The boss confirmed the girl and called up the men standing outside Raju's house ordering them to come back at the hotel.

"I'm proud of you Raju, you are a great Dad! You did what a father should do! Now dump this little brat in the store. I will call Jay and let us extort some cash tonight", Raju was told to take the girl and lock up in the room at the back where all other hostages were kept.

As Raju left with Jay's daughter, a wry smile flashed across his face.

Minutes later the guys circling Raju's house had returned, there was knock on the door of their hotel room. Everyone became alert. There wasn't any movement or any knock again for few minutes. Just then there was a loud thud at the door and a bunch of police entered the room. They were all well equipped and shot down all the men. No one was spared.

At the backside room, where Nisha was taken, Jay was standing with Raju beside him.

"I love my daughter more than anything in this world. You saved her, cared for her as your own daughter and took her to hospital the very moment. While waiting for the doctor's result I was going through hell and felt worse. I could think what would you feel if your daughter was kidnapped and hurt. What happened with my daughter was an accident but with yours it was purposefully. And if today it's your daughter tomorrow it could be mine! ", Raju said and winked to Jay, "This time I win. This time WE win."

And that was the end of enmity between the old mates and the bad path Raju had chosen. The girl they loved had started it and the girls they loved ended it!!