Chalte chalte patha nahīn kya sanak savaar huī ke vo Shandaar Cloth store mein daakhil huī aur showcase ka darvaaza khol kar, aur us mein rakhe plastic ke khubsūrat model ko haṭaakar, khud us jagaa par usī andaaz mein khaṛī ho gaī.
Shaam ka vaqt tha. Bhīṛ bahut thī lekin log apnī dhun mein chale jaa rahe the; is līye, us kī is harkat par kīsī kī nazar naa paṛī.
Aisa us ne kyūn kīya? Shaayad us vaqt us se pūcha jaata to vo khud bhī naa bataa paatī. Bachpan mein us ne kaafī sharaartein kīn thīn, magar ab to ek shaista, suljhī huī smart college student thī, jis se guftagū karte hue college ke laṛkey bhī ṭhaṭhakte the. Ye harkat to us se bas yūn hī sarzad ho gaī thī.
Showcase mein khaṛey hue use baṛī raahat milī. Ab vo beheraal us bhare bazaar ka ek hissa thī, aur ek jaga khaṛey reh kar saarey baazar ka jaiza le saktī thī. Bhīṛ mein chaltī hue gūnagū sargarmīyon mein hissa lete hue usse kabhī aisa nahīn lagta tha ke vo bhī apney paas sey guzartī, bharī, pūri jītī jaagtī jagmagaatī zindagī ka juz hai. Us ke badan ka tanau kam hote hote taqrīban khatam ho gya, chehrey par khud bakhud muskuraahaṭ khel gayī. Ek pair ko zara sa aagey baṛhaa ke, saaṛi ke pallū ko sar par se guzaarte huwe daahinī konī ke moṛ par pallū lapeṭ kar, us nīm dilrubaa andaaz mein khaṛa rehna usse khudhī bhala lag rahaa tha. Is tara to vo umar bhar khaṛī reh saktī thī. Is samey kī mauj mein us ne socha, agarcha us ke pair kī aiṛiyon ne abhī se ehtijaaj shurū kar dīya tha.
Abhī pairon ko aaraam dene ka us ne socha hī tha ke ek dihaatī footpath se guzartī vi bhīṛ se alaida ho kar showcase ke saamne aa khaṛa hua. Aur usse baṛī nadīdī aur muttahayar nigaahon se ghūrne lagaa. Us kī aankhe keh rahī thīn ke ye kaarigaar bhī kamaal karte hein. Aisi murtein banaate hain ke asal se milaa dete hein.
Hairat huī ke shīshe ki dīvaar donon ke bīch hayal thī, varna ye ganvaar usse yaaqīnan chū kar dekhtaa.
Dihaatī ka iraada mumkīn tha ke kuch der aur rukhe, magar aas paas se guzarte hajūm kī taiz nigaahon kī taab na laate hue usse khisakte hī banī. Dihaatī ke jaate hī us ne pairon ko dhīla choṛ dīya. Inhein thoṛī harkat bhī dī, magar ab honṭ naa jaane khushk hone lage the. “Thoṛī der aur” usne apne honṭon se zer-e-lab kaha. “Phir hum jald hī kīsī hotel mein paanī aur chai se aap kī khaatir karen ge.” Tishangī ka ehasaas kuch zaayil hua aur phir apne saabiq pose mein khaṛī ho gaī.
Is baat kī usse yaaqīnan koī khwaahish naa thī ke raaste se guzarte hue log usse is tara khaṛe hue dekhein. Aisa shaayad usne kabī socha bhī naa tha, usse to bas is baat kī khushi thī ke ab vo gird-o-pesh kī zindagī mein baraabar kī sharīk thī. Ek aisa ehsaas jo us ne pehle kabhī mehsūs nahīn kīya tha.
“Oh God,” achaanak do college kī laṛkīyan usse dekh kar chīkh paṛīn. “How lifelike!” Un kī avaaz shīshe ke atraaf lohe kī paṭiyon kī suraakhon se guzartī huī bahut halke se us se takraīn, jaise bahut dūr se aa rahīn ho.
Donon laṛkīyan kuch der tak usse sataishī nazron se dekhtī rahīn aur aapas mein naa jaane kya kya kehtī rahīn, aur vo unhe issī tara miṭhī muhabbat aamez nigaahon se dekhtī rahī. Vo khush thī. Bahut khush. Is tara us ka notice shaayad hi kīsi ne liya ho. Kam-as-kam us ke saamne to nahīn. Vo ek meherbaan malka kī tara jo apnī riaaya se khiraaj aaqīdat haasil kar rahī ho yūn hī khaṛī rahī, yaahaan tak ke vo college kī laṛkīyan phir bhīṛ mein shaamil ho kar nazron se ujhal ho gayīn.
Ab kaun aata hai? Us ne socha.
Us ke pair phir ehtijaaj karne lage the. Magar is baar us ne tanbīhi ehkaam bheje ke kambakhton seedhe khaṛe raho. Tum se zara sa sabar bhī nahīn hota? Us ne faisla kar līya ke ab vo un ke ehtijaaj par bilkul ghaur nahīn kare gī.
Usse apne faisle par itminaan hua ke us ne dekhaa ke ek sīpaahī jo bhīṛ se alaida ho kar tambaacū kī dibīya se hathelī par tambaacū chiṛak kar anghūṭhe se mal rahaa tha usse dekhte dekhte ruk gīya hai, us ke honṭ khule reh gaye hain aur aankhe phel gayīn hain. Us ne sīpaahī ko baṛi mīṭhī nigaahon se taakaa aur sīpaahin kī palkein tezī se jhapakne lagīn; us ne tambaacū ko jaldī jaldī mala aur nichle honṭ aur daanton ke darmiyaan ṭhūs kar showcase ke shīshe se aankhe taqrīban chipkaa dīn.
Usse baṛī zor kī hassī ayī. Aur vo baṛī mushkīl se khud ko rok paī. Pair baṛe zor se khujlaane lage the, naa chaathe huwe bhī in mein khafīf sī larzish huī, magar sīpaahī shaayad is ko apnī nazar ka iltabas samjhaa, yaa tambaacū ke nashe ka asar.
Sipaahī baṛī der tak usse ghūr ta raha. Ghūm phir kar vo baar baar usse takne lagta. Yahaan tak ke usse uljhan hone lagī ke ye manhūs ab jai ga bhī yaa yūn hīn khaṛaa rahe ga. Kyūn ke is tarah ek hī pose mein khaṛaa rehnaa ab usse bahut dushvar maalūm ho rahaa tha. Ye baat albatta aitminaan baksh thī ke vo showcase mein bilkul mehfūz hai. Tahafuz ka yeh ehsaas baahir kahan?
Khair, khudaa khudaa kar ke sīpaahī ṭalaa aur us ne aitminaan ka saans līya. Haaton aur pairon ko raahat dī. Kamar sīdhi kī. Balke donon haathon se dabaa kar araam bhī dīya. Shaam ḍhal rahī thī, hajūm kam ho gya tha. Bas ikka dukka aadmī tezi se guzar jaata.
Jald hī andhera ho jai ga, aur us se pehle us se nikal jaana chaahiye. Store mein bhī ab bhīṛ kam ho gayi thi. Mumkīn hai ke usse baahir nikalte hue koi dekh le - usse baṛi tezī se nikalna ho ga. Magar showcase mein kītnaan araam aur kīs qard lutf aa raha tha? Bas das minute aur…
Vo abhī ye soch rahī thī ke usse apnī sahelī Sheyama footpath par se guzartī nazar ayī aur vo jaldī se apne pehle pose mein aa gaī. Us kī saans ruk sī gaī. Sheyama ne ek uchattī nazar us par ḍaalī lekīn shaayad us ka zihin kahīn aur tha, aur ye khatarnaak lamha bhī tal gya. Ye khiyaal usse ab tak nahīn aaya ke koi vaaqifkaar usse yaahaan dekh sakta hai. Baṛe bhayya to bhī is vaqt daftar se lauṭte hain. Dil ke marīz to voh hain hī, aur ghar kī izzat ko is tara saarey bazaar dekh kar to un kī rūh hī parwaaz kar jai gī.
Do bache us kī aankhon ke focus mein aye. Vo school se lauṭ rahe the — baste un kī pusht se chimṭe hue the. Bachon ne usse baṛī dilchaspī se dekha aur apnī aankhe, naak aur honṭ samait shīshe se lagaa dīn.
“Abbey asal hai” ek bache kī baṛī madham sī avaaz us ke kaanon main aayi. Usse phir hassī aane lagī.
“Plastic kī he be budhū” dusre bache ne kahaa. “Asal model bhī kahīn rakhaa jaata hai?”
“Lekin yaar bilkul asal lagtī he, aisa lagta hai abhī bol paṛe gī”
“Shaam ho rahī hai na is līye” dusre bache ne kaha, “roshnī thīk hotī to abhī malūm ho jaata”
“Hello” bache ne sharaaratī lehje mein aankh maarte hue kahaa.
Dūsra bacha khil khilaa kar has paṛa. Us ne bhī haath hilaa kar ṭaaṭaa kaha, aur donon us kī aankhon ke focus se baahir ho gae.
Un ke jaate hī, vo khil khilaa kar hassī, magar fauran bukhlaa gaī.
Shīshe ke baahir ek naujavaan usse hairaan nigaahon se dekh rahaa tha. Nigaahein milte hī vo muskuraaya. Apnī bukhlaahaṭ chupaane kī khaatir vo bhī muskuraī. Us ne jaldī se model ko uṭha kar us kī jaga par rakha, aur us kī position durust kī, jaise vo store kī mulaazim ho.
Naujavaan badastūr usse tak rahaa tha.
Model kī saari nok palk durust karte hue us ne kankhīyon se dekha ke naujavan kīsse dekh rahaa hai. Naujavaan kī nazarein plastic kī morat par chand saaniyon ke līye ṭherīn, phir uchal kar us par jam gaīn.
Vo baṛe aitimaad se phīche haṭi aur showcase ka darvaaza khol kar tezī se baahir nikal ayī.
Store ke kīsī mulaazim ne usse nahīn dekhaa, yaa agar dekha bhī ho ga, to vo itnī tezī se niklī thī ke vo kuch samajh nahīn paaya hoga. Darbaan kī tavajo dūsrī taraf thī, vo kīsī salesman se guftagū mein masrūf tha.
Vo be-jhijak tez tez, magar halke phulke, qadmon se chaltī gaī. Khush aur mutmain. Jisam aur ruh kaa saara baaz utar gīya tha. Kaafī dur jaane ke baad usne palaṭ kar dekhaa. Naujawaan ab bhī usse dekh raha tha, shaayad herat se. Vo tezī se dusre raaste par muṛ gaī.
About the Author
Anwar Khan was born in Mumbai. He did his MA in both Urdu and Persian and worked for the Bombay Port Trust. He is the author of three collections of short stories and a novel. Before his premature death in 2001, he was working on a series of vignettes, each devoted to the study of a particular aspect of life in Mumbai, especially its minorities and subcultures.