Next morning – Sanjeevani
Interns gather at the nurses station – Dr. Shubhankar is there to give them duties. He is solemn-faced, so are all the interns. They are all finding it so strange not to have Dr. Keerti there that they keep looking around, half-expecting her to emerge from some corner and start shouting at them.
Dr. Shubhankar looks very uncomfortable. He is holding a paper in his hands.
Shub: Umm … interns … yeh aapke liye kuch naye orders hain … issued by Dr. Modi. Interns ke duty hours aaj se badha diye jayenge by 2 hours everyday. Kyunki wards mein beds ka number badhaya jaa raha hai, aap logon ko zyaada patients bhi dekhne padenge aur clinics attend karni hongi. Night duties hafte mein ek baar nahin, twice a week hongi. Aapko ab lunch break sirf 45 minutes ka milega aur two coffee breaks in the day only. …
He carries on and the interns look at each other and at him unbelievingly.
Ar: Sir! This is slavery! Humare hours itne badha diye gaye hain … aur breaks bhi nahi le sakte …
Shub (looking very uncomfortable): Dr. Armaan, main jaanta hun … lekin yeh orders hum sab ke liye hain … not only you. OPD hours badha diye gaye hain, beds increase kar diye gaye hain, lekin staff strength utni ho rahegi … to zaahir hai hum sab ko zyaada kaam karna padega. Please … sab apni apni duties par jayiye.
They all go off, muttering to each other, then as they go out of earshot of Dr. Shubhankar, Armaan looks at all of them.
Ar: Ready, guys?
All nod. For the first time in the day, they have small grins on their faces.
Ar; Okay … here we go. All the best … aur yaad rakhna … be very careful. Here …
He distributes three pens to Anjali, Nikita and Muskaan.
Ar: Jab yeh kaam ho jaye, to baaki dono ko bata dena. The same trick can't be done twice. Go, guys!
The rest of the day is rather uncomfortable for Dr. Abhimanyu Modi. Twice he finds his files missing, and they mysteriously turn up in strange places … always found by a wardboy or nurse, when one of the interns is suspiciously nearby.
Then Abhimanyu's phone goes missing, and he is extremely annoyed. He calls all the interns to ask if anyone has seen it.
Abhi: Bahut expensive phone hai … aur usme meri sab appointments aur important notes bhi hain.
Ar (looks blankly at him): Sir, hum sab subah se apni duties kar rahe hain. Humne kaise dekha hoga?
Abhi looks hard at him. All the interns look studiously at their shoes.
Abhi: Well, look for it … I need it.
Ar: Sir, why don't you call your number … aawaz se mil jayega …
Abhi: Dr. Armaan, I have already called … aawaz nahin aa rahi.
Anj (helpfully): aapne switch off kar diya hoga …
Abhi: Dr. Anjali, I don't switch off my phone … mujhe kabhi bhi zaroori calls aa sakte hain … you all please look for it.
Ra: Sir, humein 15 minute se zyaada break allowed nahin hai … so …
Abhi (losing his temper): Jisko mera phone milega, use kal half an hour extra break milega … OK????
All: yes, sir!!!
Next, Abhimanyu's pens are missing, both from his pocket and from his table. The nurses are reluctant to give him extra pens as they say they have orders not to give any extra stationary. Nikita is nearest to Abhimanyu in the ward when the nurse says this to Abhimanyu, and she comes to him.
Nik: Sir, mere paas extra pen hai … if you want to borrow it for today …
He looks at her suspiciously, but she looks back innocently. He puts out his hand and she gives him a pen. He tries to write with it, then calls her back impatiently.
Abhi: Dr. Nikita … this pen doesn't work … aapke paas koi aur hai?
Nikita approaches him with a puzzled look on her face.
Nik: doesn't work? Abhi to theek chal raha tha …
She takes it from him and looks at it carefully, then shakes it vigourously.
A fine stream of ink emerges and spatters all over Abhimanyu Modi's expensive suede jacket, his pristine white shirt, and his face. He looks down at his clothes, then puts a hand to his face … only managing to smear the black ink all over his face in the process.
Nik (trying desperately to hide her laughter): Sorry!!! Sir, I'm so sorry!!!! Yeh kaise ho gaya!!! Sir, main saaf kar deti hun … I'm so sorry!!!
Abhimanyu glares at her and at Anjali, Atul, Rahul and Muskaan who are all in the ward and are trying to hide their grins, as are all the nurses and the wardboys there.
Abhi (he puts up his hands as though to fend her off as she approaches him to "help"): NO!!! It's ok! Main … kar lunga …
Nik: I'm really sorry, sir …
Abhimanyu glares at all the rest through the black smears of ink all over his face and stalks out of the ward. All the interns collapse with laughter, and even the nurses and wardboys cannot hide their grins. The Anjali carefully takes the pen from Muskaan and Nikita, brings out hers and drops them all into the dustbin. She rubs her hands together.
Anj: Done!!!!
Ra: Now what?
Mus: Phone … chalo … duty ka time khatam ho raha hai … jaldi, isse pehle ki sab log chale jayen …
They go looking for Abhimanyu. After some time, he emerges from his office, changed into a fresh shirt and with his face washed, but still with some black marks. Muskaan nudges Rahul.
Mus: Munh to kaal ho gaya gadhe ka ….
Ra: Shh … chal …
They meet Armaan and Riddhima downstairs, and take up their positions. Armaan sneaks into Abhimanyu's room and places the phone carefully on his chair in full view of everyone, making sure it's switched on. Then he slips out quietly, giving a thumbs up to the others.
They wait as Abhimanyu goes into his office … before they can execute the next part of their plan … to call his number, his phone rings shrilly.
They watch gleefully as Abhimanyu looks unbelievingly at his chair with the phone flashing prominently on it. He looks at it, then picks it up as though checking whether it is really there or is a figment of his imagination.
Bursting to contain their laughter at the expression on his face, all of them steal away from there to the locker room where they can let out their laughter in peace.
Pre-cap – what was the phone call that Modi received?
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