Chapter 5
Strangers
In the next seventeen years, Life took a lot of twists and turns for Raghav and Kalpana. After getting out of the clutches of the Kapoors, Raghav made it a point to not attach himself to anyone. He was very grateful to his uncle, mr. Raizada who gave him support during his initial days in US. But he had learnt a lesson not to trust anyone, so he worked very hard to earn scholarships to sponsor his studies and started part time jobs to support his other needs. He moved out of their house within a month of reaching there. The only thing that he took from there was his friendship with Sammy. Because he knew what his mission was. In all this he never let the fire for revenge dwindle. His focus was the end of the Kapoors. Everything else was just a means.
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Kalpana's life took a nose dive in the next seventeen years where her family relationships were concerned. There was an incident where it was made to look like Kalpana was going to harm Paakhi. So she was sent off to a boarding school to keep her away from Paakhi. Truth be told the Kapoors thought that she wasa bad influence on their daughter. Moreover they could not tolerate that she was smarter than their daughter.
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Sitting on the first class seat of his India bound flight, Raghav was thinking about the last time he had crossed the world the other way. How life and circumstances had changed in these last seventeen years. He was no longer the scared teenager running for his life. In his place was sitting a strong man of thirty two! Now he was a successful business tycoon with a place of his own in the stock market. He had offices and houses in almost all major cities of the world. He was a very sought after ad world icon. Known to the world as RS. Now he was headed back to the country of his birth. To claim what was rightfully his, his dad's empire. And revenge.
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Kalpana was on a train back home. After seventeen long years. Yes, she used to come home during her summer breaks but she never left her home during those two months. She stayed home and studied. Her only goal in life was to make her mother's dream come true. Become a memsahab. For that she had to study. Nonstop. Fun was for other kids to have. She had a mission to achieve and play was worse than a crime.
Since all she did was study, and being as bright as she was, she was able to get scholarships and be able to go to a very reputed college to do her CA and post graduate at no cost. It was her first feat when she was invited by several colleges to come study there. Unfortunately for her though, it was not important enough for her mother. She just didn't understand what a great achievement it was to be recognized like that! That didn't really make her a memsahab.
Now she was returning back home with the topper's degree and an amazing job as an intern for the CFO (chief financial officer) of one of the best advertising agencies in the word, RS industries. She was supposed to report to someone called Samar Raizada. She wondered if RS was his name spelt backward - Raizada, Samar. Yes, that has to be it. She remembered someone telling her that it was very common in United States to spell the name that way. So she was happy she would be working right under the big boss!!
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Both Raghav and Kalpana were relentless in pursuit of their goals. Their minds never wandered to anything else except the eye of the fish. Unfortunately for both of them, the other was a long forgotten memory.
Anupamaa
