Vignettes- 18. Hai re Nandkishore! Thread 1 - Page 6

Pacing along the foyer, Khushi wrung her hands, "Hey Devi Maiyya! Itna der kyun lag raha hain? Ab tak toh khatam hona chahiye tha!"

Pacing parallely in the opposite direction, Anjali craned her neck to look down the corridor, her face a picture of anxiety. Just then, Payal came running down the stairs and said, "Lagta hain ho gaya! Abhi abhi Arnavji Akash ko study mein aane ko kehke phone kiya, aur woh peechewali seedhiyon se neeche chale gaye."

"Hello hi, Bye-bye! Ka ho raha hain, Payaliya? By is Arnav bitwa taking so much time? Iss stress hum se bilkul bardashth naahi hovat hain, not at aall!" Manorama arrived, fluttering her hands as she too joined the team of waiters-and-watchers.

As for what they were waiting for, well, it was to be revealed soon. Arnav came striding down from his study, scowling as he snapped over the phone plastered to his ear, "What do you mean, Aman? That guy just let her walk out without notice? Why the hell is he even sitting in that chair if he doesn't know how to manage his own deputy?"

Listening to Aman stammering, Arnav snarled before cutting the call. Looking up, he saw the apprehensive looks on his family's face and asked curtly, "What?"

Manorama decided that this was not the time to ask about his decision and made her escape while Anjali and Payal suddenly remembered a kitchen-related emergency and ran off. As for the indomitable Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, she stood her ground and asked back, "Kya matlab hain 'what' ka? Aapko pata bhi hain hum kitne der se intezaar kar rahe the aapke baahar aane ka?"

His irritation with his employees disappearing at the sight of his wife's cute frown, Arnav pulled her close and smirked, "Aur tum wait kyun kar rahi thi? Kuch kaam tha mujhse?", knowing perfectly well that his feigned ignorance about the 'formal-interview-in-the-informal-setting' would further irritate her. And as usual, his wife rose up and beyond his expectations, "Haun!", she smacked him on his chest, "Arnavji! Humein sataayiye mat! Kya faisla liya aap, Nanheji ke baare mein?"

Grabbing her hand that was now falling back, he squeezed it, "Tumhein kya lagta hain, main kya decide kiya hoga? Of course he's appointed! Cousin hai mera, and he's qualified, toh mein appoint kyun nahi karoonga? Bus baaki employees ke tarah ek saal ka probation period hain, so that he wisens up and becomes a bit more serious, otherwise, for all intents and purposes, he's the new Hospitality Director of our Gurgaon ARH. God save us all!"

His breath hitched at the glorious smile on her face. The next second, he was being squeezed within an inch of his life by his exuberant wife who leaned up on tip-toes to place a smacking kiss on his cheek before running off to share the happy news with the rest of the family. Arnav stood staring after his Khushi, once again wondering at how much others' happiness and well-being meant to her.

Sighing as he turned back to the matter at hand, he called for Akash before heading out to deal with the latest attrition crisis at his AR Hotels division, leaving NK to celebrate the glory of his newly gained job with the rest of the family.

************************

The next week passed in a blur to NK, he finally realising that studying Hospitality Management was just the first step in learning how to handle the day-to-day working on the challenging industry. He was put under the guidance of the senior staff by Arnav who, being busy with the beginning-of-the-financial-year hiring activity, could not be there to mentor him.

One day, NK was in the middle of going through Guest- feedback reports of the past year when his phone rang. "NK, I need you in Mr. Khanna's cabin now. We're interviewing the candidate for the Hospitality Manager's post for Gurgaon", Arnav's crisp command came before the line went dead.

"Yeh Nannav bhi naah! Unbelievable guy hain. How to use minimum words, koi isse sheekhe!" Shaking his head, NK got up wearily, understanding at last, why his cousins were so exhausted at the end of a day's work. One week and he was already beginning to curse the person who had invented the telephone. Each ring brought on even more work!

*********************

Walking upto Mr. Khanna's cabin, who was the head of HR, NK knocked and let himself in. Looking up after closing the door behind him, he saw Arnav and Mr. Khanna sitting back talking amongst themselves while the person being interviewed sat staring at the gardens spreading out beyond the window. Seeing the satisfied look on his cousin's face, NK understood that she had secured the job, even if she hadn't received the confirmation yet.

Looking up at NK, Arnav said, "Come in, Mr. Mohanty, we need your opinion also before we end the interview. After all, the HM will be working under you", before turning to the candidate, "Ms. Yadav, this is Mr. Nandkishore Mohanty, Director of Hospitality for ARH Gurgaon."

She got up with a polite smile to extend her hand, when NK's smile froze, "You!"

Looking at him blankly, not recognising the person who she had seen only fleetingly, that too months ago, she stood stumped as her future boss's face turned red. "How dare you? And how can someone like you, who doesn't even know how to treat a guest properly, even become a Hospitality Manager?"

Not comprehending, she flushed at the sharp words thrown at her, while sending a confused glance at her other two interviewers. Stunned at the usually affable NK's outburst, Arnav asked, "NK! What's the matter? You know Ms. Yadav?"

Indignation clouding his brain, NK blurted out, forgetting that he had never mentioned the Mumbai-incident at home, "Of course, I do! This is the woman who got me arrested for no reason!"

"What? Arrested?", Arnav thundered, "When? How come I didn't even know?"

In response, the whole story came tumbling out, the hapless girl turning white as she realised what a careless misjudgement was going to cost her.

Furious at the treatment metted out to one of his family member's Arnav whipped around to face her, "ARH is no place for an unprofessional employee whose judgement cannot be trusted. Even if you had been appointed, your employment would have been terminated instantly. You may leave, Ms. Yadav."

Her head spinning as all her hopes came crashing down, Pooja Yadav stood stricken, unable to even defend her actions, which had led to an innocent man spending a night in lock-up. Shaking as she gathered up her files, she rasped out an apology to her interviewers before turning to NK. Tears filling her eyes, she whispered, "Mr. Mohanty, agar ho sakein toh mujhe maaf kar deejiye. I know that what I did was wrong, even if it was a mere lapse of judgement. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and trouble I caused you."

Not waiting for his response, she stumbled blindly out of the door. Coming to a stop at the lounge outside, she stood for a moment wiping her tears, only to come face-to-face with a beautiful lady who had just walked in to wait for her husband, who was supposed to accompany her to her Buaji's house for a family dinner. Seeing a girl crying at AR's office, the dormant feminist in Khushi rose up, and concern clouding her face, she asked Pooja, "Kya hua? Aap ro kyun rahi ho? Kisi ne aapko kuch kaha toh humein bata deejiye, hum sab theek kar denge."

As she stood taking in the compassionate face in front of her, little did Pooja know how much her life was about to change...

Pacing along the foyer, Khushi wrung her hands, "Hey Devi Maiyya! Why is it taking so long? It should've been over by now!"

Pacing parallely in the opposite direction, Anjali craned her neck to look down the corridor, her face a picture of anxiety. Just then, Payal came running down the stairs and said, "I think it's over! Arnavji called Akash down just now and he went down to the study by the other stairs."

"Hello hi, Bye-bye! Baat happening, Payaliya? By is Arnav bitwa taking so much time? Iss stress hum se tolerate naahi hovat hain, not at aall!" Manorama arrived, fluttering her hands as she too joined the team of waiters-and-watchers.

As for what they were waiting for, well, it was to be revealed soon. Arnav came striding down from his study, scowling as he snapped over the phone plastered to his ear, "What do you mean, Aman? That guy just let her walk out without notice? Why the hell is he even sitting in that chair if he doesn't know how to manage his own deputy?"

Listening to Aman stammering, Arnav snarled before cutting the call. Looking up, he saw the apprehensive looks on his family's face and asked curtly, "What?"

Manorama decided that this was not the time to ask about his decision and made her escape while Anjali and Payal suddenly remembered a kitchen-related emergency and ran off. As for the indomitable Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, she stood her ground and asked back, "What do you mean 'what'? Do you know for how long I've been waiting here?"

His irritation with his employees disappearing at the sight of his wife's cute frown, Arnav pulled her close and smirked, "And why were you waiting? Needed me for anything urgent?", knowing perfectly well that his feigned ignorance about the 'formal-interview-in-the-informal-setting' would further irritate her. And as usual, his wife rose up and beyond his expectations, "Haun!", she smacked him on his chest, "Arnavji! Stop pulling my leg! What have you decided, about Nanheji?"

Grabbing her hand that was now falling back, he squeezed it, "What do you think my decision would've been? Of course he's appointed! He's my cousin, and he's qualified, then why wouldn't I appoint him? He''l have a year-long probation period, so that he wisens up and becomes a bit more serious, otherwise, for all intents and purposes, he's the new Hospitality Director of our Gurgaon ARH. God save us all!"

His breath hitched at the glorious smile on her face. The next second, he was being squeezed within an inch of his life by his exuberant wife who leaned up on tip-toes to place a smacking kiss on his cheek before running off to share the happy news with the rest of the family. Arnav stood staring after his Khushi, once again wondering at how much others' happiness and well-being meant to her.

Sighing as he turned back to the matter at hand, he called for Akash before heading out to deal with the latest attrition crisis at his AR Hotels division, leaving NK to celebrate the glory of his newly gained job with the rest of the family.

************************

The next week passed in a blur to NK, he finally realising that studying Hospitality Management was just the first step in learning how to handle the day-to-day working on the challenging industry. He was put under the guidance of the senior staff by Arnav who, being busy with the beginning-of-the-financial-year hiring activity, could not be there to mentor him.

One day, NK was in the middle of going through Guest- feedback reports of the past year when his phone rang. "NK, I need you in Mr. Khanna's cabin now. We're interviewing the candidate for the Hospitality Manager's post for Gurgaon", Arnav's crisp command came before the line went dead.

"Yeh Nannav bhi naah! Unbelievable guy! He can write a book on 'How to use minimum words in a conversation'!" Shaking his head, NK got up wearily, understanding at last, why his cousins were so exhausted at the end of a day's work. One week and he was already beginning to curse the person who had invented the telephone. Each ring brought on even more work!

*********************

Walking upto Mr. Khanna's cabin, who was the head of HR, NK knocked and let himself in. Looking up after closing the door behind him, he saw Arnav and Mr. Khanna sitting back talking amongst themselves while the person being interviewed sat staring at the gardens spreading out beyond the window. Seeing the satisfied look on his cousin's face, NK understood that she had secured the job, even if she hadn't received the confirmation yet.

Looking up at NK, Arnav said, "Come in, Mr. Mohanty, we need your opinion also before we end the interview. After all, the HM will be working under you", before turning to the candidate, "Ms. Yadav, this is Mr. Nandkishore Mohanty, Director of Hospitality for ARH Gurgaon."

She got up with a polite smile to extend her hand, when NK's smile froze, "You!"

Looking at him blankly, not recognising the person who she had seen only fleetingly, that too months ago, she stood stumped as her future boss's face turned red. "How dare you? And how can someone like you, who doesn't even know how to treat a guest properly, even become a Hospitality Manager?"

Not comprehending, she flushed at the sharp words thrown at her, while sending a confused glance at her other two interviewers. Stunned at the usually affable NK's outburst, Arnav asked, "NK! What's the matter? You know Ms. Yadav?"

Indignation clouding his brain, NK blurted out, forgetting that he had never mentioned the Mumbai-incident at home, "Of course, I do! This is the woman who got me arrested for no reason!"

"What? Arrested?", Arnav thundered, "When? How come I didn't even know?"

In response, the whole story came tumbling out, the hapless girl turning white as she realised what a careless misjudgement was going to cost her.

Furious at the treatment metted out to one of his family member's Arnav whipped around to face her, "ARH is no place for an unprofessional employee whose judgement cannot be trusted. Even if you had been appointed, your employment would have been terminated instantly. You may leave, Ms. Yadav."

Her head spinning as all her hopes came crashing down, Pooja Yadav stood stricken, unable to even defend her actions, which had led to an innocent man spending a night in lock-up. Shaking as she gathered up her files, she rasped out an apology to her interviewers before turning to NK. Tears filling her eyes, she whispered, "Mr. Mohanty, please do forgive me if you can. I know that what I did was wrong, even if it was a mere lapse of judgement. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and trouble I caused you."

Not waiting for his response, she stumbled blindly out of the door. Coming to a stop at the lounge outside, she stood for a moment wiping her tears, only to come face-to-face with a beautiful lady who had just walked in to wait for her husband, who was supposed to accompany her to her Buaji's house for a family dinner. Seeing a girl crying at AR's office, the dormant feminist in Khushi rose up, and concern clouding her face, she asked Pooja, "What happened? Why are you crying? If someone said something to you, tell me, I'll fix it."

As she stood taking in the compassionate face in front of her, little did Pooja know how much her life was about to change...