Prologue
A man in his late thirties came out of the black Mercedes as it came to a halt in the porch of the JW Marriott Hotel
,Sir You are finally here 'I thought u wudnt make it in time
Adi ' U know how the Mumbai traffic '.. 'said the man only to be interrupted by his driver( a reasonably old man)
Humare hote hue Maan baba kahin late pahunche'yeh nahi ho sakta Adi Saab'
Pls kaka 'aap kabhi nahin manenege yun sabke samne to mujhe baba na kaha Karen ,,,,2 yrs and I will turn 40 '..38 yrs old ko baba kaun kehta hai--------Maan said with a faint smile
Main jab tak zinda hoon aap mere liye Maan baba hi rahenge 'said the old man as he made his way to the driving seat
Sir 'lets go '.said Adi
Adi and Maan started to make their way thru the packed hotel lobby '.to be occasionally no rather quite frequently be interrupted by one media person or the other asking Maan some questions or the other
Sir ,One question pls '.Sir 'Are u happy being Maan 'the writer or was living as Maan Singh Khurana better?
The expressions on Maan's face hardened 'and Adi noticed the often seen discomfort when someone tried to intrude into his past
Sorry ..no questions will be answered '.pls ask this when the question time starts at the end of the ceremony '. Said Adi
Adi took Maan by his hand 'Sir , I think we need to head in here '..he said cheerfully '..Sir ,cmon u can atleast smile a bit today ''u are being honored as Maan ''yr book is a bestseller and today CM Deshmukh has asked all to gather in yr honor
Adi , someone shud learn exaggeration from u really '.u r making me sound like Shakespeare or something '.really u and kaka always ready to massage my king size ego '.said Maan giving Adi a half smile
The Ball room was beautifully set including the stage '.and Maan and Adi were asked to seat themselves in the front row .Majority of the guests were already in 'and the others were making their way in
After abt 10 mins 'the host for the evening arrived '.she began by welcoming all those present and then began calling on stage the dignitaries for the evening
Ladies and gentlemen '..Our first guest for the evening the honorable CM Mr Deshmukh and his Wife Mrs Deshmukh, State Minister for Culture Mr Rane and last but not the least definitely the Owner of Khurana Industries our sponsors for the evening Mrs Geet Dev Singh Khurana
Maan froze in his seat for a sec hearing her name ..Adi u never told me this was being sponsored by KI '.he said 'though his eyes were invariably fixed on her as she made her way up the stage stairs to take her seat .She was there right before him 'clad in a salwar suit with the Dupatta covering her head ''.like always
Believe me Sir I didn't know 'else I wud have told or wud have made an excuse but Sir now that we r here we cant make a fuss specially when Mr Deshmukh is arnd'..said Adi
But Adi '.said Maan
Sir Pls 'this event is in yr honor 'how can u possibly leave mid way 'what will I say 'said Adi
I don't know u got me here so its yr ''.Maan was interrupted with the hostess announcing'..
And Ladies and Gentlemen now pls put yr hands together for the author of the best selling and Award winning Novel '''Life Beyond''.Mr Maan'.Can we pls have u on stage Sir
Maan was zapped 'and Adi begged him to go 'and finally he started to walk towards the stage '..each step weighing a hundred pounds ''and each pound squashing his heart a million times '.
Once on stage ...the CM came forward to greet him but even when he shook hands his eyes travelled beyond to where she was '.and time froze as their eyes met all over again and the feeling was similar to the one he had felt a decade ago''''''.
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