Hey darlings.
How is you? Ok surprise! I have made a resolution. This past year I feel I have been doing my own song and dance. And finally ended up with a boring pathetic new year. So I have promised myself this year that I am not going to be the painfully shy me who sometimes gets tongue tied in front of high praise and love. . I will try and be a very graceful person and show you all how much I love you and care about you.
So before we can start with my first writing in 2013. A big shout out and HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!! 😳
Please share your resolutions too.❤️
Hehe. Oh and I have other resolutions too. Lose a ton of weight. Work like a donkey. Write better. 😆
Psst...I have replied to a few things above or as they say in the previous page.
Chap 11:
Geet:
The flour spilled all over the workspace before it could land into the deep cask. Did not matter though. The neat granite surface would soon be coated with the coarse powder again anyway. She made a neat crater at the center of the mound, added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of oil. She rolled up her sleeves and began mixing the dough in a slow circular motion. Adding water little by little.
Once her knowing hands told her that enough water had been added to the mixture she stopped. She removed the mass from the cask and slapped it on to the granite surface. Then she began kneading it. Applying her own upper body strength to get the flour mixture into a pliable state. Dough even received a few blows and punches. But all was good. Dough liked it rough and was not at all complaining.
When she was kneading the dough she usually thought of people she was angry with. And needless to say this time she was angry with Maan. She stretched the dough to its breaking point before punching it back in with the rest of the mass. She began guiding the dough inwards onto itself and with firm movements massaged its centre.
By the end of a twenty minutes therapeutic session a small bead of sweat had formed on her forehead. She wiped it with her sleeves. She then covered the dough with the cask facing upside down and let it rest. This gave enough time for the gluten in the wheat to act making it even more pliable.
In the meanwhile she cut vegetables for curry. Each okra was cut in a trapezoidal almost perfect geometric shape. She sprinkled the gooey vegetable with lemon juice and a bit of salt. The acid medium helps reduce the gooeyness she had been told. And the chemistry of cooking was something one did not really question. She then began stir frying the vegetables until her nostrils could tell they had been cooked.
She uncovered the cask to reveal a dough that was now as soft as a babies bottom. Some people used the process of fermentation to get the dough to be soft like they did in the bakeries. Only in rotis one added milk to get the desired effect instead of yeast. But the same effect could be achieved by anger too.
She made the dough into several small golf size balls. And then began rolling it out in swift movements with her rolling pin. Geet almost felt like throwing away the pin and rolling it with her bare hands. But she continued until the balls became perfect thin circles. And then she started baking the rotis first on a flat tava and finished it off by heating over the naked flame. The resulting pieces of bread were fluffy and melt in the mouth.
Geet was now smiling with immense satisfaction. Screw that Maanstein. Could he make such good rotis? She laughed to herself. She decided she was going to be crowned unanimously as the Masterchef KC.
She forced herself to sleep early without waiting up for her brother or sister-in-law. She woke up fresh the next day morning.
Geet looked in the mirror. The result she saw was very satisfactory. Staring back at her was a proud person. The person was dressed up in a simple salwar suit. With an elegant matching veil. She had worn barely there make up. And her hair was tied up in a pony tail. Her purse was made of leather which was made from hide of animals. Yes that was definitely not eco friendly. But she did not have a purse made out of human skin. She had worn slippers that had a modicum length of heels. She was pleased with herself.
She was looking ultra professional. She was not a college student anymore and she wanted to look the part. Her mood could right now be described as a tendency to describe life as if it were in books. With painfully exacting grammar. It sometimes happened to her when she did not want to feel much and wanted to float on the surface of things.
She reached the office and went straight to her desk. Oh dear! She had to act immediately. There was a meeting called for by none other than the CEO to include his 'button' task force. Interesting name to be explored later. But it was imperative that she reach the conference room as soon as possible. Her life depended on it. She grabbed the cover which contained a yet to be identified object and made a mad dash to reach the conference room on time.
However once she reached she found the enemy had not yet approached the main gates. She sat down beside Y2K. A dude who she felt she would most likely befriend in the days to come. There was a conversation of national importance going on. Breaking news material.
Yash "Tara, come on now. No need to be the mystery lady here. We all know what is going on."
Tara frowned "Yash, don't come on me. You are just cooking up stories for gossip here."
Yash "My dear ladies and ladies, I have a small theory here with regards to our beautiful Tara and the inimitable MK."
Naintara "You expect me to make some standard comments here. So let me make them. 'Me and MK are just friends.'"
Yash "Very proper reaction. You couldn't be more suggestive to the contrary even if you tried Rathod."
Tara "Yash, one of these days I am going to beat you to a pulp. You have no better work."
Pinky "You expect us to believe that nothing really happened in Agra? We have all the inside scoop you know."
Tara frowned "What inside scoop? If you think all this is going to make me say something to spice up your day think something else."
Yash "Ok answer one simple question for us and we desire nothing more."
Tara "You desire nothing more than indulging in useless gossip. What is that question now?"
Yash "Who did you go for lunch with yesterday?"
Tara smiled caustically "It was lunch with unimaginable MK."
Geet "Inimitable."
Tara "Huh?"
Geet "No Yash said earlier inimitable MK. If you had lunch with him you did not have to imagine him na.". She giggled. It was kind of disarming.
Tara smiled "Aren't you a handful? Yash, since when did we start hiring pretty high school girls?"
Yash "Yes Geet is indeed cheek pinch worthy. Apparently the man interviewed her himself."
Tara made a combination of 'Bitch please!' and 'You don't say!' meme kind of face. Quite an expressive lady.
Tara "Vow! So welcome Geet. Did not get a chance to talk to you yesterday. Nice meeting you. There are a few chocolates at my desk if you have a sweet tooth."
Ah chocolates? Seriously?
Just then Maan walked in and Geet saw everybody straighten themselves up. She would be damned if she sat straight. She sat down with a bit of a hunch. She looked into his piercing eyes refusing to back down from the eye for an eye contest. She did not smile either. He spoke before the rest of the bunch could join the match.
Maan "So I believe you have all met Geet already. So what do you guys think of her?"
Everyone smiled.
Maan shrugged "Well I don't think it matters what we think. It is up to our Sir. It is his secretary after all. Geet behave yourself. Sir does not like silly teenaged girls."
There was a general hushed laughter. Geet looked at everyone sheepishly. Were they serious? Hand it to this man to have an ability to make even a snake coil up and bite itself. Did he have to say this in front of everyone? And everyone here meant her potential teammates and bitches.
Maan "What you think I am kidding? You will know when you see him."
Geet glared at him.
Meera "MK.."
Maan "Shh Meera. So Geet I hope you have a speech prepared. This is the first time you are seeing him."
Geet smiled "I am not a teenager and oh yes I am like so totally prepared."
Everyone stared at her. Prepared? She now fetched the cover made of eco friendly paper material and placed it on the desk. The curiosity of all minds were piqued.
Maan's expression on seeing that parcel was noteworthy. It ranged between confusion and an expressed desire to bury her for smiling at his insults.
And then Dev Singh Khurana walked in. When Geet set eyes on him she was extremely pleased; for her boss was very pleasing to the eye. She could not wait for him to speak to find out whether he was pleasing to the ear as well.
Dev "Hello guys. Hope you had a nice vacation. New year greetings."
"New year DK."
Dev "We have in our midst a new team member. My new secretary Geet Handa. Geet, I have not met you before this. So I would like to welcome you to this team. "
Geet saw the serious face on the man with smiling eyes. His expression smooth and beguiling. He did not appear to be as described a short while earlier. In fact he appeared to be of the nicest disposition.
Dev "Geet, please introduce yourself formally to all of us."
Geet stood up slowly, her grey cells dying one by one. She was feeling acute stage fright. Her legs were threatening to buckle and do away with their support.
Geet "Hello everyone. My name is Geet Handa. I belong to this city. I was studying my Bachelors in Science when due to unavoidable circumstances I had to drop out of college and look for a job. I was lucky enough to get a good job here and hope to continue working here."
Dev nodded "Thank you Geet. Since I was busy and could not be present for the interview process I would like to ask a few questions of you. With my recent experiences with secretaries I find it would be better if we are on the same page before we begin."
Geet gulped "Ok Sir."
Dev "Now you are essentially a college dropout. It does not matter whether it was by choice or compulsion. We are not running a charity service here. MK here believes you can perform your duties well. However I am a bit skeptical."
In that moment Geet looked at Maan and his eyes said it all. Maan had been right. Dev was not going to be easy.
Dev "To be honest I am sick of my past few secretaries for various reasons. So instead of wasting company resources and going through the exercise again I would like to confirm for myself in the beginning if you are the right choice."
Geet took a deep breath.
Dev "So just keep talking. And I get to decide whether you stay or will walk out of here."
Geet looked at the people around her. Everyone had a grave expression on their faces. She realized she had to just act on her instinct and first reaction upon seeing the mail from CEO. She fetched out a small box from inside the paper cover. She opened it and a delicious aroma wafted through everyone's nostrils. Though everyone had had their breakfast they felt hungry.
Geet held the opened box to Dev.
Dev stared at her "I have not hired a cook. I need a secretary."
Geet nodded slowly "Sir, I know. I am asking you to sample the roti. Please Sir, it is necessary to try it for what I am about to explain."
Dev looked at her for one long moment. He reached and cut a piece of the soft roti, dipped it in the dip and tasted it. Needless to say it was as tasty as its aroma.
Dev "Go ahead."
Geet "Sir, I do not know much about architecture. In fact I do not know anything about engineering at all. Or what it ensues. I am after all a science student. But I do understand the theoretical basis of things."
Dev knit his brows "Meaning?"
Geet "Sir, you just had a piece of soft roti. Now rotis can either be wonderfully soft or impossibly hard or somewhere in between. The texture of the roti is determined by the quality and build of dough. Just like the strength of a building is determined by the quality of cement."
Dev's eyes widened.
Geet "To make the perfect roti, one needs to add of course the right amount of water. But that alone does not suffice. One needs to add it little by little and let the dough mass set properly and perfectly to get the right texture. Just taking a ladle and mixing water into dough will never make good roti."
Dev looked at Maan now who had a light smile on his face.
Geet "Similarly for cement to set one needs to add the correct amount of water at the right time and mix it at the right speed to yield the best strength."
Dev nodded.
Geet "Now just adding the right quantity of water does not help set the dough. One needs to apply a certain amount of strength to knead the dough to give it the soft feel to be able to roll it easily. It also helps the dough to absorb more moisture and hence the rotis turn out soft as you sampled just now."
Dev sighed.
Geet "In cement too just adding water to raw cement is disaster. It sets in such a quick time that it is impossible to even use it anywhere. So they add a certain chemical called gypsum which is used to mould cast for fractured limbs. You know the Plaster of Paris cast that we sign on? Now this substance will increase the time taken for cement to harden allowing the masons time to work with it. Driving the cement to be used for its correct purpose."
Dev "Alright Geet I get it. You have some sort of knowledge. But how will that help me? How is it useful for you as a secretary?"
Geet "Sir, may be it is not helpful directly. I was just trying to show you that I am not a scatter brained teenager trying to have a good time. In fact I am not a teenager at all and I am very serious about this. I am new to the entire work scenario. I do not know how else to show that I am trustworthy."
Dev finally smiled. Geet heaved a sigh of relief.
Dev "Geet, I am willing to let you continue. Please come to my cabin so we can meet personally. And establish a few working rules."
Geet smiled "Sure Sir. Thank you so much Sir."
Dev stood up and walked out. Geet sat down her ears ringing with the light applause that seemed to be doing the rounds.
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