Notes from the Past: 4
August 2005, Bimal Patnaik Library, Alchemy College, University of Delhi, North Campus
Her first semester was about to end and so far her internal assessment was not even a little bit impressive. Khushi was worried as she made the sixth attempt that month to borrow a book on Differential Equations by SL Ross. The Bimal Patnaik Library, thus named after a leading intellectual and one of the first pupils of Alchemy College when it ran out of a small house in Chandni Chowk was believed to be one of the best stocked libraries. In fact, the almost hundred-year-old library was considered one of the very best in the country, causing for it to be open to the general public for half a day on every Saturday. And yet, this well-stocked library only had one copy of a book, which was but the bible for every mathematics and physics student. She had made so many trips to the library in the last two months for that book, that in this college of over two thousand students, all the library assistants now recognised Khushi and knew her name.
Her everyday pilgrimage to the library finally paid off. And last week the librarian assistant had placed an order for another copy of the book and had promised Khushi that she would have the honour of being the first student to have it issued to. The assistant a middle-aged man who went by the name Harsh Narain had taken a liking for Khushi ever since he heard about her having her roots in Kakori, a town near Lucknow, where he too was from. Of course Khushi herself had been born and raised in Chandni Chowk, but she had reached a level of frustration that she was willing to use any connection no matter how tenuous.
So armed with the elusive book, Khushi sat at the corner table of the massive library and plodded through her assignment. As she sat along with other students, some of them serious, some of them chattering, she realised that not one of them knew who she was. If in New-Ons she stuck out like a sore thumb, in Alchemy College, she was the opposite. She was almost invisible. It was one of the biggest colleges in Delhi University which offered undergraduate and post-graduate courses in almost every subject. She was not the brightest in her class. Nor was she the most attractive. Or have some phenomenal extracurricular talent. Or have strong political opinions. She was just an ordinary first year student. And for this Khushi was grateful. After her somewhat torrid time in New-Ons, this was needed. She was fortunate that not too many from New-Ons opted for Alchemy. The only people whom she knew who were in this college were Veena and of course Arnav Raizada. Veena and she ran into each other sometimes, but they exchanged pleasantries and moved on. Thankfully she did not run into Arnav Singh Raizada at all. Except for one time.
The very first day of college, during their orientation she had seen him. It was strange to see him in casual clothes and not the New-Ons uniform. He seemed more intimidating in that moment. Like suddenly there was nothing at all in common between them. Whatever little inclination that Khushi had to go over and say hello to her former classmate died in that moment. Perhaps this weird complex was only inside her head. But unfortunately, it was and there was nothing that she could do to shake it off. So when Veena, who was sitting next to Arnav waved at Khushi and pointed to the seat next to her asking her to sit with them, Khushi declined and instead chose to sit on the first available spot. Throughout the orientation she barely paid attention to whatever it was that the Principal said and felt petty and small. After the orientation she walked up to where Veena and Arnav were to say hello, as a peace offering. Just as Khushi reached the spot, Arnav gave Veena a half-hug and said, "Veens, I will see you around.". And he was gone. In the two and a half months since then, not once had she spotted Arnav.
"Hey, Khushi."
A startled Khushi looked up to see that the object of her thoughts had walked up to her desk in the library and was subjecting her to that all too familiar stare of his.
"What is it," she whispered, partly because they were in a library and partly because her voice failed her.
"You have taken the Ross book, I wanted to know when you will return it. Been trying to borrow it for the last couple on months," Arnav said, looking thoughtfully at Khushi's work-in-progress assignment that she had done pitiful little of. Defensively Khushi turned the pages of her notebook at this scrutiny. Arnav seemed to realise this and took his eyes off her work and stared at the giant photograph that was behind Khushi, evidently of Mr Bimal Patnaik, but Khushi had never paid too much attention to it. Khushi had to admit that in the last few months she had thought about Arnav and contemplated about what their conversation would be about should they run into each other. But of all the things that she expected Arnav to say, that was one thing she did not expect him to.
"But you study Economics, why do you need my Ross book," Khushi said, not realising how territorial she sounded, something that fetched her a smile from Arnav. She had forgotten how nice he looked when he smiled. Why was she feeling this sudden wave of indulgence. What was wrong with her. She found the line of her thoughts disconcerting.
"We have to study maths too. I have an advanced mathematics paper and there is just one copy of this book which is apparently out of print, else I would have just bought it," Arnav said, as he casually ran his fingers through his hair. Now New-Ons had a strict hair rule that all the students needed to follow. This rule was mostly for boys though, the girls were given relatively more freedom as they long as they didn't wear anything red, green or shiny on their hair. New-Ons had a disciplinarian committee headed by a quirky, yet fierce Mr Vinay Sharma who apparently went around with a measuring tape and scissors to check the length of the boys hair. Of course Khushi had not once seen him with a measuring tape or scissors, but it was part of New-Ons folklore. Arnav was mostly very neat and wore his hair really short. But now without the fierce Sharma Sir, his hair was rather long and floppy. Khushi decided that he looked much nicer with shorter hair. Short hair made him seem rich and mean, this boyish, floppy hair made him seem like a chattering and friendly sort. She didn't like that. She needed to not focus on his hair and instead focus on the fact that he was annoyed that he couldn't buy a book because it was inconveniently out of print. There were things that money could not buy after all. Okay, she needn't be that mean either. She just needed to finish this conversation as quickly as she could and move on.
"But maths is only an ancillary for you. Why do you need such advanced reading, you only need to get 40% in it," Khushi said, for some reason feeling rather sullen about how he was appropriating her books and course material. As it is in Delhi University's own little caste system of all disciplines, those who studied Economics considered themselves above the pack. It was the most sought after course across all the colleges and the competition to get a BA Economics (Honours) seat in a good college like Alchemy was fierce. This year for instance the cut-off for Economics was 98.7% as opposed to 97% for a pure science course like Physics (Honours).
"This coming from the girl who cried because she didn't get an A+ in Ethics & Value Studies," Arnav said, grinning. When Khushi joined New-Ons in Class IX, there were many things that she discovered, one of them was a subject called Ethics & Value Studies, or EVS. This was one of those subjects that nobody cared for because it did not count in the grand scheme of overall grades et al. Which is why nobody cared about Mrs Tilotamma Basu's, their EVS teacher's, little moral conundrums that she threw their way. Khushi loved these EVS periods because it allowed her to think, opine and the beautiful and kind Mrs Basu gave the safe space to allow her to voice her opinions. Other than Baig Sir, Mrs Basu was the only teacher from New-Ons Khushi cared for. Khushi held on to every word that Mrs Basu uttered and faithfully wrote down every borrowed words of inspirational wisdom that she wrote on the blackboard. Mrs Basu also seemed fond of Khushi and would sometimes shush the rest of the class and say, "Class, let us find out what Khushi has to say," singling her out, but in a comforting and inclusive way, like her thoughts mattered. So when the results came out at the end of the term and Khushi realised that she did not get an A Plus as she had been sure of, but instead was saddled with a B Plus, thereby lumping her with the class average, she had in fact cried. Not obviously though, but evidently obvious enough for Arnav Singh Raizada of all people to have noticed.
"I did not cry because of EVS. Who told you," Khushi said, rather loudly, now oblivious to the fact that they were in a place that demanded silence.
"It was obvious. I noticed. I mean we all noticed," Arnav said, he had that lost, glazed look of someone who was drawing on some old memory, unsure about the details.
"I deserved an A Plus," Khushi said finally, still smarting over the slight from four years later.
"Of course you did, Khushi, of course you did," Arnav said as he patted her shoulder, smiling at her.
And that is when she smiled back at him.
Khushi agreed to let Arnav know when she would return the book so that he could borrow it as soon as she returned it. She gathered her book, notebooks, pens and shoved them all into her bag and began walking out of the library. Arnav followed her. They walked side by side towards the exit of the college, neither speaking to the other.
"How will you go home?" Arnav asked her just as they reached the main gate.
"I take DTC bus 118. It is very frequent. The bus stop is also close by only. I get off at Red Fort and then.." Khushi stopped midway. Really, what was wrong with her, chattering away like this. He was just being polite, wasn't he?
"Oh. Can I give you a ride? My car must be here somewhere," Arnav said as he picked his phone to call someone.
Khushi remembered Gullu Bhaiya and how staunchly he disapproved of her. No, she didn't need that. All Arnav wanted was to solve differential equations, he didn't wish to befriend her and she Khushi must remember it.
"That is okay. I will be fine. I will find you when I am returning the book. Bye, Arnav," she waved at him and almost ran across the road even as a speeding car driven by some students blasting some Punjabi song almost ran over her.
"Dammit girl! Be careful," she heard Arnav's voice. When she had safely reached the other side, she turned to look at him, but he was gone.
**
Usually by end of September, business begins to look up for Gupta Mithai and Baba would hire someone for few months. With Dusshera, Diwali and the wedding season, it was always the best few months in terms of business. Every September, Baba would call a Mannu Kaka in Kakori and ask him to send one of the unemployed young men from a nearby village. A week after a boy in his late teens would show up, armed with a small suitcase of things to help him survive the three months that he planned to stay in Delhi. Baba and Maa would treat these temporary hires with kindness, but simultaneously subject them to tough love. After business would go back to the normal, Baba would offer to pay for a train ticket back to Kakori, but inevitably the boys would decline and find other vocations, make this city their home and find their way around this urban jungle. Khushi was of course kept away from the shop at this time. With many tales of how daughters of the house eloped with temporary hires in the neighbourhood, Maa and Baba did not want to take a chance. But this year, as Khushi was managing the cash counter on a September evening, she realised that there was no new hire and the cash box was all but empty.
"Nahin, Champion, yeh saal koyi nahi aayega. Dhanda toh thap pad gayi hai. Shayad dukaan hi bandh karna padh jaayein aisa hi chalta rahe toh," Baba had said in response to Khushi on why there was no new hire that year.
In her pre-occupation with college and the new phase in her life, Khushi had not realised that business had been very slow and the one assistant that Gupta Mithai employed, had been let off. With Khushi no longer in New-Ons, her parents were less burdened by her education. College education was far cheaper than a public school one and as Khushi had made it into Alchemy via a sports scholarship, besides some expense on books, much of it was taken care of. But the sports scholarship also meant that Khushi needed to do well in the events to get this sustained support. From the month of November various trials and events were to start and Khushi had began preparing for them. Her coach in college, Singh Sir, who was not half as kind of Baig Sir had told her that her kit needed an upgrade. He made a list of shoes, all kinds of protective gear and bicycle that she would need to buy for the triathlon. The shoes were especially non-negotiable because she needed that for her running events too. She had a growth spurt in the last year and the New-Ons given shoes were no longer comfortable. Khushi did some calculations and she would need at least twenty thousand rupees to buy all of it. And with the home situation being what it was, Baba and Maa were in no position to fund this for her. She needed to find some other way out.
The next day in college, Khushi mentioned this to her friend Preeto. Preeto Kaur was her closest friend in class. When Khushi had entered her classroom at Alchemy, she did not instantly connect with anyone. While the classmates were not intimidating or hostile as the ones in New-Ons, but it was not easy to shake off the shell that she had built around herself while in school. By the end of the first week, affiliations had emerged and friendships had been formed. There were those who went to the same school together. Some lived in the same part of town and had a shared commute, some discovered share interests. Khushi had not found a friend yet. She got lucky with Preeto Kaur who joined Alchemy a week later than the rest of the students. She was recovering after a bout of Dengue fever and the college had made an exception for her as she had been on the top of the merit list. When she found a rather lost Preeto in the library looking for her card to be made, it was Khushi who helped her. Suddenly Khushi found herself in a position where she was the one who was helping a new and lost soul adjust into an already well-oiled system. Of course, Preeto was smart and in two days she had caught up on everything that she had missed. She was a friendly and chirpy girl and would have had no problems making any friends, but she took a fondness for Khushi and soon they became good friends.
Preeto's father was a senior accounts officer in the Defence Ministry. She lived in a reasonable sized flat in RK Puram, a prime area, where many central and state government employees were housed. She passed out from the well known Delhi Public School and was a consistently good academic performer. Alchemy College was a popular choice among the students of DPS and many of Preeto's former schoolmates were in school. Usually when she and Khushi would walk around college, on their way to or out of class, at least half a dozen people would stop Preeto to chat up with her. Preeto would have a pleasant chat with them, but once they were out of earshot, she would complain to Khushi about them.
"Khushi, he is such a chipkoo."
"Khushi, she is so ayanwi."
"Khushi, he is such a pendhoo."
"God, what a champu."
Khushi was unsure what most of these actually meant, but she had to assume that they were unflattering monikers. Preeto was not only critical of her former DPS classmates, she did not like most of their Maths (Hons) batch. But to Khushi, Preeto was nothing but nice and that would have to do. Preeto also had a low tolerance for boys who hid behind the many pillars in college, jumping on hapless girls and had even slapped a couple of boys. Not that Khushi had ever seen Preeto slap anyone, but there was talk around college. In a nutshell, Preeto was a good ally to have.
Though Preeto came with the reputation of being one of the "toppers" the professors and Khushi realised that she had only average intelligence, but was very good with exams. She had found a way to beat the system and relied entirely only on the last five years question papers to prepare for anything. When Khushi would sometimes ask for her help with a problem that was tripping her, Preeto would shrug and instead ask her to just look up the solution of one sum in the topic. And sure enough, something like that would be asked in their weekly class test. Of course, this ability to beat the system also required some intelligence and Khushi admired Preeto for it.
When Khushi took her Gupta Mithai situation and sporting gear problem to Preeto, she had immediately said, "Yaar Khushi, find a rich boyfriend. Life set ho jaayegi. Tumhaare New-Ons mein toh sab ameer bachein the na. Koyi boyfriend kyun nahi banaya?"
Khushi could only roll her eyes in response. Preeto was just a little obsessed with the idea of a a boyfriend and personally considered it her big failing that she didn't have one. Of course, the boys who did show interest in Preeto were almost always unceremoniously rejected.
Later Khushi found herself repeating the same question to Aakash, whom she met after college at Uncle Tom's Maggi place, a popular spot among college students. This was the first time she was meeting Aakash after they had left New-Ons. On a number of occasions he had suggested that they meet up, but each time Khushi had come up with some excuse or the other. When he had called last evening, Khushi decided to meet him. For one, she had run out of excuses and also she realised that Aakash was the best person to discuss her current predicament with. He understood her better than Preeto, he was likely to offer her some solution. Aakash was a Physics (Honours) student in the very elite St Joseph's College that was next door. The college was a popular choice among New-On-Ites. Karthik, Payal and Lavanya studied there too, in different departments though. There was a fierce rivalry between St Joseph's and Alchemy, both of which were two of the oldest colleges in Delhi. Alchemy was a strong middle-class and liberal bastion, which welcomed all, rich, poor, immigrants and was in fact, the first college in the city to acknowledge and admit transgenders. Joseph's on the other hand thrived on a left-leaning stance, while being very elitist and exclusive too. Veena had tried explaining the Alchemy versus Joseph's divide by saying, "Remember that movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander? Alchemy is the Aamir Khan school and those guys are Deepak Tijori." Khushi had never watched the movie, but had concluded that if Aamir Khan was her team then things couldn't be too bad, could it?
When Khushi had told Preeto about the meeting, predictably she had been excited.
"Tum kitni chupi rustam ho, Khushi. Boyfriend hai aur bataya bhi nahi."
"Preeto, dheere bol, boyfriend nahin hai. Sirf friend hai."
"Dushman se pyaar, not bad Khushi Kumari Gupta."
"Preeto! Woh mera acha dost hai. Bas."
"Theekh hai, ab tak nahin toh future mein ho jayega."
Khushi decided that it was futile to explain anything to Preeto and ended the conversation. But she couldn't shrug it off as she waited for Aakash at the cafe. The place was chock-a-block with students, many of whom looked like couples. Her Maa would always say, "Mann mein choir nahi hona chahiye" and as Khushi thought about it, she realised that Preeto's prophecy was not something that she should allow to cloud her relationship with Aakash. After making Khushi wait for a good ten minutes, Aakash finally appeared, such a big grin on his face as he walked towards where Khushi was sitting that any of the perceived awkwardness that Khushi imagined their meeting would have disappeared. His hair had grown alarmingly long too, Khushi noticed. Poor Vinay Sharma, would have a stroke if he saw his former wards.
"You need a haircut," Khushi told him as he sat down uncomfortably on one of those modas. He was too tall and his legs too long for him to be able to sit even remotely elegantly.
"I am fine. Thanks for asking. So finally you agreed to meet me," Aakash said grinning at a visibly squirming Khushi.
"It is not that I was making excuses," Khushi said, somewhat defensively, "You can have my Maggi if you want. it is not like the one that my Maa makes."
"Khushi, you are such a food snob. Has anyone ever told you that," Aakash said and proceeded to eat her plate of Chilli Maggi in the most disgusting fashion. It was weird to think that one of the New-On-Ites think that she was the one who was a snob, but she was going to let it slide for now.
"Do you like college?" Khushi had to ask this to him. She hadn't interacted with anyone else who went to another college and was curious. Lavanya had spoken to her once and hung up almost as soon as she called saying she was going to call back.
"It is okay. You tell me. Do you like Alchemy more than New-Ons. I am sure you do. Do you get to hang with Veena? She is the only New-On-Ite from our section in Alchemy, right? You used to like her even," Aakash said, now plodding through a second plate of Maggi.
"Not really. There is Arnav too, you know.. your cousin," Khushi added somewhat needlessly.
"Yeah, but I am sure you don't hang with Arnav. Unless you have really changed," Aakash said with a shrug.
"Of course, we don't hang together. He didn't like me in school, nothing has changed," Khushi said.
"Yeah, that is true. But you didn't like him either, so that is alright," Aakash said. And somehow hearing Aakash confirm that Arnav did not like Khushi in school bothered her. Just a little.
"You need to take a part-time job," Aakash had suggested when Khushi had updated him about the home-front situation.
"Who will give me a job? And I have college, sports, everything. Maa and Baba won't agree also," Khushi had said.
Later when she was on her way back home, she saw the bus ahead of her have an ad for a Singhal Tuition Classes. That gave her the idea of giving maths tuitions to children near her house. When she suggested this to Maa and Baba, surprisingly they did not just assent to this, Maa also spread the word around and actively helped Khushi solicit students. After a week, three students signed up for her four days a week maths tuitions. Each student would pay her five hundred rupees a month. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Plus, given that she was not a trained teacher of any sort, this was actually pretty good.
The next month was exhausting for Khushi. Managing college, practise for running, tuitions, helping around the shop and home. Preeto complained how Khushi did not even linger for a second longer after class, but Khushi had to do this. When she completed a month of her tuitions, she waited for her students to bring her first salary. Jatin handed over her five hundred rupees, Pooja brought a message from her mother that she would be adjusting the fees against some amount that apparently Maa owed her. And Vimal, her star student showed up with a cup of kadi. Pakode walli kadi. This was Khushi's first failed attempt to earn a living, as she realised that she needed to shut this down else she would have to find someone to barter running shoes for kadi. She considered speaking with Singh Sir about the college helping her buy the gear, but she decided against it because deep down she knew that he would not really understand or approve of this.
Coincidentally, Aakash happened to call her that evening and a rather melancholic Khushi appraised him on what had happened.
"I have an idea, Khushi. But I will call you tomorrow. I need to speak with someone."
Khushi was not sure what magical solution Aakash could possibly have, but she trusted him to think of something. And sure enough, true to his word, Aakash called her just as she was leaving for college.
"Khushi, I have found the perfect job for you. It is five days a week and you need to work only two hours every day. You can work from five to seven, after classes and your training."
"Oh."
"It is only for three months and they will pay you thirty thousand rupees. Isn't it perfect?"
"Umm.. what is the job and where is it?"
"It is at AR Enterprises. They need someone to digitise all the past records and stuff. It is routine stuff, but tedious. Normally they would use a specialist agency, but I convinced Maama to hire you. And he agreed."
**
Khushi was completing two months are AR Enterprises today. When Aakash had originally made the suggestion, she had hung up saying she was getting late for college. It was the most bizarre suggestion, that she Khushi work for one of the biggest business houses of Delhi. That too the father of her nemesis of sorts. But through the day in college, Khushi couldn't help but wonder how Aakash had even reached out to the Raizadas. Lavanya had said that while Aakash lived with the Raizadas, and in fact his mother held some shares in the company, the relationship between the Malliks and Raizadas was frosty. Aakash's mother Seema Mallik had loaned some money to Arnav's dad Anand Raizada with which he began AR Enterprises. Business grew and soon the siblings had created significant wealth with the original capital that they had invested.The siblings were very close at one time, Anand Raizada still worshipped his sister, but post their respective marriages, they drifted apart. Seema married a bureaucrat Shivam Mallik, who rather unbecoming of his lot was a honest and straightforward sort, who would not pull any favours for anyone. Not even his brother-in-law. Shivam Mallik who was in charge of violations by small and medium enterprises, had always subjected AR Enterprises to a lot of critical scrutiny, which led to souring of relationship between the families. Poonam Raizada who became an active stakeholder in the AR Enterprises, especially did not care for her sister-in-law and her husband. Because Shivam Mallik was a honest man, he often found himself relegated to some obscure department in a small town as a "punishment" posting. To ensure that Aakash's education not suffer, Anand Raizada who was very fond of his nephew decided to have him stay at their house. Poonam Raizada agreed to this arrangement only because she could not veto her husband. However, Lavanya also did not know why Arnav and Aakash didn't get along well. There had to be more than the family history. But whatever be the status between the Raizada and the Mallik's Khushi was grateful for having got this job. It was the perfect solution to all her problems.
**
Khushi was sitting with Preeto on their college lawns, both of them busy with an assignment that was due for submission the next day. She was so engrossed that she did not notice the shadow next to her and was startled when a somewhat familiar voice said, "Gupta!"
Khushi looked up to see a rather beautiful girl, and it took her a while to realise that it was Payal. She had lost a lot of weight and looked almost like a fashion model now. She was dressed fashionably, her long hair now replaced by a short crop. Khushi stood up to level with Payal and look her in the eye. As was expected, Payal ran her eyes up and down, sizing up Khushi, looking critical of Khushi's Shankar Market salwar kameez and the running shoes that she had not changed from after training.
"Payal, Hi. How come you are here?"
"To meet you, of course."
Why would Payal want to meet Khushi? Had she done something?
"Oh."
"Haha, I am here to meet Arnav. He has gone to get me some coffee from your canteen. I told him our cafeteria has better stuff. I guess, we'll know today."
On cue, Arnav walked in, with two cups of coffee, one of which he handed to Payal. He looked at Khushi and nodded at her, Khushi offered him a small smile in return. They had lapsed back to awkwardness around each other after their exchange in the library months ago. They seldom met during training these days as Khushi had switched her timing to mornings, so that she was able to go to work. On a couple of occasions Khushi had considered telling him that she worked for his father's company, but then decided that the information was not exactly relevant to him. He didn't need to know every adhoc, junior level hires in his father's company, did he?
"So Khushi, Arnav tells me that you work for AR Enterprises? How is that going?" Payal said, as she sipped into Alchemy's coffee.
Khushi had not expected Payal of all people to ask her this. So Arnav knew, of course he did. Everyone knows everything around here. Everyone probably even knew about Vimal's mom's pakode walli kadi too.
"It is alright.. I mean it is good...great. I am learning a lot."
"You know this makes Arnav your Bade Saheb. Rather Chote Saheb."
"Come now, Payal. You know I have nothing to do with the business," Arnav said, he looked annoyed. Khushi wasn't sure if his source of annoyance was her or Payal.
"Except that you own it. Duh!" Payal said doing her elaborate Payal patented eye roll.
"So, how great is our coffee?" Arnav asked her.
"It is actually good. Who would have thought? Now you come and sample our coffee. Bye Mataji. See ya around," Payal said breezily as she walked away. Arnav threw a stare Khushi's way, smiled at Preeto and left too.
Khushi wondered when would this awkwardness between her and Arnav go away. She had been so much happier about her life this morning. Enjoying her AR Enterprises experience. She was satisfied with her training, as was her hard to please coach. And it was two days short of her eighteenth birthday, which somehow seemed like an important milestone. But now, she was no longer feeling so great about herself.
"Tumhaare aur Arnav ke beech kuch chal raha hai kya?" Preeto asked her, interrupting her thoughts?
"Kya?! Of course, not," Khushi said. Preeto was so relentless in her matchmaking quest.
"Maine socha woh Payal tumhe checkout karne aayi thi. Uski baaton se aisa lag raha tha ki woh tujhe pasanad nahin karti ho. Isliye laga," Preeto explained herself.
"Oh. We were classmates in New-Ons. She always talks like that. Aja kuch special nahi tha," Khushi said, picking up her bag, she had to go home early today as Bua was in town and needed to go shopping.
"Koyi baat nahi. Main aur Aakash hai na, tumse humesha-humesha pyaar karne ke liye," Preeto said dramatically opening her arms and spreading them widely.
Khushi hugged a giggling Preeto and left.
**
Khushi was helping Baba cut the kalakand burgh when the phone rang. She picked it up and it was Mrs Anu Soni, her supervisor at AR Enterprises.
"Khushi beta, sorry to bother you on a Saturday evening, I am in Chandigarh and the website designer needs all the archived files. Is it possible for you to go to office and copy them into a CD and hand it over to the security. Someone from PS Designs will pick up the CD tonight. I am asking you only because you helped me with most of it."
"No problem, Anu Ma'm. I will go right now and finish it."
When Khushi told Baba that she had to go to office, he was alright with it. Maa predictably made a fuss about how much they were overworking her for such little pay and how it was not safe that she was going to office so late in the evening.
"Ghabra mat Maa, saadey saath baje tak aa jaoongi ghar."
"Dekho, agli baar jab thode paise ho jaayein toh iske liye mobile phown dila do," Khushi heard Maa telling Baba as she left.
**
AR Enterprises office was in Greater Kailash, an eight-floor building that was state-of-the-art and very beautiful. Khushi sat on the Second Floor, where the accounts and administrative department was. All the temps, interns and clerical staff also sat on this floor. The senior management were on the Eight Floor and this was out of bounds for all of them, in fact they had a separate lift that took them to the eight floor. Khushi followed all the instructions of Anu Ma'm and copied the files on to a CD. Thankfully technology conspired and she finished this quickly. With luck she would be home by seven. She went to look for the watchman of her floor and didn't find him. There were only two of the temp staff who was around and they were not helpful with the whereabouts of the watchman. Khushi went to all the floors, but the eight and could not find him. She did not have Anu Ma'm or PS Designs number either, so she was a little lost.
On a whim, she took the eight floor elevator and decided to check that floor. Since it was the senior management floor, she assumed that it would certainly have more than one watchman. When the lift opened to the eight floor, a really cold draft welcomed her. Clearly senior management did not turn off the air-conditioning even in Delhi winters. The reception looked plush, there was an air of success about it. She looked around and the place was deserted. Khushi now felt a little nervous. Maybe she should just leave and go back to the ground floor, there must be someone there. And just as she decided to leave, she saw him. Arnav. Staring at her, in that fierce way that left her confused. Except that it was not Arnav exactly. But a much older version of him. Anand Raizada.
"Sir, I am sorry."
"Who are you? What are you doing here."
And Khushi rambled on. Not too coherently. PS Designs. Website. Watchman. Anu Ma'm. Intern. Aakash. Arnav. Sorry. Really sorry. CD.
Anand Raizada looked at her, not angrily, in fact he was smiling. And then his expression changed and he collapsed in front of Khushi.
**
"Maa, do you think I bring ill-luck to people. They die." a delirious with fever Khushi asked her mother, who was wiping her brow with a wet towel.
"Nahin mara, bacha. Ab chupchaap so jo. Sab theekh hai," Maa said, placing one palm over Khushi's eyes and finally Khushi fell asleep.
**
NEXT
Edited by YellowBoots - 9 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount