FIGHT AGAINST DESTINY- PreRish FF [Thread1 Ch 1 - 14] - Page 82

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by WaqtZaya


very scared we are 😈

Yaar dupatta and sindoor has left me scarred for a long time.. in dono se bhaut dur rehna hai.. waise bhi dono ka mujhse dur dur tak no nata.. ab to aur bhi nahi🤢

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by WaqtZaya


koi khushi se icu kaise ja sakta hai bhala 🤣

longggg wala review padke mere jaisa insaan chalke ICU mein admit hone jayega..

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by WaqtZaya


she is saying she doesn't like to do anything after coming back home on a Saturday after 7:30 pm 

ohhh.. Saturday bhi itna late

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by Sunn_shine


ohhh.. Saturday bhi itna late

ab kya bole mujh jaisa berozgaar gareeb insaan 😭

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by WaqtZaya


ab kya bole mujh jaisa berozgaar gareeb insaan 😭

Entrepreneur ho.. berozgar kaise??

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by Sunn_shine


Entrepreneur ho.. berozgar kaise??

haiyeen?

Anyway update yaar kal puri duniya on holiday and i will have cases to attend 🤔 8am ready ho jana hai 😭

Posted: 4 years ago

CHAPTER 14


A MONTH LATER (3 months post ‘Clear Craze’ launch)


ALAMOUNT TOWERS, MUMBAI

Kukki’s Room, 6.00 AM

Rishabh felt his phone vibrating on the side table, and quickly turned it off. Quitely, he slipped out of his daughter’s bed and went out to make a call. 


“Mehra, are we ready?” asked Rishabh in a hoarse voice, pouring himself a glass of water. 


By 8.00 AM all media portals should have it. Good, do this and go off to sleep.he said and walked back to Kukki’s room. He kept his phone and glass on the table and made himself comfortable in the bed again. He laid on his side resting his head on his left hand and looked at Kukki with a content smile. 


He made small circles caressing her cheek with his thumb and thought while admiring her innocent faceMy little girl, you've really grown so much since we moved here. I know Papa isn't being fair with you, and he is terribly sorry to have missed so much. I hope you'd be able to forgive Papa for all his mistakes and know how much he loves you. He lowered his body and hugged Kukki close to his chest. “What would I have done without you?” with last thoughts in his mind he closed his eyes, hoping for a peaceful sleep after a long time.


THRIVE BEVERAGES, MUMBAI

Board Room, 8.00 AM 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”  The boardroom echoed with Mr. Joshi unusually loud voice, senior partner at THRIVE, surprising everyone in the room. 


“We were doing crazily well, everything was going great. A horrible product enters the market and here we are forced to conduct never ending meetings even on a Saturday at 8.00 AM. What went wrong in just 5 months? Retailers have refused to take any more stocks because the existing one is not moving, they want us to remove the existing stock as well, why? Because our stock is eating up their shelf space, it seems” Mr. Joshi slapped his hands on the table and got up from his place rubbing his forehead in frustration.


“We expected to reach 2-3% by this time rising to cross 5% end of this year itself and where we stand? 0.75%.. Barely." He stressed on the last word. 


He turned towards the director at POLARIS and continued "Mr. Rajani, POLARIS had assured us of its success.. Why are YOU quiet now? Mr. Adhiraj, where is Mr. Aditya Adhiraj. We have spent so much, we even bought IPL sponsorship for this, but now it seems we will have to either re-think or do it with our products. I demand an answer from each and every person present in this room Mr. Joshi moved his gaze at hung faces in the room and sat on his chair with a thud.


Mr. Adhiraj is out of station and we have left a message for him to return as soon as possible. As far as Fizz Crystal is concerned we did everything as planned and approved by THRIVE, it worked so well till ‘Clear Craze’ was launched. We tried and are still trying our best to…” he was cut midway by Menaka who sat on the other end of the round table facing both men engaged in their heated conversation.


“Mr. Rajani, is right” she took a deep sigh and opened her file to refer to some documents. "I have been following Clear Craze ever since it was launched and I openly admit that I was not able to read it earlier, rather none of us could see it coming. By the time we realised, it had hit us hard. We all were all focused on what it looked at the face, while it sneaked into our business from the back door. Clear Craze was never a “Desperate Move” like we all heard it in our business circle. We thought it would die soon because it was a weak product in every sense, but failed to realise that it’s weakness was its biggest strength. Its a product that was ‘Born to Die’ or a kind of a 'Deliberate Suicide’, whatever we may choose to call it. Our product was new to the customers and before we could establish Fizz amongst buyers, Clear Craze was launched to confuse them. Ours was never a diet or a bad tasting  drink, but Turkey Hills succeeded in making people believe that it is and is similar to Clear Craze too in all other attributes."


“Reviewers instead of comparing Fizz to regular carbonated drinks were forced to compare it with Clear only because both claimed to be clear, similar names, similar look, next to each other on shelves- perfect recipe for confusion. Our differentiating factor i.e. ‘Clarity’ was beautiful turned into the biggest 'Confusing’ factor for buyers by TURKEY HILLS"


Menaka took a short pause and in a low voice she said “IRONY”


Before Menaka could speak any further, everyone’s attention was grabbed by a knock on the door. A lady rushed into the room and picked up the remote from the table and turned the TV on. “You must all watch the news, I think it’s important”


“We just received a press release from TURKEY HILLS, they are shutting down the operations of Clear Craze, yes you heard it right. A product that has barely been there in the market for 3 months, is making an exit soon. As per the information we could gather from our reliable sources, TH had stopped manufacturing 2 weeks ago and now are slowly removing the unsold stock and replacing it all with their previous beverages. Many of the experts called it a ‘failed move’ rushed to tackle their rival THRIVE BEVERAGES that launched a similar product ‘Fizz Crystal’ 2 months before them. As per reports, after a great reception in the initial run, sales for Fizz Crystals have also come down drastically. Only time will tell if THRIVE will continue with revival plans for ‘Fizz Crystal’ or will they discontinue it just like TURKEY HILLS did. We are keeping an eye on all the development and its impact on the TH stocks an THRIVE. Time for a short break, see you on.. 


The TV screen went off and there was a deafening silence in the room.


“Anything and everything that happens with Clear gets associated with Fizz, what’s wrong with these people? Wait a minute, they are shutting operations; This is good news, right? now that Clear is gone, why will we discontinue, we will work on revival strategy. Media, I must say they just blabber anything these days. Mr. Joshi was trying to evaluate how Clear's closure could give a revival chance to Fizz.


“I would like to say something before, we go any further with revival strategy discussions" Menaka intervened in the conversation again. 


"Clear Craze is not gone because it didn’t work. Like I said earlier, it's gone because it was always meant to be but it was designed to take Fizz along. We may work on it’s revival but now is not the right time to do it. We may revisit it in future, but  if we do it now, it will only eat into our money and resources. The reporter is right in a way, in my opinion we must discontinue it too and shift back to our earlier line." Other members, especially Mr. Joshi didn't seem to be in agreement with her as they had spent a huge amount of time, money and resources into this project..


She read their faces and continued "let me try and explain my point. Rejection by buyers is still fresh, if we shove it down the market, we lose further on manufacturing, marketing and sit on a huge unsold stock. I have worked on this product from its inception and it's not easy for me to say all this. However, truth needs to be spoken and accepted. We did everything right, but the fact is TURKEY HILLS outsmarted us with their cunning idea, and they were way ahead of us since the very beginning. Almost nobody could see this coming." 


"If I am not wrong, they are already working with their original line and buying the space. And if we waste more time here, we lose on that too. As per recent report Fizz sales are at its lowest, we should now stop the manufacturing too and announce it in the next 15 days or so.” Menaka slowly closed her file and sat back with her hands folded against her chest. 


Her face was a perfect reflection of her disappointment with the entire situation and more with herself as she failed to read TH's move in time. Deep inside she was dying to be alone, to let it all go with her tears, which she couldn’t in that room full of eyes looking at each other for answers. She also knew, sooner or later everyone else will have to come to terms with the fact they did nothing wrong yet lost the war badly.


BASANTI, CALCUTTA

New Community Center, 12.30 PM

"I am so happy Aditya, you could make time to join us for the inauguration of this community center" said Ms. Acharya as she escorted him to a small single room office in Basanti. 


"Pleasure is all mine Bandana. Mujhe to ana hi tha, you know me. If it's about kids then there is no way I am going to miss it. And it was a weekend so I had to come" said Aditya, ducking his head a bit to enter the small door to the office.


"Why don't you get a bigger office, are you short of funds?"asked Aditya looking at the cramped up space filled with containers in one corner and just a table and a few plastic chairs stacked up, in the name of furniture.


"No, no..funds ka koi problem nahi hai. We decided to spend on things that impact the community directly. We can manage very well from this place and it always reminds us of all the hardships people have to go through everyday. So this keeps us motivated in a way" said Bandana removing the files from a chair for him to sit..


"This is what I love about you Bandana and I loved what you have done for the community center. The way kids managed the whole thing was superb. It was a wonderful experience" Aditya took a seat and looked at kids playing cricket outside the room near a railway track. 


"I'll be back in a moment" he said and rushed outside almost hitting his head with the low height door in excitement. He removed his jacket and kept it on a chair and folded his sleeves up while walking towards the kids. Ayesha and Prerna returning from the Community Center saw him talking with the boys like he was striking some kind of a business deal. They both entered the office and joined Bandana.


Aditya had managed to convince the boys to let him bat. Anyone who saw them would know how happy it made him. All three women in the room got busy with work. 


Bandana got a call and after a short conversation she said "Prerna, Ayesha and I have to leave right now, something urgent has come up at the Foundation office. You said you have some work to finish here, so do you want to leave with us or?" 


"Don't worry aap log jaiye, I will come on my own. I still have to take a training session with kids on how to operate the evening school for other kids in the community. So please go ahead, I will manage" said Prerna.


"Oookkayyy,. " said Bandana, still doubtful of leaving her alone. "Let me do this, I will ask Aditya to drop you, he is anyway not going to leave that match very soon" she said with a smile, recalling how Aditya could spend hours and hours playing with kids.


Prerna tried to stop saying she'd manage on her own but Bandana went out to Aditya and came back after a short talk with him.


"I told you he is going to stay here for sometime and he agreed to drop you. Chalo Ayesha, we must leave now" Both Bandana and Ayesha picked up their bags and left. 


Prerna also picked up some material and sat on the floor joining a small group of kids who she was supposed to train.

-------------------------------------------------------


A WEEK LATER


ALTAMOUNT TOWERS, MUMBAI

Kitchen, 4 PM (Saturday)

"Chandu please hamare liye ek adrak-ilaichi wali chai banwa do, bhaut sar dard ho raha hai" Masi sat on the couch rubbing her head.


"Ek mere liye bhi" Tanvi also came out of her room at the same time with her laptop and sat next to her mother. "Ye reports read karte karte my head is hurting so bad"


"Dimaag to hamara bhi ghum raha hai sar dard se" said Masi and her gaze stopped at Chandu and John still standing outside the kitchen door.


"Chandu.. tum log ab tak yahi ho" 


"Mam wo…" Chandu tried to speak gesturing towards the kitchen.


"Kya wo Chandu, theek se kaho" said Tanvi creasing her brows.


"Mam, wo Kukki baby…" before he could finish his sentence both Masi and Tanvi rushed to the kitchen area worried, what Kukki was doing inside the kitchen as it's not a safe place for a 5 year old. 


They stopped at the kitchen entrance and leaned on either side of the door seeing the most adorable sight. Both Kukki and Rishabh had kitchen Aprons on, covered with flour, cocoa powder and what not trying to look inside the oven though its glass door. Rishabh was reading recipe instructions over his phone, while Kukki waited for the timer to go off, counting the remaining seconds on the oven digital panel.


Soon the oven went off and both daughter-father gave each other a Hi5, unaware that they were being watched.


"Is it done Papa?" Asked Kukki with excitement in her voice. 


"Yesssss, as per the recipe, we can now take the cake out" he read the final instructions and kept his phone aside.


“Okay, let’s take it out then” Kukki jumped in excitement.


He made Kukki sit on the kitchen top away from the oven and carefully got the cake out of the oven. They both gave each other a look and at a slight nod from Rishabh was enough for Kukki and she quickly grabbed two spoons from the stand next to her and gave one to her father, keeping the other one for herself.


They were both about to dig into the steaming hot cake freshly out of the oven when Masi and Tanvi entered the kitchen. "Arey, ye kya kar rahe ho dono. Cake ko thanda hone do pehle" startling both father-daughter as if they were caught stealing.

 

"Jake change karke aao, sab jagah chocolate aur flour laga hai. Tab tak cake bhi ready ho jayega" Masi almost ordered and they both quietly followed. "Chandu, John ye sab saaf karwa do aur sabke liye chai ready karwa do. Kya haal kiya hai yaha" Masi and Tanvi had to find space to walk as the floor was completely messed up with flour and cocoa powder everywhere.


After a quick change, Kukki got the cake to the dining table and Chandu served tea. She herself cut the cake into pieces and served it to Masi and Tanvi first and looked at them with eager eyes to hear what they had to say.


"Wowww Kukki, aapne aur Rishabh ne milke to bhuat hi yummy cake banaya hai" said Tanvi. Meanwhile Rishabh also joined them. 


"I hear some praises here. Chalo time to taste" he took a spoonful and extended his arm to feed Kukki but she stopped him and picked up a piece for him.


"Papa, it was a teamwork. So ek sath khilate hain" they both fed each other the cake and took huge bites to enjoy their first recipe ever. With a few seconds smiles were gone off from both their faces. Rishhabh saw Kukki covering her mouth trying her best to not throw up on the table. He quickly picked her up and rushed to the washroom and together they spit out and washed off every last bit of cake they had in their mouth. 


Outside the room everyone had a great laugh. "Mom aapko pata nahi hai maine kaise hold kiya khud ko. This horrible taste was worth their reaction" Tanvi laughed her heart out and Masi just shook her head smiling.


"Aap ko pata tha na cake itna ganda bana hai, fir bhi aapne bataya nahi. I am not talking to you both" Kukki came out with Rishabh and stared at Masi and Tanvi with an angry pout. 


"Awww. Kukki baby ne to itna mehnat kiya tha, to humko kaise acha nahi lagta. Dekho hum to ek aur bite lene wale hain" kukki held Masi's hand and stopped her from eating the cake. 


"No Masi Dadi, don't eat please. Ye bilkul bhi acha nahi bana hai  Papa ne kaha next time dusri recipe try karenge. Ye wali recipe wrong hai" Masi hugged the little girl for her innocence.

-------------------------------------------------------


TWO DAYS LATER (MONDAY)


BAJAJ INFRAGIANT, NARIMAN POINT

Rishabh's Cabin, 2.00 PM

Rishabh was busy in a meeting with Mr. Mehra, Nidhi and Ravi. All three of them watched a news bite where Menaka addressed the media and announced closure of 'Fizz Crystal' operations with immediate effect.


"Yes, we did it!" said Nidhi, the most excited person in the room after they all heard the news. 


"Yes, Ms. Nayak we did" said Ravi equally sharing her excitement.


"We did it, but that doesn't mean we don't have to worry about THRIVE anymore. We have hit them hard and they might try to come back with another plan or strategy. I know Menaka enough to read her face. She is deeply disappointed with this and will make sure to strike back. This time it has gone a bit beyond a professional rivalry.  So we can't go easy and still keep an eye on them like a hawk" all three nodded in agreement.


"You are right Sir, but that doesn't mean we can't have a small celebration for the team here in the office" said Nidhi trying to lighten the mood in the room.


"Sure, you guys can go ahead with a SMALL celebration" said Rishabh stressing on the word small.


"Sure, I'll make the arrangements for tomorrow. Thank you" 


-----------------------------------------------


NEXT DAY


ADITYA'S APARTMENT, MUMBAI

4.30 PM

Aditya left his car in the parking area and entered the lift for his apartment on the 12th floor. He pressed the button fuming in anger recalling his conversation with POLARIS director's earlier in the afternoon.


Flashback

"Mr. Adhiraj, we really appreciate your association with POLARIS, but as an organisation we feel its works in favour of both the parties that we part our ways with respect and dignity. Several rumours are making rounds in the business circle that you had certain personal agenda against BI owner Mr. Bajaj and that's why you deliberately targeted most of their projects. Though we completely disagree with all these rumours, but it doesn't change the fact that it is impacting us negatively. We want to compete with our competitors including BI but not at the cost of our own organisation. I hope you will understand us" said Mr. Rajani and moved back into his chair giving Aditya enough time to take in the decision by the board.


"I got you new distributors, clients, projects with companies like THRIVE that would have never worked with POLARIS otherwise; you were fine with that. But now I have become a threat to the company's image. How fair is that" asked Aditya looking with frustration and anger in his eyes.


That's when an elderly board member got up from his chair and reached to his side. He kept his hand on Aditya's shoulder and said "we know young man what you are going through and we have trusted and supported you with all your initiatives for POLARIS. But we also have a business to run and have a lot of employees depend on us for their earnings. I know you have spent a lot of time in the socio-dev sector and this might look unfair and mean but this is how it is. We have to survive a cut-throat competition. Either we kill or get killed, these are only options. With that we will leave you here with your thoughts. We would be more than happy to associate with you for CSR projects because we know you are best. Good luck young man" elderly member patted his back and all the board members left Aditya all by himself.

Flashback ends


Aditya came out of his thoughts as the lift doors opened on the 12th floor. He opened the door of his apartment and found Menaka crying on his bed. As soon as he entered the house she came and hugged him tightly "I failed bhai.. I failed again.." she said crying profusely hugging her brother tightly. Menaka narrated about her board meeting a week ago and the announcement she made about the closure of Fizz Crystal's operations, earlier in the day. 


"POLARIS fired me" Aditya said mincing his teeth, tightly hugging Menaka.


"What" wiping her tears Menaka raised her head to look at Aditya who was fuming with anger.


"Aur ye sab Rishabh ki wajah se. Mere sath jo hua wo hua but uske wajah se ek baar fir main tumhe is tarah dekh rha hu.. iss baar main usey nahi chhodunga" Aditya tried to break the hug to go but Menaka further tightened her grip not wanting to let him go.


"No.. you are not going anywhere. Kahi bhi nahi.. ye professional hai please don't make it personal."  Menaka tried her best to stop but he freed himself and left the apartment. Menaka followed but he was already in the lift.


Menaka pressed the lift buttons for another lift to go down, blabbering in frustration. "Please don't Aditya, don't do this.. please". Another lift came and she rushed in. 


She reached the parking lot only to find him leaving in his car in a rush. Menaka took her car keys out and reached her own. "Aditya, why are you doing this?" Menaka ignited the car engine and followed her followed her brother on the road.


BI, NARIMAN POINT

5.00 PM

Aditya stopped in front of the 23 storied BI HQ building and without caring for parking rules he left his car and rushed inside the automated glass doors. 


"RISHABH BAJAJ '' he said in a loud voice banging the reception desk, almost scaring the receptionist who blurted "23rd Floor, lift is on your righ..". Aditya stormed towards the lift without even waiting for the receptionist to complete.


A little far away from BI HQ, Menaka was stuck in at the signal hitting the steering wheel in frustration not being able to reach her brother.


Aditya exited the lift on the 23rd floor  and found an empty office. He looked around and moved across the vacant cubicles and made his way to a well lit glass cabin, but  found no one. He was about to turn back to leave when he saw Rishabh in the cabin appear out of nowhere.


His blood boiled seeing him in front of his eyes and he rushed and stormed into the cabin without a warning. Rishabh had his back facing the door as he lit his cigar. 


"Aditya Adhiraj, welcome to Bajaj Infragiants" Aditya stopped in his tracks still holding the door handle. 


Rishabh turned and moved towards Aditya. He released a puff of smoke on his side and said "Why do you always look so surprised, do you think you'd get to enter my own office without my knowledge? Ab main wo Rishabh nahi jo kisi ke bhi upar blind trust kar leta tha" 


Aditya curled his fingers into a tight fist. Rishabh stopped right in front of him and said "So, Polaris asked you to leave? I fulfilled my promise" he stood still with a smirk.


Aditya snapped in that moment and grabbed Rishabh's collar and stared into Rishabh's cold eyes. "How dare you? Mujhe fark nahi padta main POLARIS mein hu ya nahi, but Menaka.. us ke sath ye nahi karna chahiye tha tumhe" 


Rishabh held Aditya's hands from the wrist and slowly pulled them down, off his collar. "This is my office Aditya Adhiraj, not now. Tum abhi gusse mein ho isliye ye sab weird baatein kar rahe ho. Maine Menaka ke upar attack nahi rather apne business ke liye action liya. Menaka and I happen to be competitors here. Go home, sit on it and you'll be able to think straight" 


Rishabh adjusted his jacket collar and turned to reach his chair. But Aditya held his arm and turned him around surprising Rishabh. He was about to hit Rishabh, but Rishabh grabbed his fist in his palm and stopped him. Their hands were shaking interlocked and eyes staring deep into their souls. 


"Adityaaa…" a voice break the tension between the two men. Menaka who just arrived rushed towards Aditya and tried her best to pull her brother out of the tussle.


"Leave me Menaka.. I won't leave him." Rishabh went back to his table to light his cigar while Menaka tried her best to keep Aditya in control somehow, but her grip was loosening as she saw Rishabh smoking completely unaffected by her presence. As if she didn't exist. 


Rishabh moved towards the window and released a puff of smoke and without looking at the two he said "take him home, he is losing his sense. I hope you know whatever we did was in the interest of our business and not against you or him. It was he who started the whole thing, not me.”


"Rishabh" Menaka couldn't believe his indifference.


"Menaka please, take him home. My team is celebrating downstairs and they will be back soon. Won't be very nice if they see him like this. Whatever he may have done, but he has a reputation, so please take him away" Rishabh left the two and went inside his personal suite. Menaka couldn’t believe the man she just met was Rishabh she had known for years.


Menaka's eyes followed Rishabh leaving the cabin and shifted her focus back on Aditya. She made him sit on a chair and gave him a glass of water. "Bhai please, you should have never come here. Rishabh apni jagah sahi hi hai.. let's leave. For me.. please" she looked at Aditya with pleading eyes and he agreed. 


Rishabh paced restlessly across his private room. He sat on his couch and in rush of anger he threw everything away from the coffee table and sat covering his face. "You have to do it Rishabh, this is the time. It's NOW or NEVER" he took a deep breath and called Nidhi. "Ask the driver to get the car out, right now" and disconnected the call.


"Car keys" Rishabh demanded car keys from his driver and took the driver's seat and left. 


ALTAMOUNT TOWERS, MUMBAI

6.00 PM

"Arey Rishabh, aaj itna jaldi wapas aa…" Rishabh walked away as if he didn't hear Masi and vanished into his study and closed the door behind him. Masi got worried and followed him but the door was locked. "Rishabh.. can you hear me? Rishabh??" Masi knocked at the door but went into vain.


Inside the room, Rishabh was staring at the box he just removed from his study desk drawer. He grabbed the box and opened the door only to find a worried Masi waiting for him at the door.


"Rishabh.. what's wrong Beta? Hum kab se awaz laga rahe hain and you were not answering. You are sweating. Are you okay? " Masi cupped his face in her hands and wiped off little droplets of sweat from his forehead. 


"Kukki?" He asked.


"Wo so rahi hai apna homework finish karke taki raat ko tumhare sath time spend kar sake coz aajkal tum late aate ho" Masi informed him.


"Thank you Masi and I am sorry aapko pareshan kiya. Main ek zaroori kaam se bahar ja raha hu. I will try to come as soon as possible. Please take care of Kukki"


"Kaha ja rhe ho?" asked Masi.


He showed her the box in his hands and said "kuch unfinished matters hai Masi, I think it's time I face the past again. I'll be back soon" Rishabh left Masi who stood with a pale face.


"I hope tum jante ho tum kya karne ja rahe ho. Kahi past ko face karne ke wajah se un sabhi zakhmo ko mat taza dena jinhe salon pehle daba chuke ko" Masi thought as she saw him leaving the house.


ADITYA'S APARTMENT

6.45 PM

"Feeling better?" asked Menaka.


"Hmm.." responded Aditya.


"I gotta go now, you please calm yourself down and take care. Aaj jo hua wo theek nahi hua. Why did you leave your earlier work Bhai? This is not for you. Promise me you'll not do anything crazy now" Menaka wrapped her hands around his face.


Aditya held her hands in his and kissed them. "I will and I am so sorry. I lost my cool. You go and thank you for always being there for me always" 


Menaka got up to collect her stuff she had thrown away when she reached the apartment in Aditya's absence. 


Doorbell rang and Aditya went to get the door. One of the security staff from the reception handed over a package and said "Sir, neeche ek sahab aaye the aur aapke liye ye package deke gaye hain" 


Aditya looked at the box to see who sent it. "Sir, jin sahab ne ye diya unhone kaha package ke andar sab details hain. Main chalta hu"


Aditya thanked him and closed the door. 


"Kaun tha?" asked Menaka almost ready to leave. 


"Security, ye package deke gaya hai. Pata nahi kisne bheja hai" Aditya showed her the package.


"Oh okay, anyway I am getting late, you take care. I will see you soon" she hugged Aditya and left him with the nameless package wrapped in a brown paper.


He was about to open the package when his phone rang in his pocket. He took the phone out and saw Prerna's number flashing on the screen. He left the packet on the table and received the call.


"Yes, Prerna. I am good, thanks. Yeah, I received the email, but I haven't had a chance to go through it yet. It had been an eventful day today. Yes… alright.. no please let Bandana know I have received it and I will respond before I hit the bed. Sure. Alright. Bye" he disconnected the call and opened his laptop to go through the email.


SHARMA NIWAS

7.00 PM

After finishing her call with Aditya, Prerna called Bandana to inform her about what Aditya said. Prerna sat with her project report when she recalled her small conversation with Aditya when he had visited Basanti for the Community Center inauguration about a week ago.


Flashback

After Bandana and Ayesha left, Prerna was busy training kids. After playing cricket with kids Bansati, Aditya sat on a broken bench looking around, with his hands locked behind his head. He was busy looking at life around while waiting for Prerna to finish her work. A voice from behind broke his chain of thoughts.


"May I?" Aditya looked back and sat straight. He shifted a bit to make enough space for her to sit.


"Thank you so much for making time for our little inauguration ceremony and for all your support in making this possible" Prerna said giving him a cup of tea. 


"No Prerna, in fact I should be the one thanking you for this wonderful opportunity. You all have done an amazing job by involving kids and giving them responsibility to work towards their own community growth. I had little time to spend amongst real people ever since I.."


"Since you joined a corporate firm in Mumbai, right?" Prerna finished his sentence and took a sip of her tea. 


"Ms. Acharya told me" she added as she looked at a confused expression on his face.


"Aapne ye social work mein involve hone ka kab aur kaise decide kia? I tried to look more about you but so little is available. I am truly impressed and admire your work in this sector" Prerna shared her admiration for his work.


Aditya took a deep sigh and kept his empty cup on the ground. "Well, I am not a person who likes to open up with people so quickly, but I don't know why, I feel comfortable enough to share it with you. My source of motivation was my best friend.." he gave a weak smile and reached out to his wallet. He showed an old picture that he had in his wallet. Prerna took over the wallet and looked closely at a slightly damaged photograph. 


"That's Ara, my best friend since childhood, the only girl I ever loved in my entire life. She loved kids and always worked for the unprivileged section of the society. At a time when I was clueless about life she was the one to introduce me to this beautiful world. Tab tak I was involved in our family business, par wo khushi kabhi nahi mili jo Ara ke sath Mumbai ki un jagaho pe jane mein milti thi, jinhe shayad log jante bhi nahi ki wo exist bhi karte hai. Sabhi usey pyaar krte the, jahan bhi jati thi bas khushi sath leke jati thi" Prerna returned his wallet and Aditya moved his finger over her face in the picture.


"She is beautiful. Where is she now?" Prerna asked him.


"I don't know where people go when they die, so whatever that place is, wo waha hogi spreading happiness like she always did" Prerna could feel his loss as she herself lost a lot recently and kept her hand on his shoulder.


"I am so sorry" Prerna said in a voice filled with pain, trying her best to hide her own.


Aditya chuckled and said "you know what Prerna, I just said that she was my best friend but I was so busy in my own life that I couldn't even be there to see her in her last moments. I guess jab koi humse baut dur chala jata hai tabhi uski value humein samajh ati hai. Shayad us baat ka guilt bhi hai mujhe aajtak isliye ye sab krke.. I wish life gave me one last chance to go back in time, to meet her once, to say I am sorry for all that I did, for not being there for her when she needed me the most" he covered his face in disappointment with himself. 


"Everytime I see these kids, mujhe bas wahi yaad aati hai. And the way you have done things here are exactly how Ara thought she'd do. Kahi na kahi aapke andar maine uske jaisa passion dekha, isliye shayad aapke kaam ne aur bhi impress kia mujhe, coz you have the ability to think out of the box just like her. She always dreamt of initiatives where kids will lead from front and contribute to their own future and apka Community Center ka idea ek dam waisa hi hai. I feel proud to be associated with your project aur agar Ara humare beech hoti to.. khair.. aap agar ready hain to we can leave and I can drop you wherever you want" he kept his wallet back in his pocket and waited for her to respond. 


“I will be back in a minute” Prerna returned with her stuff and they both drove back to the city.

Flashback ends. 


Prerna looked at Kukki’s picture and said to herself “Apne sahi kaha Mr. Adhiraj, jab koi humse bhuat dur chala jata hai tabhi uski real value samajh ati hai." She lifted the frame and hugged it tightly.  Prerna walked to her wardrobe and took out the photograph with Kukki and Rishabh from the birthday party, that she had locked away with her divorce papers, MS and parting note. 


She came back to her bed and looking at the family picture she said “I wish life gives me another chance to meet you Kukki, and you Mr. Baja.. I think now I know what you meant when you said that I must value self respect.”


She heard Veena's voice calling her downstairs; quickly she slid the family picture behind Kukki's solo one in the same frame that she kept next to her bed.


ADITYA’S APARTMENT

9.20 PM

Aditya was done replying to Bandana and some new project requests he didn’t focus on because POLARIS was his priority. Now POLARIS, being out of the picture, he was ready to focus on his projects. While checking a few emails, his gaze stopped at athe package that lied on the table in front of him. 


He lifted the package to unwrap the package and found a black box inside. He removed the box cover and found a black leather file inside. He kept the box on the coffee table and walked towards his bed with the file. He turned the file and his face turned pale in a few moments. He felt weak in his knees and dropped on the bed. He stared at the title of the file, embossed in bronze gold ink. He Moved his fingers over the name, he could only see as blurred letters because of tears in his eyes. 


A.M.R.A. FOUNDATION


A small handwritten note fell off the file. He picked up the note and it read-


"Tomorrow 5.30 AM. You know where"


Aditya looked back at the file and a few old memories from the past flashed right in front of his eyes. 


Flashback (15 years ago)

"Adi, you are my best friend right and I know you love me the most, right?" said the girl, same age as Aditya, who wrapped her arms around him from back. 


"Yes, that's true" Aditya responded lovingly.


"So that means main jo mangu wo tum mujhe doge?" said the girl.


"Of course, ye bhi koi puchne ki baat hai. You just have to tell me and it'll be done." Aditya lovingly pinched her cheek.


"To ye dekho, mera dream. Issey pura karne mein help karoge meri?" 


Aditya took the file and studied each and every page carefully. 


"Maine sab kar liya hai bas mujhe thodi help chahiye issey execute karne mein. Aur thoda sa finance aur market karne mein" 


That's when Rishabh and Menaka entered this small room with paint falling off the walls.


"RB, Menaka acha hua tum dono bhi aa gaye. RB look at this file, kitna amazing project hai ye. She just showed it to me. You two have to help us with this. Menaka you work on the finance part and the great Rishabh Bajaj, THE MOST TALENTED BUSINESS STUDENT I have ever met, you work on the overall project report on how to materialise it."


Rishabh took the file and studied it carefully and Menaka joined in. 


"Aditya tumne ek dam perfect team chose ki hai mere liye. I am sure both Menaka and Rishabh will make this an amazing project. Especially ye chhupa rustam RB, abhi tak MBA complete nahi kia aur ek successful start up ka owner ban gaya hai" she messed up Rishabh's hair. Rishabh and Menaka exchanged a smile an went back to discussing this dream project.


"i Know, ab ye juiniors hum seniors ka kaam nahi karenge to kiska kaam karenge. I have promised the most important person of my life, so this project is my responsibility. And I promise I will fulfill it at any cost" said Aditya, opening his arms towards her, while Rishabh and Menaka were busy discussing the details of the project.


The girl was excited  and ran towards him to hug  but slipped. Aditya quickly reached her and screamed “Careful ARA....”

Flashback ends


Black file almost fell from Aditya’s hand as he came out of these flashes from the past. Aditya held the file to his chest tightly and fell back on the bed, and tears rolled down on the sides. 


“I am so sorry.. I am soo soryyy.. I should have come back on time.. I should hav..” he could no longer control his emotions and cried while hugging the file. 


ALTAMOUNT TOWERS

10.00

Not very far away, Rishabh stood in his study blankly staring at an old picture of him and Aditya. “I promised you Aditya, I will make sure I send you where you belong. If you come tomorrow morning then, you will be where you should be, should have always been..” He felt a tight grip on his legs and found Kukki hugging him tightly. He kept the picture in the book and kept it back in it's shelf. He picked her up and hugged her as if he hadn't hugged her in ages. 


“Aapka to sleeping time ho gaya hai, chalo aaj Papa aapko story sunayenge” he kissed her and took her to her room. He made her comfortable and narrated a story, while Kukki rested her head on his chest.


SHARMA NIWAS

10.30 PM

Prerna entered Veena’s room and slipped into her bed quietly next to her. Veena felt her presence and without saying anything Veena lovingly tapped her head to put her to sleep.


Part 14- Page 114 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152759666


Link to other stories-

EPIPHANY https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152039413

THE MIRROR https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/152168455

Edited by Sunn_shine - 3 years ago
Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by WaqtZaya


haiyeen?

Anyway update yaar kal puri duniya on holiday and i will have cases to attend 🤔 8am ready ho jana hai 😭

you teach na .. isliye kaise berozgar.. 

update kar diya.. mistakes milenge to point out kr dena please.. theek kr denge.. bhagte daudte kia hai.. and this time looong hai.😃

Posted: 4 years ago

Naryal phoding done...😎

Posted: 4 years ago

Originally posted by MishtiNew


Naryal phoding done...😎

Mishty🤗

you are awake.. how are you? Aaj to we didn't talk only... missed you ..🤗



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