Destiny's Play-Part XLVII,XLVIII (Pg 131,140)-10/3 - Page 56

Originally posted by: doosheeka

lovely update as usual..........................

Originally posted by: sharmake11

she was mad because he couldint confide her hse real daimond wife i hope that woman end up in timbulk2 super amazing update pls cont soonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

thanks pm

Part XLIII

The next morning Maan was all set to meet Mr.Garodia. He told Geet that he may be late returning home because after his meeting, he planned to visit a few banks regarding his project and then meet his friend, Prakash to check on when he can take up the part-time job. Geet wished him luck and waved him good-bye.

At the hotel, Maan waited outside Mr.Garodia's office for about ten minutes before Mr.Garodia called him in.

Sitting behind his huge mahogany table, Mr.Arun Garodia, a six foot man in his early forties, looked genially at Maan. "Good Morning Mr.Khurana, what have you decided about my job offer? Will you manage my hotel for me?"

"Good Morning, Mr.Garodia. I thought it over long and hard but have decided not to accept your generous offer."

Looking surprised by his response, Mr.Garodia asked, "Why, may I ask? Are you expecting a higher salary?"

"It's not a question of money, Mr.Garodia. It is a question of being able to fulfil my ambitions in life. Accepting this managerial position will leave me no time to pursue my dream," he sounded firm, yet respectful.

"What is your dream, Mr.Khurana?" asked Mr.Garodia, curiously.

"To own a hotel," Maan declared with conviction.

"Own a hotel? Now that is a tall dream indeed. How do you think you are going to achieve it?" asked Mr.Garodia in a half amused tone.

Maan then gave him a rundown of what efforts he had taken so far to make his dream a reality. He showed him the file which contained papers relating to the business models he was planning to show the bank managers once his meeting with him was through. Flipping through the papers, Mr.Garodia was quite impressed with what he saw. Maan seemed to have done his homework well right down to the smallest detail. He asked him if he had only thought of new concerns.

"What about existing concerns? Do you have any idea how to make them more profitable? Let's for instance take this hotel? Do you have a plan to make it successful?"

"Yes, Mr.Garodia. Working in this hotel for the past seven months, I have studied the hotel inside out. There are some serious lacunae which need to be set right if the hotel has to succeed."

He then proceeded to list out all the problems facing the hotel and how each of them can be rectified. Mr.Garodia was truly impressed at the end of it.

"You were indeed an asset to this hotel, Mr.Khurana. It is sad to know that you were treated badly and your full potential was not exploited when you were with us. It would be a pity if all this talent goes waste. So I have a proposition for you. How do you like to be my partner in this hotel?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"What?" asked Maan, his mouth gaping in surprise.

"You heard me right. Well, it is no secret that this hotel is in doldrums. My uncle was unable to oversee the hotel for the last two years due to his health problems and things have gone from bad to worse during this time. I had come down to India to see how best things can be sorted out. The arrest of my manager opened my eyes to how serious the malady is. Last night I called for a closer examination of the accounts and realised that the financials of the hotel are much worse than I believed them to be; the net worth of the hotel has turned negative. Realising that there was no use trying to redeem the hotel, I was planning to sell it off to real estate developers. In fact I was to meet a couple of them this afternoon regarding the deal. I was actually hoping you would not take me up on the offer. If you had said yes to my offer, I would have had to rethink my plan, for the real estate developer who will buy this property, in all probability, will demolish the hotel and build a multiplex or a shopping mall. All the people employed here would lose their jobs including you. That thought was making me uncomfortable.

Listening to you, however, I realise that the hotel still has a lot of potential. All it needs is an able captain to steer it clear of the trouble it is presently in. I can see that you are the man for the job. By making you a partner in this hotel I would actually be doing myself a big favour. As the net worth of the hotel is negative, I will not be able to get a good price if I sell it now. The real estate market is also not as buoyant as it used to be two years back. All the proceeds from the sale of this hotel will go in settling the dues and even after that I may have to shell out something from my pocket as well. By making you a partner in the hotel, I am banking on you to turn this hotel around and make it profitable again. Although I will also be the co-owner of this hotel, I give you complete operational freedom to virtually run it as your own. I will not interfere in your decisions. You see, I have my own manpower firm in the U.S. As the economy there is not doing well after the global crisis, I have financial problems of my own to handle. I will not be able to devote my attention to reviving this hotel as I do not have the time or the necessary knowledge in hotel management. With you as my partner I can ensure that the hotel is still running and also save my own purse."

Sitting on his table and swinging his legs, he went on, "Being a human resource head, I am a good judge of character, Mr.Khurana. I can see that you have the determination and zeal to overcome all adversities. I would be happy to be of some help to you in achieving your dream. You may want to take a loan and start up a small hotel but it will take you a long time to establish it. On the other hand, although this hotel is riddled with problems and at present its net-worth is negative, it has already established a name, a good will for itself. So it would be relatively easier to turn it around, especially for a person like you who seems to have a good grip of what is ailing the hotel and what it requires. In fact, I am hoping to see you help it to regain its past glory for both our sakes."

Maan listened attentively to all that was being said. While he would not want to accept anything as charity from any one, Mr.Garodia made perfect business sense. By making him a partner in the hotel, Mr.Garodia also stands to gain if he succeeds in turning it around. It is not going to be a cakewalk for Maan because the hotel required a lot of work in order to be redeemed from the dumps it was presently in. So basically Mr.Garodia was offering him a challenge. Maan never shirked from taking up risks in life and he was convinced this was one risk worth taking. He agreed to the offer and the two gentlemen shook their hands on it.

That same morning at Arjun's office

Arjun had just disconnected the call on his phone. "Damn," he cursed, "damn."

Since morning he has been hearing nothing but bad news. His entire mood was ruined ever since he received the call from Mrs.Shukla to inform him that she spotted Geet gleefully celebrating Diwali with Maan even after being told about her husband's character. Although Arjun was initially confused by his sister's strange reaction, he soon came to know the reason for it when he received a call from Mr.Bansal. Mr.Bansal was in the housekeeping department of the Garodia Hotels and was Arjun's informant. He informed him that Maan managed to salvage his reputation and the crooked manager was apprehended by the police. As though that was not enough, he also told him that the latest buzz at work was that Mr.Garodia was making Maan a partner in his hotel.

"The lucky bugger not only managed to save his skin and patao his wife, now he is set to own a hotel?!" he thought.

How he wished his elaborate plan had worked. He had all chalked out right to the last detail. Ever since he received the slaps from his mother, he was waiting for an opportunity to bring Maan down, for indirectly he blamed him for everything. If it had not been for him, he would not have married Anwesha and be subjected to such humiliation by his own mother who had never raised her hand on him till then. Now, for that two-bit woman his mother looks at him like she is seeing a villain. The only way to get her off his back is to keep her pre-occupied with something or rather someone else and who better than his hapless sister. If Maan's reputation is sullied, then Rano will be more concerned about her own daughter's life rather than that of her daughter-in-law's. She may even send Anwesha back to her brother's house if Geet's life is ruined by Maan. That way he can be free from that leach of a wife, he thought viciously.

So he did his best to find out something against Maan to effect his plan. He engaged a private detective who gathered information about Maan's interpersonal relations with fellow residents of the chawl. Although Maan was hugely popular with the rest of the residents, he found out that Mrs.Shukla had some axe to grind with him. He decided to use her when required and befriended her. He then planted his man, Mr.Bansal in the housekeeping department. Try as he may, Mr.Bansal could not find anything against Maan for the first six months. On the other hand, Maan seemed to be doing very well for himself. All that, however, changed when the scandal broke out and Maan lost his job. Mr.Bansal faithfully passed on the good news to him. Arjun knew that he needed to ensure that Geet hears about it, not from him, but from a third party. Who better than Mrs.Shukla to do the honours? He himself wanted to stay away from all this and watch the fun from a distance. So he promptly conveyed to Mrs. Shukla the news on the day Maan lost his job and had later sent her the envelope with the evidences gathered by the private detective. He was hoping that there will be a lot of fireworks at his brother-in-law's residence at the end of which Geet will walk out on Maan and return to the Handa House. He expected that Rano would avenge the injustice meted out to her daughter by throwing out Anwesha and at the end of it all he, Arjun, will be the sole gainer. Unfortunately for him, all his plans backfired. Maan's bond with his wife seems to have strengthened and in all probability his mother is going to exalt him even more once she hears of his success in his career.

"Some men have all the luck in the world," he lamented to himself and chewed at his nails furiously.

Continued here

the hotel scene where Maan is offered partnership and the why he is ambitious reminded me of the squence from a famous novel Prodigal Daughter😆

Originally posted by: smj1977

the hotel scene where Maan is offered partnership and the why he is ambitious reminded me of the squence from a famous novel Prodigal Daughter😆

you wrote it very nicely, even smaller details were worked out 👏

that Arjun, what a dis satisfied man he is even after gulping his sister's share wants to make her life miserable just to get rid of his wife

few people stoop so low in esteem, poor Anwesha what sins she did to be married to such a man

Shruti

Originally posted by: Soapoperasrfun

Hey Opti. I hope you don;t take it as a sign of impatience, but I was waiting for another update from you this evening. I just was reading your last update and the comments when I hit jackpot. 😃

Well. all I can say is that Mr, Garodia make the right choice.

I loved the way you have brought about the comparison. Maan's betterment = Arjun's downfall. I am reminded of this dialogue from the film Race where Saif tells Akshaye that the difference between them is that Akshaye always focused on being better than Saif but Saif just focused on just being the best.

Brilliant.