Part LIV
Maan and Geet took a cab back to the hotel. Maan looked at his beautiful wife and pushing her hair behind her ears, he softly asked her, "So, Mrs.Geet Khurana, how did you become the new singing sensation?" Geet then told him about how she had received a call from Mrs.Neela Patekar, wife of Mr.Patekar who had presided over the Independence Day celebrations at the chawl, on the morning after he starved himself to sleep. The lady was very impressed with her voice when she heard her sing in the Independence day cultural events and recommended her name to one of her friends who owned a record company.
The record company had earlier wanted to cut an album with Shreya Saklani, a famous Hindi pop singer at the behest of a rich sheikh, Mushtaq Ali from Oman. The guy had lots of money to splurge and he wanted an album dedicated to his third wife who is a hindi pop buff. He wanted to gift the album on her birthday which was on January 8th. At the last minute Shreya backed out of the contract citing date problems. The company was desperately looking for a magical voice which will apiece the angry Sheikh who wanted a singer as good or better than Shreya. They were not happy with the girls they had auditioned so far when Mrs.Patekar's recommendation came through and they auditioned Geet. Her voice impressed the music director and they immediately got her to record a few lines of a song and emailed to the Sheikh for his approval. The guy's wife absolutely loved Geet's voice and insisted that she should be the one to sing in the album.
Geet was reluctant at first but she realised that Maan was unable to get a loan for his hotel because he lacked the margin money. She knew that his strong self-respect would not let him accept her help. At the same time she could not bear to see him struggle alone. The previous night's incident of Maan's starvation was the last nail. She knew her husband will do anything to keep her in comfort, even at the cost of his own health, but she could not let him be burdened this way. She negotiated a hard bargain with the record company who agreed to pay her Rs.25 lakhs. She insisted that she be paid Rs.10 lakh in advance. Since they were desperate to have her at any cost, they had agreed to make the payment after she signed an agreement with them. She started recording the songs almost immediately. She deposited the cheque in the last bank Maan had approached regarding his loan. The money was transferred to Maan's loan account once his loan was cleared in-principle. She had asked Mr.Kanwar not to let Maan know that she had paid the money.
As she knew her husband would not accept the money, she decided to keep it from him till he obtains the loan and the financial ruin was averted. She wanted to reveal everything once things returned to normal but Maan got caught up with the New Year's celebrations and she did not want to sour the relationship between them on New Year's day. She hoped that after things settle a bit she will tell him the truth and face the consequences of her action. The record company initially did not tell her about the promotion of the album as she was given to understand that the album was to be private, meant only for the Sheikh's wife. But when the sheikh heard the first cut of the album, he knew he had a winner and being the shrewd businessman decided to market it in the country. The record company, therefore, insisted that she attend the promotion of the album on December 31st. The album itself was to be released on January 9th , one day after the birthday of Noor, the Sheikh's wife who will have the privilege of being the first to receive it.
Geet wanted to confide in him before the album was released but she did not expect everything will come out in the open in this manner and that too on New Year's Eve. Maan assured her that everything was for the good. Now they can enjoy New Year's celebration wholeheartedly without any sense of guilt or burden as there were no secrets between them. Geet thanked him for being so understanding and taking his hands in hers, she kissed them, bathing them with her tears. Seeing the wetness in his hands, he lifted her face and wiped the tears, asking her to cheer up now that everything was settled.
Continued here:
Edited by Opti - 14 years ago
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