FF: Solid Soul Part XXI / PG 66 - Page 13

CHAPTER XI

15 days later, ASR received the emails that he had been waiting for. The first one was from Hawk Security. The file boasted of Khushi's school year book pictures from 4^th thru 12^th grade and pictures taken during school events. The file also contained a comprehensive report on Khushi's life in at Tulsi Devi Shiksha Mandir. Reports from her teachers indicated that Khushi was an ace student, who was very well liked by her peers. The feedback from teachers was glowing and it matched with what ASR had seen at the Gupta household 2 weeks ago. The neighborhood where she had grown up had only positive things to say about his wife. Especially Sakina Chachi (Khushi's friend, Mehroz's Mom).

The report continued to divulge her sister, Payals' life at the same school and her broken alliance. ASR quickly skimmed to seek more details about his wife. The investigator then detailed Khushi's claim to fame had been a video that had been aired on all the major channels on Lucknow TV and the horrendous results of the footage. ASR stopped reading for a while. He knew it had been his phone call to Aman, instructing him to release the Lucknow Fashion video to teach Khushi a lesson post the Darga visit. Remorse hit him like a ton of bricks. His remorse reduced when he read that Khushi and her family had been saved but by''''who - Shyam Manohar Jha?

What the '''''''''''..ASR stopped right there. Jijaji knew Khushi '''''''''''''.but Jijaji had never said anything. As a matter of fact, all the time prior to their marriage, Jijaji was never at home when Khushi visited Shantivan. Damn Jijaji was even late for the Teej Pooja and had turned up when the Gupta girls had left the temple. Then during the anniversary, Jijaji had left the party abruptly and had appeared late in the night. Even during the death anniversary of his parents, Jijaji had been late. Many a time, Mami had pointed it out and Jijaji had said that he had been dealing with a very tough client. Who was the client, Babuji'''.?

Well like a knight in a shining armor Mr. Jha had saved Khushi, the report said. The disastrous results had led to Khushi and her sister, Payal, moving to Delhi to be with their Aunt, Mahdumati, in Laxminagar. According to Sakina Chachi, Khushi's stay in Delhi was to be a short one ' 15 days. But mounting debts and Shashi Gupta's failing health had necessitated Khushi to look up for employment. The report said that Khushi had contacted Shyam Jha and he had used his recommendation and had procured employment for Khushi at the AR Warehouse. What'''''he knew her and he never said it. He remembered calling Khushi all kinds of names when she had pleaded innocence about not knowing about Jijaji being married and that too to Di.

ASR entered the personnel management ERP database using his super-user password and screened information about his wife. He found scanned copies of her original application and Jijaji's recommendation. ASR thought, "This is getting more and more convoluted", and the facts from Hawk Security detailed were supplemented with evidence and testimonials by various individuals that could not be refuted.

Khushi had reported at the warehouse as per the appointment letter but on that day, she had been unable to produce her appointment letter at the job venue and had been asked to report to the Human Resources at HQ. And on that day at AR HQ, Khushi had become Lavanya's assistant. The report accurately listed Khushi's short stint at AR Group and then her tenure at Shantivan. The end of employment also marked the beginning of a new event in Khushi's life. An arranged marriage between Khushi and Shyam Jha, had been fixed by her family. Shyam Jha, their savior had become a paying guest and had been living with them the entire time.

The wedding had never come to fruition as ASR knew the rest. Two days prior to the marriage, Khushi had turned up at the Harinagar temple to for the Katyayani Mata Puja. Di had told him about that. He, ASR, had turned up at the temple to catch a final glimpse of Khushi before the marriage. He had found Jijaji in conversation with Khushi. Instinctively, he had stepped forward and Jijaji had caught sight of him coming up the temple stairs. Khushi had had her back to him. ASR had heard the tail end of the conversation where Jijaji was blaming Khushi for misunderstanding him. Jijaji has professed that he was married and never intended to leave his wife and somehow Khushi and her parents had misunderstood and were pressuring him to get married to Khushi. He had commanded Jijaji to leave him alone with Khushi and Jijaji had complied. Without waiting for any explanation, he, ASR, had dragged Khushi into the temple's Agrahaar (inner sanctum, where the idols are kept) and requested the priest on duty to perform the wedding. The priest on duty's hesitance had quickly evaporated when he, ASR has handed a hefty donation to the temple. The wedding had been performed between them, ASR brimming with anger and Khushi with a look of mass confusion on her face. She kept on repeating, "I did not know that he was married." Her statement had not registered at that time. As he drove her that night to the guesthouse, she kept reiterating the same statements and he had forcefully shut her up.

ASR looked at the detailed report again. He decided to look at what the other agency, Nandakishore Consultants, Pvt. Ltd. had reported. At the very outset, ASR was taken aback at the brevity of the report. The report listed the name of Khushi and Payal's school correctly, but no mention was made about Khushi's academic excellence or extra-curricular activities. In fact everything was down-played and seemed like a back-handed compliment. There was no evidence or any testimonials that supported the judgement. ASR was annoyed at the shoddy quality of work and reached for his phone to call Jijaji and talk to him about his recommendation. AS quickly as the hand came to pick up the receiver, he slammed down the phone. The name of the company caught his eye. Why did that Nandakishore sound so familiar?, he thought. Wait a minute'''''''''''he recollected the conversation during Janmaashtami, when Mami was trying to clue in Lavanya about Lord Krishna's birthday. In fact Mami had given Lavanya all of Krishna's names, Nandagopal, Murlimanohar etc. But Lavanya had not gotten it.

So is this Jijaji's company '''''''''''..? It had been his recommendation '''''. Shyam Manohar aka Nandakishore. His mind still would not accept what his heart was telling him. ASR logged into the bank account that he had set up in Di's name. He had never reviewed the bank statements earlier. A quick compilation of the withdrawals from the account by his sister reflected that more than 90% of the cheques drawn were in favor of Shyam Manohar Jha. Shyam Jha was a blood sucker of the worst kind. He had been living off of them for years and no one had suspected anything. It was as though somehow had removed all the blinds and the truth was staring at him. What a mess ?

Khusi has been innocent of all the charges he had levied against her. His marriage was already a wreck, his wife was missing. How was he going to handle Di? Why did he have to bear the brunt of every blow that was directed at his family? His thought process was interrupted when the door to his cabin opened and a very worried looking Di stepped into the office.

The usual smile and the teasing banter were missing. Her eyes were etched with worry and seeking his reassurances. Her hands clutched her purse in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in her other hand. She sat down awkwardly on a chair and thrust the crumpled paper at him. ASR unfurled the paper to find that it was an invoice from Khanna Jewellers located at Karol Bagh. A purchase had been made almost eight weeks ago from the shop for Rs.4 lakhs. ASR looked up at Di.

Di: "Humne unhe saade chaar laakh diye the, kissi case ke silsile main. Aaj unke pocket se hamein yeh mila. Hum inpar shak nahi kar rahen chote, par Damukaka ke phone ke baad hamein pata nahi kya karna chahiye, isliye hum aapke paas aayen hain."

ASR: Kya hai Di

Di: Damukaka ko yeh kaan ki baali (earring) farmhouse main mila. Chote, ab batao hum kya karein ?????

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!!! YAY!! YAY!!!E AWESOME UPDATE! I LOVE this ff!!! im soo happy arnav and anjali have gotten a clue of how cheap and disgusting shyam is and wht he has been doing!!! continue soon... hope arnav finds khushi soon and apologizes for his actions!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you soo much for the pm!!!! had a blast reading!!! update soon!!!!!!!!!