She burrowed her head further into her jacket hoping for some reprieve. The icy flakes continued to whirl restlessly upon the raging wind's command. "Maine hi idhar aana chaha. Ab bhugato." She muttered sulkily to herself before taking a deep breath in preparation and square herself to brave marching through these conditions. When her patience expired on her pace, she channelled her irritation into running full speed towards an unnatural formation of snow ahead. "Hey bhagwan, please don't let me be snowed out!" was her only thought, explaining why she didn't even notice when a shiny glint came from below.
Instead of slowing down, she went faster when she neared it, bursting through the snow to reveal a modest cabin.
"PIYA!" The shout of outrage only added to the heady rush from succeeding in getting to warmth and Piya burst in to breathless giggles.
Later, when Piya had caught her breath and shed two thick layers from her outfit, she knelt next to the woman who the voice belonged to. She was a chubby woman, probably in her fifties but her set of mouth prevented anyone from mistaking her for the frail type. Piya knew though how this stern figure of authority also portrayed warm motherly love and was not fooled.
She herself was young, someone you could barely call a woman. What made her seem both more mature than most other 21 year olds though also made her seem younger. It was there in the way she held her head high and in the shine in her eye. Not quite optimism, not quite confidence and not quite arrogance. Not something one could name- it was something that was purely Piya. Although her features were pleasing, it was this which made her stand out from the crowd and her beauty memorable unlike those who time would dull down.
"Please Nammi aunty, choddo na. At least maine darwaaza jaldi band kiya." Knowing that no amount of reasoning was going to work, she tried another route. "Waise bhi, mai kal jaa rahi hu na."
That statement thawed her out and with one last reproachful look, the stern woman disappeared, leaving a caring one in her place. She hugged her warmly as if to give Piya all of her love through it.
"To tum jo karne keliye aayi thi, kya tumne kiya?"
"Haan aunty, aur tumhe pata hai?, Yeh rock samples Alaska mein hi milte hai aur iske bina meri research adhoori hi rehti. Acha hua ki aap log yahan shift hue chaar saal pehle, varna mujhe itni thandi jaga pe aane ki himmat nahi hoti."
"Kaisi baatein kar rahi ho, tumhe himmat to bilkul hoti, par shayad tum apne kaam mein itne magan hoti kit um apna khayal hi nahi rakhti."
"Par phir bhi aunty," Piya said with utmost sincerity "Yahan aake aur aap logo se milke mujhe aise laga ke sab kuch paile jaisa hai. Thank You Nammi aunty."
"Arre beta, main meri khaas dost ki beti ke liye itna to kar sakti hu na, even if wo abhi paile jaisi nahi rahi. Aur tumhari dadi ne Rishabh aur mereliye kya kuch nahi kiya tha, aur wo bhi uss zamane mein. Mein zindagi bhar uski karz chukaneki koshish karu to bhi nahi chukega. Wais ek baat kahun Piya?"
She nodded. Rishabh uncle and Nammi aunty were very dear to Piya. Her dadi had helped them when they were forced to leave their house due to their love, which was frowned upon. Penniless and shunned, it was only dadi that gave them shelter, even though her own husband did not like it, and aided them till they got settled. Nammi aunty had become very close friends with Piya's mother, until dadi had died and everything had changed.
"Tum bilkul tumhari dadi pe gayyi ho. Tumhare maa ya papa to na tumhare jaisa kabhi the, nah ain. Par tumhari dadi mein jo baat thi na piya, who maine aaj tak sirf tum mein hi dekhi hai. Kabhi mat badalna beti."
Although she would rather die before admitting it, those words made Piya want to cry. The compliment was the sweetest she had ever received as her dadi was the only one who had ever touched her soul. And she knew why, ofcourse, it was simple. They had shared a soul. Piya would always feel secure in this as her dadi had the brightest, most golden and sweetest soul. It was not with ease that Piya had buried her memories so deep they would not appear to anyone but Nammi aunty. Even that was only because Nammi aunty shared Piyas worship for her dadi.
Piya absentmindedly reached for the ring that had brought her comfort at all times, never asking for anything in return to feel it and spin it around her index finger. Her stomach lurched for a second as she felt her own skin instead of the cool soothing metal of her dadi's wedding band. Then it dropped as her intuition immediately kicked in, not allowing panic to take hold.
"I'll be back aunty, don't worry'" is all she left as a warning as Piya darted for the door into the frozen outdoors.
*Click* The door shut behind her leaving her to face the endless snow. Piya sighed in frustration knowing that not only did she not know where she dropped the ring, but it had been a while and it was probably covered in goodness knows how many layers of snow. Not letting that discouraging though deter her she fell to her knees and started digging frantically with her bare hands. Adrenaline had kicked in a while ago and thankfully the pain from the cold did not even register in her. It took 10 long seconds for her to realise that this was not working so she got up with the intention of running out further but did not even realise in her haste that she was going in the wrong direction.
Her internal pep talk was in full blow so that no panic would touch her: "A few more steps' Almost there' It's going to be fi'"
"Aaaaaaah!" this time, her scream was out loud. Piya had never noticed when the snow ditch had come under her feet where the ground shoud have been. But then several things became clear in a split second: the ditch seemed deep enough for one and a half her to stand ; It was about a metre wide and perfectly circular as if it was man-made; and thirdly, it was empty.
Her eyes closed of their own accord as she expected the fall to kill her. She hit the floor quick. It was much harder than she expected, but just as cold. It didn't actually hurt, and she was kinda sure she was alive still but as she started to feel the lack of two layers, she lulled into a sleep.
Piya was still delusional and quite certain that she had died till a icy pain started biting at her limbs. Once it penetrated her thoughts, it was practically attacking her, leaving her no choice but to stir and attempt to open her eyes.
Piya gasped. There she was lying in the snow- not in a ditch, just in snow. She was alive? She was alive! She got up and looked aroung but there was not sign of a ditch anywhere around, the ground actually seemed smoother than it had before, covered in a thick blanket of snow that was undisturbed except by her.
The day's events came rushing back to her "The ring!" she gasped. She looked down at her hand and there it was, on her index finger as if it had never left her. What had happened? Did she dream up everything? But she was lying in snow in what she left the house in outside' Her muddled brain refused to cooperate. The attacking cold was back though and she braved the elements once more to return to the cabin.
Piya peered out of the plane window still pensive about the previous day's events. She remained clueless about how the ring had got back on her finger, why she had thought she was falling into a ditch and most of all, why she wasn't deadā¦ Aunty had confirmed that she had dashed for the door madly but she had also said that she came back in about 10 minutes. Piya knew that here was no way that could be true. But then she also seemed to have imagined that there was a ditch when there clearly wasn't. Confused, she decided to account this to her wild imagination.
That left only one more thing to think about: her interview. She had one early next morning at a HUGE company and she knew that she definitely did not have enough experience to pull it off and the only thing that might sway them was her personality. She snorted at the thought that it might be enough. Sure, she was positive, but not crazy. It didn't stop her though. Actually, it spurred her on. Piya always aimed waaay too high, had to settle for mediocre and then the fire within her would start burning. She never minded working in a small company but it was the rejection that would make her determined to make it to her original goal. She always succeeded. In everything (except maybe sports).
That was one of the reasons she could never settle on one thing. She was so good that she was spoilt for choice so she decided to do as much in her one lifetime as is humanly possible. She was in Alaska for that very reason. Piya had a theory that was eating at her brain for a long time and could not wait to see if it was true. Science had always been exiting and when she persuaded one person in the local biochemistry unit nearby, she leaped at the opportunity to test it. If it was trueā¦
With that thought, the plane arrived in India. Her homeā¦
It was the 7:00 and Piya was well rested and wide awake due to jetlag. Her flat in Mumbai was modest, which was not surprising as every penny came from her own hard work. It was one of the things she insisted on: independence. It suited her though, as it was bright with some artistic and odd pieces of furniture that came together surprisingly well in the rooms.
She got ready and left for the interview with a file in hand. Piya climbed into a rickshaw and headed for the heart of Mumbai. The Verago Tower. It stood proud, tall, and alone. As she entered the building, she was immediately aware of two things. The class that this place exuded as it was bright and airy on every floor, but furnished in a tasteful manner that was common throughout; and the fact that EVERYONE was gorgeous here. It was as if they were chosen for their looks only. An organization full of models. They wore the best brands and it was clear even to her that the leaders or managers were the best looking and wore the most expensive clothes. Piya sighed as she was acquainted with this culture. What she saw was not really the luckiest people in Mumbai, but the most unhappy. Each brand served to make them look faker than they already did with their perfect faces. It showed them for their obvious discontent.
Piya noted with a sinking feeling in her gut that there was no way she could fit in here. But she knew that this was never a problem for her so she headed for the 21st floor without further delay.
Verago tower was a huge company that was unique in the was that its headquarters was its only branch and each floor had a different purpose with people with related occupations in them.She saw each of them through the glass elevator. Floor five was for legal matters (lawyers), seven was for their own bank, 10 involved fashion, and so on. They even had their own news channel, newspaper and magazine. It was this for which Piya was here for. She was hoping to replace their retiring world-class legal journalist. Yep, a LEGAL journalist. It was a technical job for which one had to know their stuff. Fortunately she did. Unfortunately it was rumoured that the owner of the Verago Towers conducted every interview personally and that he was one tough cookie.
When she arrived on the floor, the only thing in sight was a receptionist desk with a very pretty woman on it and one door leading to who-knows-where. This was odd as the floor was massiveā¦ but empty. Piya wondered where the rest of the candidates for the job were and then whether she was at the right place. The previously still butterflies started stirring in her stomach as she walked to the receptionist desk.
"Hello, I am Piya Jaiswal. I'm her for an interview for the position of the legal journalist."
The pretty girl looked up to reveal a very innocent looking face. She looked about Piya's age and also exuded the class that was in everyone here. "Hello Miss Jaiswal, I would ask you to take a seat but as sir is free, I'll call him up rightaway." Piya nodded, mute. The butterflies started up in full force as the receptionist was making the call.
"Hello sir, miss Piya Jaiswal is here." The receptionist maintained a cool poker face throughout the conversation until one point where is flickered up into a quick grimace and she put down the phone. She took a deep breath in as if she was about to do something unpleasant and faced her.
"I am sorry Miss Jaiswal but it seems that you are not suitable for this post. Sir does not believe that you will be appropriate for our organization and so we are sorry but wish you luck in finding a job elsewhere.
Piyas stomach dropped and her anger sparked up. They were going to send her away just like that? Without even an interview? They knew her qualifications when she arranged it, the least they can do is see her before send her away. She seriously considered that her thought of people being picked because of their looks was true till she banished it, knowing that it could not be true as the boss had not even seen her yet. Her resolve firmed as she contemplated. Either she met the boss, or she stayed here till she could.
Anupamaa
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