“Naan eppo varuven, epdi varuvennu yarukkum theriyathu!” boasted the film’s title character, about the unpredictable timings of his arrival. Like for the past two decades, superstar Rajinikanth’s popular line echoed in the cinema hall that smelled of fresh betel leaf and stale jasmine on that Sunday afternoon, too. It was not just the Tamil-knowing people of Lakhnabad that had patronized and helped the old single-screen New Vijay Talkies survive the onslaught of multiplexes. There were also some hardcore Rajini fans who didn’t understand a single letter of the language.
Seated at a corner of the last balcony row, Dildara was one such fan. It had taken him three weeks to get life somewhat back on track after being released from jail, and today he had chosen his favourite hero’s film to celebrate the freedom. The joy of watching a movie on the big screen after so many years was doubled by the lip-smacking taste of coconut chutney and piping hot daal vadas.
Just then he received a call on his silent-mode mobile. He got up as soon as he received the instructions, and now totally ignoring Rajini’s on-screen acrobatics, he left the hall through the exit door beside him.
***
Despite his heavy schedule the past fortnight, Raktim Chaudhari had noticed the regularity with which the pretty Bengali girl had been pursuing Mitter Babu for a job. The accounts department job had already been taken by a more experienced candidate, but Aparajita had kept insisting that they have a look at her graduation marks that had been announced a tad late.
Raktim didn’t know why, but something about her had made him feel that ignoring her could be a mistake. Therefore, much to Mitter Babu’s confusion and chagrin, Raktim had made an exception to his strict rule of not working on Sundays .
Presently, even as he listened to her, Raktim was glad that he didn’t meet her at the office. His regular corner table at the racecourse cafeteria ensured the privacy that was required for what had started playing in his head.
But she had so much to talk about that she hardly paused. Not feeling like interrupting her, he stayed engrossed, listening to her chirpy, exuberant voice.
An hour later, he still had not spoken his mind. When she was done, she got up and said with a smile, “So, Sir, I sincerely hope you’d at least remember me the next time a job opening comes up.”
“You’re leaving?” Raktim blurted with a start, before covering up his tone. “Er, I’ll see you out, then.”
For the first time in his life, Raktim found himself hesitating about something. As they walked out of the racecourse main gate, she was still talking about her extreme gratitude that he had taken time out to meet her. But he was so preoccupied with her infectious enthusiasm that he failed to register the words that were coming out of her mouth.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a car hurtled from the right side of the otherwise empty road. Raktim was looking the other way, at Aparajita, too lost in her to notice.
“Nooo!!” Her scream made him turn and his eyes widened in shock.
For a quick second, he thought he would get hit for sure. But Aparajita pushed him out of the way with all her might, falling over him in the process, and rolled over aside with him, all at once. Just in time as the car missed them by inches.
“Hey… you!!!!” Aparajita’s voice cracked as she screamed at the car whose wheels screeched, burning on the tar road for a few seconds, before speeding off. She grabbed Raktim’s shoulder to reach for a stone, and started to throw it at the car, but Raktim grabbed her hand now.
“Leave it,” he said, and as she looked at him, gestured that it was all right.
“Are you hurt?” she asked getting off the ground, even as she tried to catch her breath.
“No, thanks to you,” he smiled warmly, still squatting on the roadside grime. “I have a job for you.”
Aparajita looked confused.
“But it’s not in the accounts department,” he clarified. “I’m planning a new product range, exclusively for exports.”
He paused. She nodded slowly, curiously.
“And I want you to help me plan it.”
She looked zapped. So much so that she didn’t even move to offer help as he got on his feet and dusted his clothes.
He smiled at her, waiting for her response. He was extremely happy he had found someone like her. Despite being so young and never having worked before, the girl seemed to know more about the jewelry business than the business knew about itself. Be it her suggestion about acquiring mines for sapphires and colour gemstones, or her innovative ideas for franchisee growth, he found her wisdom far beyond her years. Also, for the new brand extension, he needed someone who was not just smart, but also who could keep it a secret till the time was right.
And right this moment, there was no one else in the world that he trusted more than her. Not after how she had risked her life to save his.
As for Aparajita, she had to take the risk. She couldn’t have lived with herself if she hadn’t done that.
Luckily for her, Dildara had driven the car really close as he had promised. It wouldn’t have seemed real otherwise.
***
Aparajita stared at her notarized copy of the will that had just now made her the sole owner of Chaudhari Bhavan and the majority stakeholder of Chaudhari Group of Enterprises. Nayanadevi, Madhumita, Juthika, Bipasha, Pratim and Urvashi had been allotted generous monthly stipends, and they could continue to live in the house as long as they wished, but all household decisions were left to her.
Bipasha had vociferously doubted the authenticity of the will. She did not believe that her brother would have got a will made in the first place, or that he had appointed a total stranger as the executor of his will. Subsequently Nayanadevi had checked with her old lawyer, who told her that Kaushik Sanyal was indeed a bonafide lawyer, and that he was notorious for picking up only those cases that were seemingly impossible to win – and always winning them.
Aparajita was about to keep the document copy in a desk cabinet, but stopped. Why this desk? Why this guest room? The entire house was hers now. She could choose to live in any room she liked on any of the four floors.
Even as she moved towards the door, her eyes fell on the framed photograph that lay atop her folded clothes in the open suitcase on the bed, and she stopped short. It was not for a reminder that she had carried it from home, but it did help her decide against wasting time on trivialities. The room didn’t matter as long as the mission could be completed as planned.
***
“Ananya Chopra is finished!”
“Hey, why’re you crying?” asked Vikram on his mobile, as soon as he stepped out of his restaurant. “What happened?”
“GD says the financiers have backed off.”
“What?!”
“The movie is scrapped!”
“But…”
“I was so depending on this, Vicky! Please do something!”
He was aroused at once. This was the first time Ananya had called him Vicky.
“Yes, sure, let me see what…”
“If you fetch me enough funds to complete the movie, I’ll be your slave for the rest of my life, I promise!”
He knew she wouldn’t keep that promise. And he was no sucker. Generally.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. How much?”
An hour later, Vikram was on his way to the bank to mortgage his restaurant. Choosing between love and business had been easy. He had no use of one without the other.
As he drove around a curve, he was distracted by a loud exclamation in a vaguely familiar voice. “Jai ho!”
He looked over his shoulder, and caught a fleeting glance of the wiry lady cop. She was sarcastically heckling a roadside vendor of fruits.
Changing gears on the road that led to the bank, Vikram involuntarily remembered where he had seen the woman before, saying exactly the same phrase in exactly the same sing-song tone.
“Jai ho!” she had addressed a young woman that day, as he had passed this very road some months ago. “You want another trip to the jail, huh?”
Now he knew why Aparajita looked so familiar.
***
Stacking her small number of clothes into the small wooden wardrobe, Aparajita wondered what to wear to office on her first day. She knew that she would encounter some resistance even there, and the only way she could win the vote of confidence was by continuing to play the poor mourning widow. She picked a beige Lucknowi short kurta with the Patiala bottom.
Pratim was pacing up and down in extreme restlessness when Aparajita came to the hall. He stopped and watched her ignoring his presence altogether, going and settling on the sofa to read the newspaper, with her back towards him.
He couldn’t take such humiliation, not from that woman. He would end this without wasting another second.
He picked up a small, heavy statuette from the array on the chest of drawers. Then holding one end firmly like a weapon, he tiptoed towards her.
One whack was all it would take. Upon reaching her, he raised the statuette to deal a blow on her head.
Thwack! The blow came out of nowhere, knocking him down at once.
When Aparajita turned, it took a couple of seconds to understand what was going on. And then she saw the fallen statuette and realized.
Sanyal was glaring at Pratim who now staggered to his feet. He kept glaring until the fellow blinked first and very awkwardly left for his room.
Aparajita shuddered at the thought of what could have happened. But Sanyal didn’t have time to discuss that.
“We’re going to the jail first,” he said, as soon as he was sure that they were alone. “Qasimbhai wants to see you.”
Of course, she nodded. She wanted to meet her father, too.
storyvory : स्टोरीवोरी 
And the mystery deepens! Another great episode!
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Thank you, Ro! 😀
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Oh gosh!! The plot thickens..and the number of characters increase too!! Maybe you should have a list of the characters attached to each episode..hehe!
Really enjoying it Praveen! 😀
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Thank you, Vidya! Really glad that you’re enjoying it. Writing character definitions could spoil a bit of the suspense for someone just starting to read on any given day, so I’ve refrained from putting up a list. But I’m trying to keep it as uncomplicated as I can. Thanks so much for being so involved, though 😀 Regards.
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