EPISODE ONE
"Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta," said a middle-aged man, with horn-rimmed spectacles, casually glancing through her CV, with a bored expression on his face. "GTV has been seeing a lot of you lately. I think I had informed you just a few days ago that we do not have any vacancies in our channel at the moment. And anyway, we have better qualified applicants! We will let you know when we need your services. Good day!"
A young girl, dressed informally in an embroidered white kurti and sea green leggings, with spectacles and a small silver nose ring on the left, sat on the chair opposite him. With a beseeching look in her eyes, she tried again, “Sir, just one chance! I promise I won’t disappoint you!”
“Miss Gupta, I have already told…” he started, frustrated at the persistence of this girl, and started fidgeting with the large gold name plate on his desk, which read - Viraaj Mehra, Senior Editor, GTV.
“Sir PLEASE! Just one chance…” Khushi batted her eyelashes and tried to make her face as pitiable as possible, while Viraaj rolled his eyes and wondered how he was ever going to get rid of this girl.
Just then, a peon entered his cabin and announced the arrival of a certain Mr. Rishab Vaidya from Mehrotra’s office. Viraaj thanked his stars for this welcome interruption, and directed the peon to bring Mr. Vaidya to his cabin immediately. “If you please, Miss Gupta,” he said, in a rasping voice.
After fidgeting anxiously with the table for a moment, Khushi gave him a sugary smile, and said, “I’ll be waiting in the lounge.” She got up from her chair, immediately, and left the cabin.
Viraaj heaved a sigh of relief. “Hello, Monica?,” he said, picking up the receiver. “Print out a rejection letter with R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N in bold and bring it to me. You’ll see a Miss. Gupta sitting in the lounge. After my meeting with Vaidya, send her to my room.”
It was over half an hour since, and Khushi sat in the lounge, playing with her bangles, looking rather bored. Just then, she heard the receptionist requesting her over the speaker to step into the editor’s cabin.
She quickly got up and made her way into Viraaj’s cabin, with a bright smile on her face. “Have you reconsidered your decision, sir?” she asked eagerly, and quickly approaching his table, took a seat, without even waiting to be asked.
He looked her in the eye, and handed her the letter. Khushi looked at the paper for a moment, and tried pleading with him again to change his mind, her hands surreptitiously fidgeting with his table.
“The letter makes my decision more than clear, I think, Miss Gupta,” he said in a cold voice. “Now if you would deign to leave me alone.”
“Hey Devi Maiyya…” Khushi pretended to be hurt, put the letter back on his table, and left his room, but not before turning back and giving him a sharp look, that left him quite puzzled.
As soon as she was out of the GTV office, she did a little victory jig, unable to contain her excitement, that left the watchmen staring, hailed a taxi and headed back home.
“Devi Maiyya ki jai!”
~*~
She smiled all through the journey, and was still smiling when she reached home. She could hardly believe that she had accomplished her mission. The tiny chip, whose sight filled her with childlike glee, held explosive evidence against one of the biggest business tycoons of the nation, Mr. Nishad Mehrotra.
The Nishad Mehrotra coal scandal had been all over the television screens two weeks ago. A CBI probe was in progress and the media was relentlessly following the business house. Around the same time, she had been looking for a job at GTV. And when she happened to overhear two employees of the company discussing the impending visit from Mr. Vaidya, the right hand man of Mehrotra, she smelled a rat immediately and convinced the receptionist to let her have an appointment with the editor on the same day. Armed with her lithe movements and sharp brain, she successfully carried out her plan of recording their conversation by installing a chip on Mehra’s desk.
She clasped the chip tighter, revelling in the glory of her victory, when her mother doubled her joy.
“Titaliya, some Arnav Singh Raizada had call...” Payal never got to complete that sentence as Khushi gawked at her mother and grabbed her arms.
“WHAT? Kab? Kaise? Kya kaha? Wait, amma, are you sure ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA called?” Khushi asked, all of a flutter, while Payal raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
“Meri Sanka Devi, calm down!” she said, amused by her daughter’s excitement. “He says he tried contacting you on your mobile but could not get through, and so he left a message for you on the landline. He has asked you to meet him around 5.45 pm tomorrow at the Starbucks Coffeehouse near G.P road.”
Khushi still could not believe her ears. The man she had been idolizing for 8 years - the Arnav Singh Raizada- had actually asked to meet her! She was going to personally see her hero. It was all too good to be true. The meeting was not altogether unexpected, for she had been trying to contact him for the last few days, ever since she had formulated her sting operation plan, promising him some information about the Mehrotra case. But that he had responded was in itself a victory for her. She was going to meet Arnav Singh Raizada.
The. Arnav. Singh. Raizada.
~*~
“Khushi Kumari Gupta! What the fu… ” he thought, revulsed by the name before him. Probably a Delhi teen who wore gaudy salwar kameezes and could barely utter a word or two in English. “Strange. Does she even know that it’s not some Patrika but MBC she’s trying to reach?” he muttered, slightly irritated at her having the courage to literally chase him with phone calls and emails, and claim to have some information about the Mehrotra coal scam
His first instinct was not to respond - and that’s exactly what he did for the first fourteen days.
But now, he was desperate. He was famous for unearthing the truth behind everything, but this time he just wasn’t able to solve this. He was reaching dead ends after dead ends in his investigation of this 500 crore scandal. And when he was almost giving up, he remembered her and decided to give the case one last shot.
Though her odd name seemed to prick like a needle.
“Arnav sir, did you call for me?” came a voice from the door. Arnav looked up to find a timid, shy man standing before him. In his usual superhero shirt and leather jacket, Nazir was the perfect chocolate boy.
“Yes, Nazir. Come in,” Arnav said, cleaning his spectacles. “You had told me that you have an acquaintance with this Gupta.”
“Yes sir, she’s my best friend from college. She is trustworthy, spunky, smart and can dig out amazing news. No, I am not saying this because she is my best friend. She really is a very good reporter. Remember the Nadiadwala case?” Nazir said, while Arnav noted the spark in Nazir’s eyes when he spoke about Khushi, slightly amused.
“Hmm, wahi na whose house was raided and several hundred crores worth of benaami assets were uncovered?” Arnav asked, rotating slightly in his chair.
“Yes, sir. Khushi’s instinct told her that there was something wrong with that man. So, she investigated him and gave the police the tip, leading to the raid,” Nazir said, with a shy smile.
“Ah,” said Arnav, raising an eyebrow. “Tumhari Khushi seems pretty interesting! But, why doesn’t she send her information through you?”
Nazir’s face turned a deep scarlet, and he coughed. “No sir, she’s not my Khushi,” he said. “And, she is very protective about her work. She won't trust her own family with it! That’s why she likes to do everything herself.”
Arnav nodded and thanked Nazir for his information.
After Nazir left him, Arnav returned to his thoughts. Nazir Khan, a.k.a NK, was one of his most trusted juniors. Though, Arnav had not a very high opinion of his intellect, he knew that NK was dependable in both his actions and words. He was always guarded in his speech, and gave honest opinions. So, if NK had such a high opinion of her capabilities, she probably was something worthwhile!
~*~
Arnav ran his hand through his hair, as he entered the Starbucks cafe where they were supposed to meet. He rolled his eyes as a few shy giggles and coy smiles headed his way. Walking over to the counter, he glanced through the menu when his eyes fell on a young girl to his right.
“Listen, can you add some more chocolate? Oh no wait, instead of chocolate add… perhaps” he heard her say. “Nah, actually I love…” she droned on, but Arnav paid no further attention. Arnav grimaced and thought disdainfully about people like that girl, who refused to grow up and behaved like children even in their twenties.
“Chocolate? Seriously?” He thought, though his diabetes definitely wasn't the reason for his strong views on the matter.
Picking up his sugar-free coffee from the counter, Arnav settled down at a windowside table. Casually sipping his drink, he glanced at his watch impatiently.
“Late.” He thought, scornfully.
Khushi Kumari Gupta certainly wasn’t getting any brownie points from him.
Just as he was wondering how much longer he would have to wait, his eyes chanced upon a pair of sleek legs walking towards him. As he slowly raised his glance and evaluated her well-endowed figure, a usually stoic Arnav Singh Raizada found his eyebrows rising in appreciation.
Removing his glasses, he gave her a once over. No wonder NK’s eyes lit up when he spoke about Khushi Kumari Gupta. A tight wrap dress accentuated the graceful movements of her sensuous figure, and Arnav could not take his eyes off her gait. Her smoky eyes shone with intelligence. He smirked slightly as he caught the slight blush on her cheeks. Her stilettos clicked sharply against the wooden floor as she approached him with quick steps.
Something told Arnav Singh Raizada that this meeting would be full of unexpected happenings.
0 comments:
Post a Comment