Part 7

Fridays are special days at the office. People are looking forward to the forthcoming weekend. People have plans for outings or spending time with their families.  A number of people especially at the lower strata of employment plan to go out of station to their hometowns or villages. 

Damini and Neerja enthusiastically approached Nisha with plans for Staurday to watch the latest Bollywood movie and lunch at a new Chinese restaurant which had opened recently.  Nisha politely declined the offer. Both the friends kept badgering her for a long time as to what was wrong and why she was in a blue mood.  But Nisha kept avoiding any questioning and considered it better to stay at home with plans only to sulk at home during the weekend.

She tried to drown herself in the files. She took refuge under answering the queries of various clients in the new project and typed out all the marketing strategy herself.  The day dragged on and she was relieved when it was time to leave office.  She tried to avoid seeing anyone and quietly left the office.

Saturday morning Neeru woke her up.

 “Maa has been calling us for some time.”

Nisha did not feel like coming out of the bed and felt some heaviness in her head.

After she had freshened up, Maa informed her that Baba had received Sonu’s picture on WhatsApp last evening and everybody had looked at it.  She thought that the guy looked simple. Neeru exclaimed that he is very handsome. Tinkoo also liked him very much. Maa said that she would be able to look at it in the afternoon when Baba returned.

Maa asked her to run an important errand today.  There are two very poor families living outside the colony, every Saturday Baba would deliver them some groceries.  But this Saturday he was called at office due to some urgent work, so Nisha would have to carry out this responsibility.

After breakfast Nisha reluctantly got out of the house.  All the members of those families cheered up as soon as they saw her.  There was good news from one of the families.  The elder son had got a job in a restaurant nearby and would now be able to look after his family.

When Nisha returned after two hours she saw a black Mercedes parked near her house, wondering as to whom it would be belonging to she entered the house. She heard excited laughter of Tinkoo and Neeru.  They were playing carom with someone whose back was towards her.  They were so engrossed in the game that nobody noticed her.

She found Maa in the kitchen.  “Who’s there Maa? Do I know him?”

Maa smiled at her, “Not till now my love”.  “Go freshen up a little and wear something pretty then I’ll introduce you”, she added.

“Maa is it …..?”

“Yes my love it is dear Sonu and he seems to be quite nice. He came just after you left and he is going to join us for lunch. By the time I am ready with lunch Baba will also return,” Maa informed her excitedly.

“I am OK like this. Why do I have to get ready when we are staying inside the house only? I think I am looking quite respectable and I have come from the outside.”

Maa took another look at her “Yeah, the dress is OK. Your hair is neatly done but there is something missing.”

“Oh, it is the cheerfulness that you usually have, that is missing!”

“Are you alright?” asked Maa.

Maa ignored Nisha’s nodding and placed the back of her hand on Nisha’s forehead to feel the temperature and  to see whether she was running any fever.

“There is no fever. What’s wrong sweetie? I am noticing you are not yourself since the last evening? Is everything all right at the workplace?”

“I think I am just a little tired”, Nisha tried to push aside her concern.

“Okay go wash your face and comb your hair. I will prepare some fresh lemonade for all of us that will make you feel relaxed”, Maa got back to her work.

“Yes, Maa”, resignedly Nisha thought that the best way was to face the current situation and take it as it comes.

As soon as he saw her, Tinkoo urged her to join the game. His opponent turned towards her and Nisha was stunned.  What on earth is he doing here?  Why is he here?  Did he already know about the likely alliance that was being pursued? 

Nisha felt a little embarrassed and heard her mother saying, “Sonu this is Nisha and Nisha this is Sonu.  His actual name is Sunil Tewari but he is nicknamed as Sonu so we are also calling him Sonu.”

Suneel got up from his place welcoming her and told Maa that they already knew each other.  They worked in the same office.  He said that he knew Nisha well.  Tinkoo was not very happy with the interruption and both he and Neeru beckoned her to join the game.  Suneel confirmed that it would be wonderful if she also joined them.  All of them were engrossed in the game and did not notice father entering the house after half an hour.

Maa soon announced that the lunch was ready and the game had to be stopped.  Neeru and Tinkoo carried the board and other things away very quickly and joined the others at the dinner table.  Nisha helped mother carry the dishes to the dining area.

Father enquired from Suneel whether he faced any difficulty in locating their house. Suneel said that the directions from him were so clear that he could easily come straight to the house.  He apologized for not visiting their house three days ago along with his parents.

Father said, “It’s all right with us.  Your father was mentioning that you were held up in some work that day?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry for that.  A colleague had needed my immediate help and spending time with her was unavoidable.” He added, “I could not make it the next two days also because I am working on one of my personal projects.”

“What kind of work?” father enquired.

“Sir, for the last two years I have been working on a private consultancy for some clients in USA and Germany. I provide them both technical and HR solutions. In fact I have now trained a team of four people working in my organization.  I registered my own company two years ago and the work has now expanded and I am getting clients from UK and other European countries too.”

“But you are already employed in the company where Nisha is working.  I have heard that you have done very well there.  Isn’t it taxing to work at two places?”

“Sir, it was hard initially for about six months I was doing everything myself, but since then I have recruited selectively and trained my people well, I do not have much problem now though it still demands hard work. Actually sir, within three months of joining this company I had decided that I must have my own business. I have already completed more than three years here.”

He declared proudly “Sir, within this time my turnout has risen to  five times and after paying my taxes, other expenses and the salaries of my employees I am able to earn thrice the salary I am getting now from the company.”  He added. “The difference in timings in India compared to USA and Europe makes it possible to run this kind of business.”

“My plan is to run my own business full time say after another ten months or so”, he mused aloud.

Nisha could guess that Baba was impressed by this guy.  Tinkoo and Neeru had struck a friendship with him in no time. After lunch he offered to take them to the nearby ice cream vendor and Neeru and Tinkoo readily agreed. By the time Nisha and Maa had tidied up the things he brought ice cream for the rest of the family members too.

         After he had left all the family members except Nisha kept talking about Suneel.  It seemed everybody enjoyed his company and liked him. Tinkoo was already a fan and was looking forward to another ride in the Mercedes Benz. Maa thought him to be polite, considerate and gentle.  Neeru declared that he was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen in her life and he could easily be a Bollywood hero. Baba considered him to be ambitious and progressive.