The Boss (Part 6)

Posted 3 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

Soumen looked elated to see her back. That relieved and scared her in equal measure. Did it mean that her job was safe? Or was she headed into some inappropriate, dangerous territory?

“You still look unwell,” Siddhartha commented when he ran into her in Mrinal’s office.

“I was saying the same thing,” Mrinal concurred with his boss.

“I’m fine, Sir,” she replied, “Looks take more time to improve than illness.”

“Take care!”

By late afternoon she felt her fever return. Thankfully, Soumen was not in the office. So, she sneaked out early only to run into Siddhartha.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She flushed, “I wasn’t feeling well.”

He sighed and said, “Look Karishma. I appreciate your dedication to work. But it isn’t a crime to take a few days off to recover from an illness. Your job isn’t going anywhere.”

She flushed even more. Then she smiled nervously and thanked him.

“What was the need to rush off to the office when you were still unwell?”

Karishma saw concern in her mother’s question – a concern she was dying to see ever since she had come back to this house.

“I did think I was fine, Mummy. And I came back, didn’t I, when I realized that I wasn’t well?”

“Or you couldn’t stay away from that boss of yours, eh?”

So much for the concern! Karishma looked in the hall and satisfied herself that her daughter was busy playing by herself. Then she told her mother, “Please shut the door, Mummy. I need to sleep.”

She could shed a few silent tears in her bed.

But her mother didn’t leave her until she had shot another arrow, “How did it come to this? Since when did you become a woman for whom her home was not enough? Not her husband’s home? Not her child? Not her parents’ home? How come none of this is enough for you?”

Karishma pretended not to hear her and held her tears until the door was shut.

Soumen knocked at Siddhartha’s door after dinner.

“What’s up, Sonu?”

“Dada, are you never going to get married?”

“Why did you suddenly think of that today?”

“Well, I have been wondering about it for long, obviously–”

Siddhartha chuckled, “No. You haven’t been. Let me guess. Do you want to get married?”

“How on earth do you always know?”

Siddhartha started laughing seeing Soumen’s perplexed face.

“Well. You don’t have to wait for me. Your sister didn’t.”

“She is a girl. They can get married in childhood and nobody will blink an eye. Look at Karishma. Marriage, child, divorce – everything done!”

“Who is the girl?”

Soumen sat on a chair opposite Siddhartha nervously.

“Shivani?” Siddhartha prompted.

Soumen shook his head and said, “Please don’t laugh, and don’t get angry.”

“That sounds serious. Come on, now. Who is it?”

“Karishma!”

“What!” It had been easy to know what was on his kid brother’s mind. But even in his wildest dreams Siddhartha couldn’t have guessed who was on his mind. “Why?” he blurted, baffled.

“I like her. She is great.”

“Is it your way of ensuring that she stays your assistant for life? And does all your work?” he was now amused.

“Come on, Dada. Now you are making fun of me.”

“You are serious?”

“Yes.”

“And she has agreed?”

Soumen sank back on his chair, “I haven’t asked.”

“Then that would be the thing to do, won’t it?”

“Dada. I am really confused. And nervous. Should I ask? Would Baba be okay with it? Are you okay with it?”

“The only important question is – Sonu – are you okay with it? Have you really thought this through? She isn’t your type – so to say. She comes from a different world. She has been married, she has a daughter–”

“I know all that, of course.”

“It’s not a small matter.”

“But I want her.”

“If you are so sure, then ask.”

“Thank you, Dada. This is a relief.” He got up to leave, then suddenly hesitated, “But aren’t you ever going to get married?”

“Oh, come off it, Sonu,” he guffawed, “Take care of your life, that should be enough of a worry for you.”

But the smile disappeared from Siddhartha’s face once Soumen left. Karishma in this house as his brother’s wife! That was going to be difficult to put up with. It was bad enough that he had fallen for that chit of a girl who was nothing like them. Now Soumen? He himself wouldn’t act on his feelings. But Soumen would. And what reason did Siddhartha have to stop him?

That knock on his office door at seven in the morning annoyed Siddhartha. A couple of times a week, he would arrive in his office as early as five to be able to deal with some of his tasks in peace before meetings took over his life and day. Not many people knew about this practice of his and those who did knew not to disturb him. He ignored the knock. Then a slight screech told him that someone was tentatively pushing the door. He was forced to look up.

“Who the hell—” his words got stuck in his throat when he spotted Karishma’s frail figure behind the door.

“Come in,” he said, his voice now normal, almost soft!

She looked more flustered than she had looked in her first meeting with him. She came in blabbering apologies, “I am sorry. I know you are not to be disturbed now. But your calendar for the day was full. I had to talk to you immediately. Else it may have been too late–”

“Breathe, Karishma. Too late for what? What do you want to talk about?”

“Soumen!” she blurted, and then added as an afterthought, “And me.”

Siddhartha couldn’t help smiling. So, his brother had gone ahead with the proposal after all. But he pushed the responsibility of this conversation on Karishma. What for? Why did Soumen not inform him? And then it dawned on him that Karishma’s nervousness was not a happy one. She was agitated.

“What happened?” he asked, anxiety showing up on his face.

She started pacing the room. Then spoke in one breath, “Last night, out of the blue, he proposed to me. I need you to know that I have never tried to seduce him. I have just been trying to do my job all through. I really can’t afford to lose my job.”

From that Siddhartha could guess the answer, but he asked anyway, “So you refused him?”

“Of course. It was a ridiculous idea.”

“Why ridiculous?”

She started, “You don’t think it is ridiculous?”

Siddhartha paused for a moment before asking, “Did you refuse because you thought I would have objections?”

He noticed her hesitate. Finally, she spoke, “I would have thought of that, of course. Yours and his entire family’s–”

“If that was the case, you needn’t have refused. You can still set it right, I am sure–”

“You didn’t let me complete, Sir. I would have thought of your objections if it came to that. But it never did.”

They were distracted by a soft knock on the door. “Mommy,” a faint voice seemed to call.

“I am sorry. That’s my daughter. It was too early for her pre-school and day care wasn’t yet open–”

“You left her outside, alone? Bring her in.” Siddhartha frowned and Karishma complied immediately, partly relieved, partly worried.

The child looked confused inside the huge office, in front of a stranger. “Say hello,” Karishma nudged her.

“Hello,” she obliged.

“Well, hello,” Siddhartha grinned at her, “How are you doing today?”

“I am doing fine. Thank you,” Kirti replied with a clarity that seemed to take even Karishma by surprise. She still didn’t pronounce Soumen’s name correctly. And here she sounded like an adult. Siddhartha broke into a laughter.

“Very sweet. Why don’t you take a seat?” he said, still grinning.

Kirti looked at his mother. “Say, thank you,” Karishma prompted and she obliged again.

Karishma was happy to see Siddhartha smiling at her daughter. A twinge of guilt raised its head. Was she using her child to win her boss over and save her job? But she stamped it down. Keeping her job was the most important thing. For the same child of hers.

She helped Kirti sit on a chair by a wall, slightly away from where she and Siddhartha were talking, got her busy with a cartoon on her phone, then came back to continue their conversation.

The interruption had cleared Siddhartha’s head a bit.

“Sit down, Karishma,” he said, realizing that she had been standing until then. She slumped rather than sat on a chair.

“Why did you refuse him then?” he asked next.

For the first time since he had met her, he found that he had offended her. “So, if there isn’t anyone else objecting, is it unfathomable that a woman would refuse him? Perhaps you think that it is, especially for someone in my position. It must be foolish and arrogant on my part that a rich, eligible guy should propose to me and I don’t agree at the drop of a hat. Given that I am struggling in my life and money is my biggest problem.”

To be continued

The Boss (Part 5)

Posted 4 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

“Sorry, I got late. But where is Kirti?” Karishma panicked to see the caretaker at the day care already on her way out. Kirti spent her mornings at the pre-school, but her afternoons were still spent at the day care. Karishma had stepped out to do her grocery shopping before collecting her daughter and leaving for the day. But the checkout queue had been long, and it was well past the closing time of the day care.

“Don’t worry. Your daughter has a rather dedicated and, I must say, expensive caretaker.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is with your boss.”

“Boss?”

“Soumen.”

Karishma rushed to her office and there they were. Soumen was showing some cartoon show to Kirti on his tablet and the child was rolling over with laughter.

“Kirti!” she called her daughter to draw their attention.

“Mommy. Momen Uncle!” Her pronunciation of Soumen’s name made Karishma chuckle. Then she turned apologetically towards Soumen, “I am so sorry. She must have troubled you so much. You needn’t have–”

“Not a problem. She is a sweet kid. A youtube video was all that was needed.”

His expression surprised Karishma to no end. Until a few weeks ago, this guy couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that someone his age could have a kid. And now he was happily playing with her!

“Thanks! But we won’t bother you any longer. And her screen time must be limited. It’s not good for kids.”

“Oh! I am sorry. I didn’t–”

“No, no. It’s fine. A few minutes is fine. Really.” She shifted her shopping bags in one hand and held out the other one to her daughter, “Come on, sweetheart. Time to go home. Say thanks to Soumen Uncle.”

Kirti obliged her by thanking Soumen.

“How will you go?” Soumen looked at the heavy bags in Karishma’s hands and asked.

“What do you mean how? Just like I always go.”

“Let me drop you. The bags are heavy and the child–”

“I do that every week.”

“But I have a car. So why should you–”

“It’s–”

“Kirti will enjoy it. Won’t you, Kirti?”

“Momen Uncle! Red car!” the child smiled broadly.

“Yep. I have a red car. See?”

“No Kirti. It will be a lot of trouble for him. Come on.” Karishma had seen the red car. It was a fancy convertible, meant for racing, not for carrying groceries and kids!

“I will drop you and this is an order,” Soumen said and picked Kirti up. Karishma had no choice but to follow him. She kept protesting, but he wouldn’t heed her.

Once they reached the car he hesitated for a moment. “There is no child seat in it.”

“That’s fine, Soumen. You don’t need to drop us anyway–”

“Never mind. Will she sit in your lap?”

“Yes. But–”

“Let’s put the bags in the boot.”

“How come you are attending a meeting without your able assistant?” Siddhartha said jokingly but was really curious about Soumen attending a supplier meeting by himself.

“She is unwell,” he looked distracted.

Siddhartha himself got worried, “What happened?”

“Viral fever. Apparently, there is nothing to worry, but it will take a few days to recover from.”

“Oh! Sorry to hear that.”

The people they were meeting walked in just then and the conversation was interrupted. Siddhartha saw Soumen struggling to concentrate and knew that although he had not planned to, he would have to lead the meeting. Looking at how paralyzed he was in her absence, Soumen was more of an assistant to Karishma than the other way round!

“I thought you had started liking working, Sonu.” Siddhartha told his brother after the meeting.

“I have. I like working.”

“Then if you want to continue doing so, you can’t depend on Karishma all your life. She is here today, she may not be here tomorrow.”

Soumen looked startled, as if the idea had never occurred to him.

“Even if she stays in the company, she needn’t be your assistant all her life,” Siddhartha added.

“I will see you later, Dada.” Soumen rushed off.

“Go to your granny, Kirti. You can’t stay with me. You will fall ill,” Karishma’s mother and the visitor she had escorted heard Karishma’s voice at the door of her room.

“There is someone here to meet you,” the old lady announced as she opened the door.

“Soumen!” Karishma sat up in her bed with difficulty.

“Momen Uncle!” Kirti looked excited too.

The name made her mother realize that it was Karishma’s boss. As much as she hated that her daughter was working against her husband’s wishes, she instinctively had a respect for authority. She fetched a chair for Soumen and offered him water. Then she tried to take her granddaughter away. But Kirti didn’t want to go with her and Soumen interrupted, “Let her be, Auntie. She will stay with me.”

Karishma had absent-mindedly answered Soumen’s enquiries until then. She was growing conscious of the shabby state of her parents’ small house. Although they had two rooms, one occupied by her parents and the other by her, both were a severe compromise in the name of a room. With her bed and the chair Soumen had been offered, there wasn’t enough space left even to close the door. An open cupboard was stuffed with all of hers and Kirti’s possessions. Kitchen items were overflowing into the hall, which also housed dirty laundry. It was all visible to Karishma; but her only relief was that Soumen had his back towards the hall. Not that he wouldn’t have seen it on his way in. What on earth was he doing here?

And she blurted the question out.

“I just wanted to check up on you.”

“I am fine. I just have to wait out the viral. How did the meeting go?”

“Fine, I guess. Dada led it.”

“You could have.”

“I couldn’t, without you.”

Something about the way he said kept Karishma tongue-tied. He changed the topic, “Isn’t Kirti at risk of infection.”

“Yes. But my father is ill and my mother has to be by his sick bed all the time. Kirti doesn’t like it in their room.”

“I could take her to the day care, or pre-school if there is still time.”

“No. Why would you–” It was all getting too much for Karishma. After dropping her home for the first time, he seemed to have figured out that she did her grocery shopping every Wednesday and he would always insist on dropping her home on those days. He spent too much time with Kirti and the child was getting a bit too fond of her Momen Uncle and his red car. It now also sported a child seat. He would normally store the child seat in his boot, but it always came back on Wednesday evenings.

“It isn’t a problem for me and she would be safer there, won’t she? I will drop her back in the evening. On time.”

He was right about that. She would be safer there. Karishma relented and had her mother pack Kirti’s food and toys. But would he come every day and do this?

He did! And while his first visit didn’t seem to have bothered her mother, subsequent ones weren’t as acceptable. She as polite while he was there, but her questioning gaze and sly taunts got on Karishma’s nerves.

Fed up with the tyranny of Soumen’s inexplicable kindness and her mother’s taunts, Karishma tore herself out of the bed before she should have and made her way to the office four days later.

To be continued

The Boss (Part 4)

Posted 6 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

“Karishma. Is Kirti’s admission to the pre-school finalized?” Siddhartha stopped in his tracks as he heard Mrinal’s voice inquiring about Karishma’s daughter. He didn’t open the door connecting his office to Mrinal’s as he had intended, and instead snooped in on their conversation.

“I am not sending her there.”

“Why not? It is absolutely the best. The best way to get admission into a good school when time comes.”

“I don’t know if it’s for her.”

“Why do you say so? Both my kids have gone there. What’s wrong with the place?”

She replied after a pause, “Nothing, really. It is the best as you said. But I can be honest with you. It is too expensive for me. I still need to have some money left when she has to join a real school.” She chuckled.

Figuring that the conversation was about to take an awkward turn, Siddhartha decided that it was an opportune moment to interrupt. He opened the door and asked Mrinal for the files he wanted.

He gave a cursory nod to Karishma, but she addressed him directly. “Sir, whenever possible, could you please give us some time to discuss the project you want Soumen to pick up.”

“As soon as he is in the office, both of you can come to me. I don’t have any other meetings today.”

“Soumen said that he was busy with something outside the office today. But he really wanted me to get some details from you so that he can get started on it later.”

Even if she were a good liar, it would have been difficult to lie about his brother being busy. But Siddhartha didn’t have the heart to call her out on her lie. Instead, he said, “Right away, then.”

“So what details did Soumen want you to get?”

“Firstly, the broad idea of the project itself. What is it about and what exactly do you expect him to do?”

The question was giveaway. Siddhartha had already explained it in details to his brother. Soumen, obviously, hadn’t spoken a word to her about it. He himself might not have heard a word of what Siddhartha had told him. But once again, Siddhartha didn’t call out her lie and repeated the information for her.

“The project is relatively simple. This is a fledgling NGO which is happy to receive whatever support we can give them so long as they get paid. And in our retail stores we should be able to move a small inventory from them quite easily. The contract with them has already been finalized. You – I mean Soumen – had reviewed it too. Now he basically needs to coordinate with merchandising to see what SKUs to acquire from them, then coordinate with design and the NGO to see if there are specific logistic requirements to bring them to stores – does the fabric or the design need any special treatment during transit and storage – that kind of stuff. Then, discuss with various logistic provider and finalize on the most cost-effective one, who would be able to give a good enough service.”

“We will also have to negotiate with the logistic providers, right?”

“Not a whole lot. We have existing relationships with many of them. You can limit yourself to the ones we already deal with and pull out their existing contract. Then get drafted something along similar lines. Yeah – you will have to coordinate with legal for that.”

A look of relief on her face told Siddhartha that she didn’t shy away from all the other grunt work, but she didn’t like the task of negotiating. She was obviously happy to learn that she wouldn’t need to. Which meant that she was going to do this project on her own!

But a happier surprise awaited Siddhartha over next few days. He saw Soumen in the office for long hours. He was often busy on phone or poring over documents with Karishma. Three days later he walked into his office with Karishma following behind to discuss the potential partners he had shortlisted. And this time, Karishma wasn’t the only one who was making sense. Soumen had also been involved in the project. If it hadn’t been so inappropriate Siddhartha would have liked to give Karishma a grateful hug. But he paused at the thought. He looked at her receding form as she was leaving after the meeting and realized that if he gave her a hug, it will be more that a grateful one. He muttered a few curses for himself under the breath.

Later in the day he summoned Mrinal and asked, “Do you have any recommendations for a good pre-school? Which one did your kids go to?”

Mrinal had a good camaraderie with his boss. He asked back, chuckling, “What do you want to know about a pre-school for?”

“For a friend, who has recently shifted to the city.”

“Which friend of yours has recently shifted to the city?”

“Are you my wife or what?” Siddhartha pretended annoyance.

“Sorry, sorry, boss! The one my kids went to is very close to the office and it’s a good one. I will send you the address and contact number over email.”

“Thank you.”

It was a Friday evening. It was customary for Siddhartha to have a meeting with Mrinal before ending the week where they planned the tasks and meetings for the next week. Siddhartha finished it by telling Mrinal about all the meetings he wanted arranged. But he had noticed Mrinal looking at him searchingly throughout the meeting. He couldn’t put up with the suspense and asked him before he could leave, “Is there something you have to say?”

“Damn it! You always know it, don’t you?” Mrinal ejaculated!

“Of course, I do. What is it?”

“Well – did you really expect it to go this way for Soumen?”

“What for Soumen? Which way?”

“I mean you hire him an assistant and she gets him to work.”

“I was not stupid enough to expect it and I was not wise enough to predict it. Hiring Karishma was an accident and that Soumen actually started working is a pleasant side-effect.”

“And while we are on that topic. I heard something crazy. Karishma’s daughter got a scholarship at the pre-school I had told you about.”

Perhaps for the first time in his life, Mrinal saw his boss flinch a little. But he still responded coolly, “That is indeed crazy. Who gets a scholarship for pre-school?”

“Wasn’t it your doing?”

“What are you talking about?”

That pretend-annoyance was a signal for Mrinal to shut up.

“Nothing. Just sounded crazy.”

“Crazy, indeed.”

Crazy! That was precisely the word the owner of pre-school had used when Siddhartha had called her with the proposal. But with the promise of another hefty donation, she had agreed to call Karishma and inform her that her daughter was selected for a scholarship at the pre-school and wouldn’t have to pay a dime for her time there!

To be continued

The Boss (Part 3)

Posted 2 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

“Does Karishma need to be in the meeting?” Siddhartha asked, sounding casual, but as far as Soumen was concerned, Siddhartha’s eyes were penetrating through his very soul.

Seeing her boss tongue-tied, Karishma had to come up with an excuse, “Soumen thought I could take notes. It will help him.”

“Right!” Soumen mumbled his agreement.

‘She doesn’t call him Sir,’ Siddhartha made a mental note of that without intending to. “Alright,” he said outwardly, “Let’s get started. First the broad feedback. When you are reviewing a contract, remember that your job is to review the business terms. What can we commit to, what must we ask the other party to commit to. All with a view to what is best for our business. Is that clear?”

His audience of two nodded in unison.

“So, you can leave the grammatical issues aside. The legal team will take care of it before finalizing.”

Karishma went red in face, while Soumen continued to nod. Just another confirmation of what Siddhartha had assumed was going on.

“I think we can now go over the individual contracts you have already reviewed and see which of your comments were valid and which were not. This last one, for example, you correctly pointed out that we had missed the crucial clause against them poaching our customers when the customer details are handed over to them. Given that it is a contract for logistics, this is a very real possibility. So, good work there.”

“Thanks, Dada.”

“But look at this other one. It is for design services. You have mentioned that there is no punitive clause. Why do you think we need it?”

Soumen wasn’t forthcoming; so Karishma had to speak again, “Weren’t you comparing it with other contracts, Soumen? They all had punitive clauses.”

“Yes. All other contracts had this.”

“Okay. But this is different from most other contracts you saw. In a manufacturing contract defects are easily defined, and hence punitive clause can be invoked to cover the damages. But this is for a creative service. The definition of a defect will always be contentious. Besides, if the output of manufacturing is defective, we can ask for another in place of it. But in case of creative service, you either hit it off, or you don’t. At least that’s how I think of them. So, instead of a punitive clause, which won’t solve our problem, and whose conditions will anyway be contentious, we should look at introducing a clause that helps us cut our losses early on. That’s why, if you see, the milestones are defined very minutely in the appendix and a percentage of payment due is specified at each milestone. We also have the right to stop the project at any milestone. If things aren’t going well we would just stop it at the earliest one and cut our losses.”

Karishma took notes furiously for next half an hour, as Siddhartha took them through all eight contracts she had reviewed.

After Soumen and Karishma left, Siddhartha leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. There was no denying the situation. His brother hadn’t lifted even a finger. It was his assistant doing all the work. What made her do that? The desperation to keep her job? The real surprise for him wasn’t that she did it, but that she hadn’t done a bad job for someone completely inexperienced. He wouldn’t have expected his brother to do as well.

But what was he to do about this situation? He had wanted his brother to work; he had no interest in Karishma’s abilities. But now that her potential was staring at him in face, could he just ignore it? A knock at the door brought him out of his reverie. It was Mrinal reminding him of his next appointment.

“I have no idea if I am mad or glad about what you did,” Soumen told Karishma once they came out of Siddhartha’s office.

“You were never around. I did it in desperation.”

“What desperation?”

Karishma bit her lips. “Never mind. What do you want to do from now on?”

Her ‘never mind’ put him in a foul mood. “I suppose I am mad after all. I don’t know what I want to do from now on. But I would prefer not to be blindsided,” he said and walked off.

Karishma grinded her teeth to keep herself from retorting. Her job was a dead end from day one, and it didn’t look like she would be able to do much to keep it. Who will fire her? Soumen or Siddhartha?

She looked at her watch. There was nothing for her to do right now. These brothers would do whatever they do. Keep her or fire her. Right now, she had the luxury of her daughter being there at the company day care. And the misfortune of her falling ill. So, she might as well spend some time there.

“Karishma,” Soumen found her in the sick room attached to the day-care. The child in her lap started crying.

“Please wait,” Karishma looked up pleadingly, “I just need to put her to sleep.”

He nodded and stepped out.

“I am sorry,” she came out after ten minutes, looking flustered, “It was—It was still lunchtime. So, I thought I would—I’m really sorry. Did you need something?”

“It’s okay. I am not here to—You said your daughter is unwell?”

“That’s not a problem. The staff here will take care of her. I just—I just thought I had time. So—You have some work for me?”

“There is a small project that Dada wants me to get involved in. He wants to promote hand-made things – clothes mostly – from rural women’s collectives with our brand. He wants me to look after the supply chain and logistics.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I am not sure.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s just so—so boring. I don’t want to do it.”

“Well, couldn’t you ask him for something that you would enjoy doing?”

“I know what he will say to that.”

“What?”

“That I need to prove myself first.”

And he didn’t want to do that! There was no surprise there, but Karishma had to bite her lips. Soumen was definitely not in a mood to hear a lecture on his privileges. At least, he had recovered from the foul mood he was in since that meeting with Siddhartha in the morning and was now talking to her again.

“Vikram called,” Karishma’s mother informed her, “He’s really upset at how you are behaving.”

Karishma remained silent as she stirred the noodles she was making for Kirti.

“He is right to be upset. Since when have you become so selfish, Karishma? Are you not thinking of anybody else? Is this what I raised you to become?”

Silence!

“Which couple in the world doesn’t fight? Does Kirti not need her father? He misses the child.”

Silence!

She was living under her parents’ roof. If her mother wanted, she could turn her out of the house. But despite her inability to understand how irredeemable her daughter’s marriage was, she wasn’t going to do that to her. Having satisfied herself of that, Karishma had given up on making her parents – mostly her mother – understand anything. Struggling with his debilitating illness, her father hardly seemed to be a party to the discussions anymore. If her boss worked more, Karishma would have happily stayed longer at office. Just to avoid this mother-daughter bonding session every evening. Perhaps she could start staying on late anyway. So long as she packed enough food and toys for Kirti, what was waiting at home for them except a bed to sleep in.

To be continued

The Boss (Part 2)

Posted 4 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

“Vikram doesn’t want you working,” her mother said, as if informing her of something new.

“Vikram doesn’t want my daughter alive. What do you advise?”

“A man can lose his temper once in a while. You are supposed to keep this together. But you are hell bent on being stupid, running away from your marriage.”

This wasn’t the first time it had come up. This won’t be the last. But she now had a difficult job to worry about. She wouldn’t spend any more energy on this. She took a decision of not opening her mouth ever again. Before going to bed, she locked herself in the bathroom and cried her frustration out. Then she washed her face and waited until it no longer looked puffed. By the time she went to Kirti – her daughter – to put her to bed, there were no signs of tears left on her face.

Siddhartha went over to Neela’s place to pick her up for dinner. But as soon as she entered the car, he knew he wasn’t looking forward to this date. She had sounded interesting when he had first met her. She had talked a lot. And she had a lot to talk about too. But now he realized that it was enough only for one meeting. She never seemed to remember that she had told him a story or talked about a particularly curious opinion of hers on an obscure issue almost every time they had met. Besides, she believed in speaking instead of having a conversation. There was never any time or space for him to talk. And he wasn’t the kind who would talk unless the other person really seemed interested.

Perhaps, he thought as he drove, it was time to admit that he would never have a meaningful relationship. Perhaps the fault was not in the women he met, but in himself. Perhaps he was looking for impossible in a life partner when he didn’t have anything special to offer. Perhaps he should just find a good escort service to take care of his physical needs once in a while and forget about dating and relationships forever. He was getting too old for all this.

His state of mind didn’t matter as Neela continued to talk through dinner. That was expected. The surprising part was when he dropped her back and decided to announce his intention to break up.

“It’s me, really, Neela. I just don’t have time and energy for a relationship right now and it will be unfair–”

“it’s okay, Sid. You don’t need to soften the blow. I expected it.”

“Really?”

She smiled, looking sad, but speaking with ease, “Your reputation precedes you. It had to happen. I am alright.”

“What reputation?”

She chuckled, “That you are commitment-phobic. Anyway, let’s not drag this out. I do hope we can keep in touch. I don’t have any hard feelings.”

“Of course,” he replied, relieved that it had been so quick and easy, “We will keep in touch.”

Reputation? He had a reputation for being commitment-phobic? Is that what he was then? Not someone waiting for the right woman, but just commitment-phobic?

He wasn’t going to keep in touch in any case.

Mrinal called Karishma. Siddhartha had sent a contract to Soumen to be reviewed. He wanted it back.

“Was it a soft copy?” she asked.

“No. A hard copy. Must be in his drawer.”

“Okay. I will check it. By when does he want it?”

“Yesterday?” Mrinal chuckled, “I don’t think Soumen would have done any review, and I don’t think Siddhartha is expecting him to. But he keeps pretending that his brother is involved and perhaps hopes that by pretending he would be able to turn it into a reality.”

Karishma knew that Mrinal didn’t mean any harm. He was only jocularly stating what was the truth. But she felt her anger surge. She needed this job. And if her boss was delinquent, she couldn’t possibly have it for long. Mrinal’s joke didn’t sit well with her. She put a lid on her annoyance though and said, “I will see where it is.”

She opened Soumen’s drawer and had no difficulty in locating the contract. The drawer was empty save for those sheets of paper. She picked them up and flipped through them. Soumen hadn’t disappointed anyone. There were no comments anywhere on the contract. It was as clean as a freshly printed one would be.

She picked up the sheets, brought them to her office and threw them on her desk. After staring at them blankly for a moment, she sat down, picked them up and started reading through them.

It was a week before Siddhartha could catch Soumen at home during dinner. Sunidhi and their father were there too. He decided to use the opportunity to drop the bomb.

“Sonu,” he addressed Soumen by his pet name, “You have done well reviewing the contracts I have been sending your way recently.”

It didn’t take Siddhartha’s extraordinary skills at reading body language to see that Soumen was startled and confused.

“What are you saying, Dada?”

“I am serious. Your assistant sent those contracts back to me with your comments. You have even marked out grammatical errors in them. That’s some attention to detail. I didn’t think you had it in you. You have surprised me.”

“Oh! Right. Thanks, Dada,” Soumen didn’t want to own up before his father that he was getting praised for something he had no clue about.

“However, you would do better by focusing on the business terms rather than all the little spelling and grammar issues. There are other people to take care of that. If you could sit with me tomorrow, I would go over them with you and that should help you understand.”

Now he was really trapped. But also, curious. So, he agreed.

“I have some time at 11.30 tomorrow morning. I am blocking the calendar for you.”

“Okay, Dada.”

At eleven o’ clock, Soumen grew frantic. Karishma was nowhere in sight. And whatever review had gone back to Siddhartha could only be her doing. If he couldn’t talk to her before his meeting with Siddhartha, he would certainly be exposed. He didn’t want that. It had felt good to be praised by his elder brother who had always been too good to be measured up to. He regretted never noting down his assistant’s mobile number. But he hadn’t thought he would ever care.

“Where were you?” he demanded when Karishma walked in five minutes later.

“I.. I just– Did you need something?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in office by 9 ‘o clock?”

“You are never here,” she retorted.

“So what? Are you not supposed to be at work by nine? Why weren’t you? Today I actually needed something and you weren’t here.”

Karishma took a deep breath before replying in a clipped voice, “I was here at nine. But my daughter, whom I leave in the company’s day care, had fallen sick. So, I had to go and see her. I was away for barely fifteen minutes.”

“Your daughter? You have a daughter?”

“Yes.”

“But we are the same age. How can you have a daughter?”

Karishma was getting angrier by the moment. But snapping at Soumen was not an option. This spoiled brat had power over her. She grinded her teeth and spoke with as much calm as she could muster, “What did you need?”

“Right,” he seemed to need a moment to gather his thoughts together. Then he spoke, “Dada had sent some contracts to be reviewed.”

“Eight of them.”

“And he received them back, reviewed. Who reviewed them? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”

Karishma went pale. “Was it–” she gulped, “Bad? Is he angry?”

“No. Apparently it was pretty good and detailed. But who on earth did it? He now wants to discuss those with me and I have no idea what was in them.”

She sighed and opened her drawer. “These are the photocopies of reviewed contracts. You can go through them.”

“You did the review?”

She didn’t respond.

“Of course! You were the nerdy kind even in college, weren’t you? I am sure you enjoy reading pages after pages. But how am I supposed to figure out what was in eight of them in next–” he looked at his watch, “twenty minutes?”

“Shall I explain?”

“Yes.”

When it was time he asked her to accompany him to the meeting. Nervously, she followed him.

To be continued

The Boss (Part 1)

Posted 4 CommentsPosted in English, Karishma-Siddharth, Original

“Mr. Sen?”

Siddhartha’s one unfailing strength was his ability to accurately read people’s body language. And this woman’s tone and posture conveyed that she was utterly distracted and confused. Although this friend of Sunidhi’s – his baby sister – had taken him by surprise since she appeared so different from his flamboyant, flippant sister, her uncertain demeanor put him right back in the foul mood he had been in since his sister had started pestering him for this meeting.

“Dada! Karishma was a brilliant student and she is in need of a job now. Can’t you do this to oblige me? Just a little bit?”

What did the spoilt brat think a job involved? What job could he give to a woman who had graduated six years ago and hadn’t held any job in all these years. She would neither have the keenness and enthusiasm of a fresher, nor experience of years.

But Sunidhi wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Siddhartha took another long look at Karishma and couldn’t help wondering if his sister was really friends with this plain-looking nervous creature. She didn’t look to be one of Sunidhi’s circle at all.

At last, when he found her fidgeting growing more uncomfortable in his silence, he spoke, “Yes. Ms. Gupta, I presume?”

She looked even more confused for a moment, then seemed to gather her act together. She came forward and shook his hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Sir.”

‘Sir’ always made Siddhartha flinch. He would have told her to call him by name, but what was the point? He wasn’t really going to offer her a job and perhaps would never see her again.

“How can I help you?”

“As you perhaps know, Mr. Sen, that I am looking for a job. Under usual circumstances, I wouldn’t try to approach someone at your level for this, because it is an entry-level job we are talking about. But since I am looking for it 6-years too late by conventional standards, I get filtered out in the regular recruitment channels. Somebody needs to take an unconventional decision to give me a chance. And a person at a lower level can’t take such a decision. That’s why I grabbed the opportunity of taking Sunidhi’s help in meeting you despite knowing how unusual it is.”

Siddhartha found himself listening intently. The annoyance her initial demeanor had produced disappeared. At the very least, this young woman was far more sensible than his own sister.

“And why do you think I will take that unusual decision?” he asked.

She sighed, “Perhaps only because Sunidhi insisted that you should help me. But you will not be disappointed. It has been difficult for me to prove that I deserve a job. But I definitely need it. Which means that I would do anything to keep it.”

At this Siddhartha flipped through her short resume for the first time since Sunidhi had handed it to him. Her academic record was enviable.

“Why are you looking for a job after six years of graduating?”

She hesitated for a moment, but then decided to speak, “I will answer that honestly. But please know that I am not saying it to gain sympathy. Only that lying is unlikely to get me anywhere. I have come out of a six-year old abusive marriage just now. I have a daughter. My father is too ill to work or support us. I have to take care of myself and my daughter.”

A thousand questions popped up in Siddhartha’s head. But he refrained from asking them. She had obviously revealed something she wasn’t comfortable talking about. It would be inappropriate and cruel to dig more into her story.

But what job could he offer her?

“My brother needs an assistant,” he blurted before thinking it through. Soumen was no better than his twin Sunidhi when it came to taking responsibilities. But with the privilege and expectation parents tend to accord to a male child, their father really wanted Siddhartha to ensure that he got involved in the business. And Siddhartha had not been able to even make him stay in the office for any length of time, much less do any work. What would Soumen need an assistant for? From where did the idea even enter into Siddhartha’s head? And then he realized that he had just asked one of Soumen’s batchmates to be his assistant. One who had done so much better than him in academics. Damn!

But Karishma didn’t look offended. “Would you give me that job?” she asked, looking hopeful.

“I would, but I am afraid it isn’t going to be an easy job. Before assisting him, you would have to make him work.”

She seemed uncertain, as anyone would be, but what she said confirmed her desperation for a job, “I would do whatever it takes.”

“Okay then. Please wait at the reception. I will ask my assistant Mrinal to coordinate with you and take care of all the formalities.”

She nodded, and got up, but continued to linger instead of leaving.

“Yes?”

“There is something else I was hoping to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“Salary,” she replied quickly, “I would need at least–”

“Entry level positions come with nothing above 25k a month–”

“That would do!”

Siddhartha chided himself. Had he just blurted the upper limit in a negotiation situation, instead of starting at the lowest he thought he could get away with? How on earth did he commit such a blunder? But he calmed himself down. This girl making a few thousands extra was not going to sink his company. He would make sure he didn’t lose his mojo in the negotiations that really mattered!

“Please wait outside at the reception.”

“Yes Sir.”

Damn! He hadn’t asked her to call him by name.

Mrinal had helped her with the formalities of joining, given her an orientation to the company and explained the role of the assistants. But he had a puzzled look on his face throughout.

“When do I meet my boss?” Karishma asked in the afternoon, after all of this was done.

He sighed and gave voice to what was puzzling him, “That’s what I don’t know. I hardly see him in the office. Siddhartha keeps trying to get him interested in the business. But he doesn’t seem to care. It isn’t my place to say anything more about Soumen, but I have no clue what your job is.”

Karishma gulped hard. So that’s what Siddhartha had warned her about. He had obliged his sister by offering her a job, but perhaps it was one she wasn’t supposed to survive.

She had to try though.

“He doesn’t know he has a new assistant, does he?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Could you introduce me to him at least? Over phone?”

“I will try calling him.”

To both their surprise, when Soumen heard that he had been assigned an assistant, he said he would come to the office right away. He did, saw Karishma, uttered a disappointed ‘Oh!’ and then left after saying hello.

Mrinal’s ashen face confirmed Karishma’s suspicion of what had happened. Soumen had made this trip to the office in the hopes of seeing a ‘hot secretary’ and Karishma wasn’t exactly that. Humiliating as it was she couldn’t help wondering if she would have had a better chance in succeeding at the job if she was what Soumen came looking for and hence could have held his attention for a while at least.

“Before assisting him, you would have to make him work,” Siddhartha had said. But how on earth was she supposed to do that if he won’t even grace the office with his presence?

To be continued

The Genius (Part 13)

Posted 4 CommentsPosted in English, Mukundo-Piyali, Original

They walked into the forest through a small clearing and Mukundo guided her through the trail. Fifteen minutes into the trail, they were surprised by rains.

“Where did that come from?” Mukundo said, annoyed, “This is not the season for rains.”

“I’m sure it will go away, soon, Mukundo Babu. Let’s take shelter under a tree.”

But it didn’t go away quickly. The downpour was heavy and went on for at least twenty minutes. Mukundo tried to shield Piyali, but it was a pointless effort. He kept his arms tight around her in a protective gesture while he stared ahead of him, angry at the rains for spoiling their idyllic stroll. It was raining too heavily to even try and make their way back to the car. When the rain finally subsided, he started saying, “Let’s go back–” But his words got stuck in his throat when he turned to look at her. Drenched from head to toe, her clothes clinging to her body and water running down her face and neck, Piyali presented a sight that stopped his breath. He also registered that her reaction to him was similar.

“God help me,” he mumbled, as he put his other arms also around her and squeezed her tight in his arms. Was it possible for one body to just fuse with another? He would have liked to do that with hers just then. But aware of her ragged breath on his chest, he loosened his grip a little and tried to concentrate on what he should be doing. If they didn’t do something about their wet clothes, they would fall sick soon.

“There is a jungle lodge in this reserve forest,” his voice trembled as he spoke, “We will go back to the car and then drive there. Hopefully they would be able to give us a room for an hour or so. We can change into dry clothes there. You have a change of cloth, right?”

“Only the party dress.”

“That will have to do.”

One of the guests booked for the day was to arrive only by the evening. So, they managed to get a room for a couple of hours. Mukundo registered them as a couple to avoid any suspicions and truthfully told them that they got wet while taking a stroll on the trail.

Once in the room, Piyali picked up a towel and made for the bathroom, but Mukundo stopped her. Pulling her back in his arms, he said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t stop me, today, Piyali.”

She stayed there, her still presence suggesting her approval.

He turned her around, took the towel from her hand and patted her hair dry. He could feel her breath becoming harder with just that. Then he reached the front of her top from behind and opened the buttons one by one. He peeled it off her shoulders and then went around to face her. He used his mouth to explore her all over, as if desperately drinking the water dripping off her body. They he patted her dry there too. At some point of time, Piyali would not clearly remember later, he also stripped out of his own clothes, but didn’t care to dry himself. Instead he jumped into the bed with Piyali and soon had reduced her to a writhing moaning mass.

When she finally became aware of her surroundings again, she saw him propping himself up lying beside her, one of his legs pressing down on hers.

“Are you okay?” he asked playing with a strand of her hair.

She smiled at him dreamily and nodded.

“I am sorry, I couldn’t wait until the wedding,” he wasn’t really apologizing.

“I didn’t want to wait,” she replied boldly and honestly.

“But now, I can’t stop, Piyali.”

“I don’t want you to.”

He languidly ran his hands over her body and then briefly bit on her breasts. She inhaled sharply. She tried to pull the bedcover over herself, but he pushed it away and continued exploring her body, carefully watching for her reaction.

“What shall we do, Piyali?”

“Right now, we do have to go to that wedding, don’t we?” she replied, then inhaled sharply as he licked her earlobe.

He laughed, fell back on the bed and said, “Yes, we do. Let’s get dressed. We don’t even have this room for much longer.”

He climbed down from the bed and fetched her bag which had her party clothes. Then said, “But what I really meant was that we can’t wait that long to get married. One year is too long a time and we might slip up and do something embarrassing by then.”

“But how–”

“Don’t worry. Baba will not come to know about your wishes at all,” he grinned.

She blushed and pretended to rummage through her bag for some small accessory.

“So, this time you must answer me clearly. Are you fine with getting married quickly?”

She stopped her pointless search and looked up at him. “Yes,” she said in a bold and clear voice.

“Good,” he said and kissed her. “I love you, Piyali!”

– The End –

The Genius (Part 12)

Posted 1 CommentPosted in English, Mukundo-Piyali, Original

“Are you terribly disappointed, son?” Aurobindo asked Mukundo. An old cousin uncle of Aurobindo’s had passed away and custom dictated that there could be no weddings or other happy celebrations in the extended family for next one year. Aurobindo was worried about Debendra’s falling health and didn’t want to observe this restriction. But Debendra himself wouldn’t hear of it. So, they had decided to wait for a year before Mukundo and Piyali could be married.

“Come on, Baba. You aren’t really asking, are you? You just want to pull my legs.”

“I really am asking, Mukundo.”

“I think it is good this way. She is too young, Baba. This gives her some time.”

Aurobindo laughed, “Oh, that girl adores you, Mukundo. I can bet she doesn’t want to wait and is terribly disappointed. Debendra is being nice, but I really don’t care. Dina Kaku lived a full life. Nobody is going to mind if we don’t observe a full year of mourning. And if they do, I don’t care. So, why don’t you ask her and let me know what both of you really want.”

Mukundo flushed. In the matter of his and Piyali’s relationship, his father was acting like a know-it-all he had never seen him do before.

“What has been decided has been decided, Baba. I am not asking her. You stop pulling my leg,” Mukundo affectionately rebuffed his father. Aurobindo grinned at him and shrugged.

The next day Mukundo had to attend a wedding in one of his friend’s family in a town a few hours of drive from Kolkata. He had asked Piyali to accompany him and she had readily agreed.

He drew in a sharp breath when Piyali climbed into the car beside him. She had just washed her hair. It was loosely tied in a hairband and beads of water could be seen on her forehead and neck. If this was the sight that could greet his mornings, but won’t until they were married, Mukundo realized that he should have answered his father’s question in affirmative. He was terribly disappointed that they couldn’t be married for an entire year.

“I will change and get ready after reaching there,” Piyali said as she dumped a small bag on the back seat, “Otherwise clothes would crumple on the way–” The she noticed his smoldering gaze and fell silent. She gulped hard and turned to look ahead. Mukundo started the car and got out of the house. After five minutes of driving he stopped at a secluded spot. He reached out and cupped her face. Then kissed her gently.

“Good morning,” he said after breaking the kiss and smiled. Even through her lowered eyes, her happiness showed.

They drove in silence for a while. Then he asked her, “Are you terribly disappointed, Piyali, that the wedding is postponed?”

She was startled, then blushed hard. Instead of answering, she asked him back, “What about you?”

Mukundo thought about what he had told his father the previous day and how he felt this morning and laughed. Then he answered truthfully, “I would like to believe that I am not disappointed, but I think I am.”

“Why would you like to believe you are not?”

“Because I think you should have time. Since Ma already knew and you also insisted that I ask them first, it was almost a given that the wedding will happen sooner rather than later. So, I didn’t say anything. But this technical issue looked like a blessing in disguise to me.”

“I should have time?”

“Yes, Piyali. You are–”

“Twenty. I know. Young by your standards. But I am not a child, Mukundo Babu. And there isn’t anything particularly unpredictable I am waiting for in my life. I have had my fill of education. I know where my career is to go and I have a job to get me started there. And you can’t still be harboring a notion that I will have some other prince charming in my life.”

“You are saying that you are old at heart,” Mukundo grinned.

“Old enough for you, I hope.”

Then Mukundo asked sincerely, “Does it bother you that I bring up your age into these discussions.”

“A bit. At times. But mostly it makes me want to prove that I will be good enough a wife to you.”

“You are and will be more than I ever deserved, Piyali. You don’t need to prove anything. And I promise that I will not bring it up again.”

“Thank you,” she looked close to tears. She must be overwhelmed.

“Now that it has been proven that you are old enough to be my grandmother,” Mukundo said to distract her with jokes, “Will you answer my original question? Are you terribly disappointed?”

“You really want me to answer it?”

“It would be fun.”

“Well, then. Yes, I am. But it is what it is. I can’t fight it and I don’t want you to fight it either.”

Mukundo chuckled, “Baba was sure you would be. He knows you better than I do, Piyali.”

“Kaku was sure of what? That I would be disappointed about the postponement of wedding.”

Mukundo nodded, grinning.

“He said that to you?”

Mukundo nodded again.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Piyali sounded so panicked that Mukundo instinctively pressed the brakes and brought the car to a stop.

“What happened?”

“How terrible is that! I must behave myself. Especially before Kaku. What kind of a sight I must have presented for him to say something like that?”

Mukundo smiled and pressed her hands, “You, Piyali, present the sight of a young woman in love. And I think it is a beautiful sight. Nothing needs to change.”

“But you are not going to tell him what I said, right? You won’t!”

“Calm down, Piyali. He is my father, not my best friend. I don’t report to him my conversations with my fiancée. I won’t report that even to my best friend.”

Piyali gulped hard and then looked doubly embarrassed. “Sorry for creating the ruckus,” she said in a small voice, “Let’s drive.”

“Piyali, I mentioned this because I thought it was funny. I didn’t think you would be so mortified. Just know this. Nobody is judging you for loving me. In fact, everybody is happy. That includes my parents. And especially Baba. Don’t ever be self-conscious. Okay?”

She nodded, then said, “Perhaps I am indeed not old enough to understand all this.”

“Nobody is complaining. Definitely not me. Come on, now. You were so happy just a few minutes ago. Let me see the love of my life happy again.”

She smiled, the frank, child-like grin that he had grown so fond of. He leaned forward and stole another kiss before starting the car again.

He stopped again after driving for another hour.

“We aren’t there yet, are we?”

“No. But this area on the left side of the road is a part of a reserve forest and it has a beautiful trail. I wanted to bring you here.”

“Won’t we be late for the wedding?”

“Wedding isn’t happening until evening.”

“But you had said… You had lied?”

Mukundo grinned, “I am not going to share all my plans for you with my parents, am I?”

Piyali giggled and climbed out of the car looking excited and happy.

To be continued

The Genius (Part 11)

Posted 3 CommentsPosted in English, Mukundo-Piyali, Original

While Mohima gave a confused acceptance, it was Aurobindo’s reaction that pleasantly surprised Mukundo.

“Excellent. Finally, you realized it!” he said.

“Baba?”

“Haven’t we been seeing it for years, Mukundo? There is nobody else you care as much for.”

Mohima looked as confused as Mukundo was. What had his father seen that he himself seemed unaware of until a few days ago?

“I have no clue what you are talking about, Baba. But are you happy with it?”

“Yes, my son. I am more than happy with it. I really like the girl and was hoping that she would come to our home one day.”

“I guess we should talk to Kaku then,” Mukundo said.

“Don’t worry about that. I will talk to Debendra.”

Mukundo sat sprawled on the ground against the tree-trunk. Piyali lay on the ground with her head in his lap as he ran his hands through her hair.

“Did Kaku and Kaki never pester you to get married all these years, Mukundo Babu?” she asked.

He chuckled, “You have no idea. Baba was mostly a silent spectator. But Ma!”

“How did you manage to avoid it then?”

“She couldn’t have pushed me into a wedding pandal, could she?”

Piyali smiled, contentedly.

“I will tell you something,” she said, “But promise me that you would not pester me about it afterwards.”

“If it’s not worth pestering about, I won’t. But don’t ask me for a blanket commitment.”

“It’s not worth pestering about.”

“Then I won’t.”

“I really don’t want to work in academia.”

“Why?”

“There is so much politics and backstabbing and everything else, but so little learning.”

“True. But the corporate world can be worse. I have tried it.”

“Exactly. I didn’t mean that I want to work in corporate. I actually don’t want to work anywhere.”

“Now you don’t have to, Piyali, you know that.”

“But?”

“But wouldn’t you feel wasted?”

“Exactly. So, I would work. But would you be terribly disappointed if I didn’t really progress much? Just held on to my research and whatever position came my way.”

“I am pretty sure that if you stuck to your research, you won’t be able to stop progress from coming your way, Piyali. Yours is the kind of talent that shines through all the politics and backbiting. Don’t worry.”

“If that didn’t happen.”

“I would still be proud of you.”

“Does it mean a lot to you? My achievements?”

“I have told you. I take a pride in them. Even if I have no reason to–”

“You have every reason to.”

“How so?” he chuckled.

“You think genius is rare. Perhaps. But I think what is even rarer is the ability to spot and deal with a genius. When nobody around them has that ability, the genius goes nowhere. I am a genius only because you spotted it, Mukundo Babu, and you dealt with it. Kaku dealt with a lot of it too. But you were my rock all through. With you I was a genius. Without you I would have been a freak. You have every right to take pride in my achievements if you care for it.”

Mukundo felt his eyes brimming over. He blinked the tears back with some effort, “You give me too much credit, Piyali.”

“No. I don’t. Hopefully someday I will be able to explain why I love you so much. And only because you care, I will also try not to waste my life and achieve something more. It might be worth it, if it makes you proud.”

“Come here,” he nudged her to sit up. She did. He kissed her. Not passionately like earlier. But gently, sensuously. Then he kissed her closed eyelids and then the rest of her face. As he came down to her neck, his hands slipped inside her top and she rubbed herself against it. “Mukundo Babu!” she hissed as he was about to rip the clothes off her body. “Not here,” she pleaded through ragged breath.

Mukundo came to his senses, “Right. Sorry!” He said and let her go. She arranged herself beside him. He put his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Have you always felt this way?” he asked picking up the conversation from where they had left.

“Yes. And when I needed help, I couldn’t think of anyone else to reach out to. But was also afraid if I was asking too much of you.”

“Never. You can never ask too much of me.”

An old memory hit him again and he grinned as he turned to look at her. “There is an old incident I wanted to ask you about. Not sure if you remember it.”

“What?”

“You must be about ten-years old or so at that time. Once you had come to me with Ma and Ma said you needed some help in your lessons. I had thought you were up to some mischief and you had run away. Did you really need help? Or were you playing a prank? Do you even remember?”

She grinned, “I remember very well.”

“That grin tells me you were up to some mischief.”

“I wasn’t. But it was good that you turned me away. It might have seemed that way to you.”

“What was it?”

“I can’t remember what theorem it was. But the way it was proved in the textbook didn’t make sense to me. It basically assumed certain property of numbers which, in a strict mathematical sense, wasn’t a given. I was quite baffled and was afraid that I would lose marks in exam if I didn’t understand and reproduce the proof given in the book.”

He maintained an impassive face, but she herself chuckled. “You can laugh, Mukundo Babu. I know now how that sounds.”

Mukundo obliged by laughing heartily, “Sounds like the first-world-problems equivalent for school children.” The syllabus was too lame for her!

“I didn’t clearly understand back then that those kinds of simplifications have to be done for early school-level Maths,” she offered an explanation.

“What did you do about that idiotic proof then?”

“I mugged it up and reproduced it in the examination.”

“Bravo! Just like a good Indian student should do.”

She chortled.

“And I presume you had to do that very often at school.”

She nodded.

“Well,” he smiled appreciatively, “Your survived!”

“I did! I survived till today. I couldn’t have imagined I would survive to be so happy one day.”

Mukundo kissed her forehead and she once again sat beside him, snug in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder.

To be continued

The Genius (Part 10)

Posted 1 CommentPosted in English, Mukundo-Piyali, Original

Mukundo found Mohima waiting for him in the hall.

“You are still awake, Ma? I had told you I will be late. Why didn’t you go to sleep?”

“You were with Piyali, Mukundo?”

Her tone didn’t bode well and he hadn’t wanted anyone to know. But he spoke with outward calmness, “Why are you asking that?”

“I saw her leaving with you.”

“Okay, so?”

“She was with you since afternoon?”

“Yes. She was. What’s wrong?”

“You tell me. What’s going on?”

“Ma! You know her. It’s not like she has any friends here. Or anywhere for that matter. I am the only one she even talks to. I have tried to include her in my social circle. You saw her here the other night too–”

“Why did she lie about it then? Why did she tell Debangi that she was with some – imaginary I believe – friends?”

Mukundo was trapped. He cursed himself inwardly for being careless, then slumped down on a chair.

“Ma! I was hoping to bring this up later – at a more suitable time. But you have been spying!”

“Oh, shut up, Mukundo. This is not a scandal we can afford.”

“There is no scandal unless somebody wants to deliberately see one. I want to marry her.”

“What?”

“I said it, Ma. I want to marry her.”

“You. Want. To. Marry. Who? Piyali?”

“I want to marry Piyali. Yes.”

“Since when?”

“What kind of a question is that, Ma? I don’t know since when. But right now, I want to.”

She shook her head, as if to shake away her confusion. “I mean, you two are what? Like dating?”

“Trying to. But looks like we got caught before we got anywhere with that.”

“So, you are going to marry her.”

“If she also wants to.”

“What does that mean? She knows you want to marry her, right? That’s why she went out with you.”

“Yes, she knows–”

“Piyali? Really, Mukundo? When did that–”

“Oh God, Ma! Do you have any objections?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it– Will her parents agree?”

“You don’t seem to have much faith. Am I such an ineligible groom?”

“But they don’t even know. They must be told–”

“No. No, Ma. Stop there. They can’t know. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because she doesn’t know what she wants, Ma. Not yet.”

“It can’t go on like this–”

“Ma! There will be no scandal. Either she will agree and we will marry. Or she will disagree and everything will remain as it is. Okay? Please Ma. Until then don’t interfere.”

Mukundo was this close to being sure that Piyali would say ‘yes’. But he wasn’t confident enough to assume it. He himself was restless and had to summon all his will power to stop himself from rushing her to a decision. The conversation with Mohima made it all the more difficult. Now he will have to figure out a way of keeping Piyali away from Mohima too. He texted her that she should meet him next morning in the library and not come to his room.

“Is something the matter?” came back her anxious reply.

“Nothing is the matter. Some guests are expected at home and I don’t want too many prying eyes.”

His mood lifted on seeing her the next day. She looked radiant. One’s state of mind definitely affected their physical appearance. Without even a drop of makeup, Piyali looked even more beautiful than last evening. She was happy, and it showed. And he felt proud of himself. For bringing her this happiness.

He smiled at her and pulled her in a hug. She came willingly, it felt just right. She had just washed her hair. It was wet and smelled of a fruity shampoo. He inhaled deeply. He planted a kiss on her forehead before releasing her. She went still and didn’t step back.

“Piyali!”

She rested her palms on his chest and looked up at him. He knew instantly what he saw in those eyes. Love! “There is something I have to discuss with you before I can give a final answer to your proposal,” she said, “But before any of that, before anything else happens or doesn’t happen, I have to tell you something.”

“Say it,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“I love you, Mukundo Babu. And I want you to… kiss me.”

Which man wouldn’t have gone senseless on hearing that? He did. Before she was even aware of finishing her sentence, she found his lips on hers, invading and demanding. It took her a moment to understand and then respond. Then she welcomed him. Her first kiss. Her first love! By the time he withdrew, he felt himself close to fainting. He could hardly imagine what her condition was. But at that moment both of them could have died and so long as they were in each other’s arms, he wouldn’t have cared.

“So, this isn’t a ‘yes’ yet?” he asked after he had caught his breath. He still had her face cupped in his hands.

“I can’t talk like this,” she said, panting, “Let me step away.”

He chuckled and released her. She literally took a few steps back before she started talking.

“Can you really marry me?” she asked.

What a weird question. He raised his eyebrows, but she looked sincere. So, he had to ask, “What on earth do you mean by that?”

“I mean, it’s not just about you, right? Would Kaku and Kaki agree? Family, relatives?”

“Your parents?” he added, smiling.

“For them I have a different worry…”

“What?”

“I don’t see why they would disagree, but if it all came out, and Kaki and Kaku didn’t like it, my parents will feel humiliated and they… They are so grateful to your family. For everything. They would be miserable if it came to that. And–”

“And?”

“And I would be too.”

“You have thought through the worst. But stop worrying. Nothing that diabolical is going to happen. This is not a Hindi movie. We are not living in a feudal society.”

He, then, told her how his mother had found out about them.

“And she looked surprised, but we have surprised even ourselves, haven’t we? She wasn’t offended at all,” he concluded.

That brought a smile to her face. “But you must talk to Kaku and Kaki and get their approval before ever talking to my parents or making it public.”

“Anything else? Is that a ‘yes’ yet?” he chuckled.

“No. First talk to them.”

“Oh, you little minx,” he almost pounced on her as he pressed his lips to hers again. But she started laughing and the kiss went nowhere. He laughed too.

As he held her close, and watched her laugh, he felt an almost paternal love for her. The sight was heart-achingly beautiful. Here was a young girl, happy with her life, laughing without a care in the world. Just the way she should be. Even in her younger days, when she hadn’t yet given up on the world and sent herself in depression over the lack of meaning in life, when he was awed with her self-sufficiency and maturity, this wasn’t a Piyali he had ever seen. He would imprint this scene forever in his heart and he would always remember that this was what they were together for.

She became aware of his gaze on her.

She stopped laughing, but continued to smile and asked, “What?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head and pulled her in a gentle embrace, “Just stay happy like this and all will be well.”

To be continued