AMBAR

Chapter 25

Note: The story is based in pre covid era. Do not gather in crowd. Stay home, Stay safe. Be mature.

Ambar's POV

It was another weekend of April. Delhi is awfully harsh in respect to climate. Winters won't let you breathe and in summer you can't stay hydrated. I remember Mom use to say to not consume much spicy and oily food and drink a lot of water and juice. The semester exams are over and it's my board this year. I have decided to become an engineer. It has fascinated me since childhood the functioning of machine and a dream of making things. Perhaps the first independent choice I made in a year. No one asks, I don't tell and they won't repel. I hope that my choice turns out to be right. I do like keeping a track of stock market and business news. It keeps one updated about the economy. I kept looking at an old printer and searched for screw driver in the house when Armaan came.
"Ambar what are you doing?" He asked.
"Looking for a screw driver." I answered.
"Nothing much then." He said. "Will you come with me to my office?" He asked.
"What have you done now?" I asked.
"Nothing." He said.
"What is there in your office to see?" I asked. He walked towards me and kept his hand on his waist. "I am taking Kabir with me. Will you like to come?" He asked again.
What if I said no. I thought, but what was here that I should do. Dismantling a printer and then looking into it won't entertain me much. I thought. "Fine." I said. "When are we leaving?" I asked.
"In 15 minutes." He said. He was leaving when he noticed the old printer. "You need screw driver for that?" He asked.
"Yes." I said and lifted the printer to keep it in the cupboard. After he left I got dressed up. I removed a black checked shirt and blue jeans. I tied my hair in a pony. I wore my shoes and waited for both of them. We left for his office. We arrived after a good 45 minutes of driving and 20 minutes of waiting in traffic. It was so hot outside that the temperature seemed to be near 42 degrees. We entered his office building. There were 7 floors in the building. As soon as Armaan was passing from the desks of his employees they would stand up. He waved his hand in a gesture indicating them to sit down. Just like teachers. I turned around and saw men working on a design of a component which seemed like an engine. We walked ahead and then Rina just appeared in front of us. "Hey Rina Aunty" Kabir said cheerfully. I looked at her and felt a little awkward. The kitchen encounter was still fresh in my mind. "Hello Kabir." She said with a smile. She looked at me and then she her smile started to fade. "Hello Rina Aunty." I said imitating Kabir. The look on Armaan's face was something to watch. His complexion turned a little red and Raina's eyes showed terror. I am ready to pay money for scene over and over again. Rina then feigned a smile on her face. "Hello Ambar." She said. She forcefully closed her eyes as if she was regretting something. "Armaan sir, Mr. Negi is here." She said. Armaan turned around and looked at Kabir. "Kabir take Ambar with you and show her around the office." Armaan said. Kabir nodded and then we walked in opposite directions. He showed me different departments. Accounts department was filled with people dying under the stash of paper. There were some people who were watching Business news and making notes on the sensex. It was indeed a very large corporation. But the number of employees seemed to be odd. We walked inside Armaan's cabin there he was talking with a man. Wait a minute. I know that guy. His eyes were some what small. He looked older than Armaan. He had long face and a very fair complexion. Is that Jaswant Negi. I thought back in my mind. This man owns Negi Corporation. They make pipes, paint, tyres and I guess they are trying to get into vehicles too. Armaan looked at us and called us inside his cabin. "Mr. Negi, they are my kids. Ambar and Kabir." He introduced us. "Hello sir." Kabir said.
"Hello." I said.
"Hello kids." Mr Negi said.
"Mr. Negi wants us to attend his house warming party." Armaan said. Mr. Negi looked at us. "I will be glad if you kids will come at least my son will be able to make new friends." He said. I smiled on that. If his kid is that small then perhaps we should send Ridhima to befriend him. After sometime he left. I sat on a sofa.
Kabir went and sat in front of Armaan's chair. "Do you like our office?" Armaan asked. I looked at Rina. 19. "Why there are only 19 female employees here?" I asked Armaan. Kabir looked at me. "All the time you were counting that?" He asked.
"I just noticed and I started to count. Armaan do you hire less woman or you fire them more?" I asked. Armaan and Rina looked at me. The female employees I came across were young, mostly unmarried. Which means female employees sustainability in this company is very low.
"Mostly they resign after marriage." Armaan said. "Or don't come back once they get pregnant."
Really. You are going to throw that on my face. Pregnancy.
"How many interns work here?" I ask.
"20." Rina answered.
"Hmm. How many female interns are here?" I ask. I could sense the tension on Armaan's face.
"7." Rina said.
"What? Only 12 of those women are permanent employees here?" I ask.
"No many employees are on contract basis." Kabir said. Damn. If Armaan is considering his faults right now then I have nothing much to say.
We left home after an hour. Armaan stayed back so me and Kabir left. I was looking outside towards the road. On our way I saw the Supreme Court. I started to wonder if things for Dad wouldn't have gone bad was there a possibility that one day he could have become a judge.
"Aren't you afraid of Bade Papa?" Kabir asked. I looked towards him. "What?" He then looked here and there. "You question him in front of his employees. Don't you think that it's wrong to point out his mistakes in front of his employees?" He said.
"Employees? You mean Rina. Kabir, Rina is perhaps concerned on this matter too. Besides this, women don't even make 10% of your Bade Papa's workforce. Isn't that wrong?" He looked quite convinced by my point. "Someday when you'll be in Armaan's position, that day make sure that atleast all the woman who seek job in your company get a fair chance. As fair as any other man and Kabir my Mom once said ask questions until the mind is clear. Asking questions is never wrong."

The next Tuesday we attended the house warming party of Mr. Negi. Some people whom I knew were already present there. Jai uncle Armaan's cousin and Preeti Aunty. Mr. Negi's house was actually beautiful. It had terrace garden. It was near Gurgaon. There was a tree outside which provided shade to the east side of the house. The pool was in the backyard. A very well planned house. There, I was quite astonished to meet Satbir Bedi. I was alone at that moment. He walked towards me. His family had accompanied him. His wife Simran and his daughters Isha and Nisha. They look more like my mother than me. They have those enchanting grey eyes of their grand mother. My Mami came near me. "Ambar I know you don't like this but"
"Your husband wants to meet me." She nodded in affirmation. I walked with her towards her husband. He looked at me and before he could say anything I spoke my mind.
"It would not be appropriate to have a conversation about our matters in somebody else's house." I said to him.
"Meet me in Ranayal house tomorrow if you want to speak further." He looked towards his wife. She shook her head in approval. "I'll come by 4 pm."
"Great." I said.
I looked at his daughters and they were having a great time along with Ridhima. As I walked away from there I heard old men bursting into laughter. They were discussing something about new government projects. I was disinterested in listening to them. Kabir found his old friends here and I was left alone. I took a drink. I looked at it suspiciously as I remembered the vodka incident.
"It's non alcoholic." Somebody said. I looked towards the direction of voice and saw two very beautiful eyes. Perhaps I just saw the eyes in that boy's face. They were blue. Not very dark blue or light blue. He was very fair and stood as tall as Armaan nearly 6'3". His hair were straight and jet black. "I hope that this drink is fine with you?" He asked again. I got out from my trance state. Damn. If I kept looking at boys like this someday I would be branded queen of pervertise.
"Oh yes." I said to him. "I was searching for a non alcoholic beverage for a long time." He smiled and came near me. As he turned his left frame towards me I noticed a red wine sort of stain on his neck and lower left side of his jaw line. It seemed like a birth mark. I took the drink to avoid more awkwardness. "Ambar." I said. He looked at me and smiled.
"My name is Prithvi Negi" He said. We shook hands with each other. Our names are antonyms of each other.
Wait a minute. He is a Negi. "Nice party." I said to him. He smiled.
"Ambar" I heard some one calling my name and I was shocked by the voice.
Is it Prateek. I thought. I turned around to check and it was indeed Prateek. He came towards me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"My mother is friends with Mrs. Negi." He said. "Hey Prithvi." Prateek said with a smile.
"Hi Prateek." They greeted each other. He was the last person I had thought of meeting today. After sometime Prithvi left from there and me and Prateek started to chit chat.
"Is anyone else here?" I asked him.
"No. Just you and me." He turned around and looked at others. Prateek was looking good in his Red shirt and black trousers. He then looked behind him and then he looked at me. His face seemed quite distressed as if he was angry on spotting some one. "What happened?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"How many people do you know here?" I asked him.
"Some." He said. We walked out of the house and started to talk. "Tell me about them then. Please." I requested.
"Uh. Ok. So your family is among the old rich people. That guy you see there" he said looking towards the bar. A man with a very average height and half bald head. "he is Mohan Lalwani. He is among the real estate magnates. Some times I think that man is the sole consumer of cigars and alcohol." I laughed.
"Then there are Negi's. They are very respectable. They keep low profile. Some times so low that when their founder died half of Delhi thought it's a joke." He told me about various other guests. Somebody owned a nation wide sweet franchise. Somebody was into jewellery and some one brewed beer. The beer guy even looked cool. He was not as old as other men. Seemed to be in his late 20's. He was stocky build and face covered with beard. He was Cyrus Bulsara.
I looked around myself and saw some people along with Armaan. They were holding drinks in their hand and looked bloody serious. "Why are the men surrounding my father look so serious?" I asked. He looked where I was looking. "I have told you everything that I know. What makes them sad is something you should know by your self." He said eating his snack. Later I introduced Prateek to Kabir. I thought it might be nice if someone knows some of my friends. As Prateek and Kabir were talking with each other I saw Prithvi again. That guy is really handsome. He might be a year or two older than me. His shoulders are broad.
"This is the same boy Jaswant uncle wanted us to befriend." When he said that unknowingly a smile was spreading on my face. Nice. I said in mind.