They say that love stories are made when the stars align. Everything falls into place and two hearts come together like pieces of puzzle.
But what if these two stars are on different skies. From where they can see each other, even cross each other's...
As the sirens blared loud, a sea of men in blue overalls stepped out of the factory floor of Mahajan Auto Parts Limited. Some went to canteen to have their meals, others stepped on to the lawns of the factory and lighted their beedis. The smoke of beedis added to the warmth of the hot, humid day. There was a bit of chatter as usual.
On another side there were two small groups of women. The women in the blue salwaar kameez worked on the factory floor. And the other group consisted of 3 women in sarees who worked as assistants on the office floor. With about 1500 men and 15 women, the women got priority/ reserved spaces to enjoy their lunch and lawn time. Both the women group were going about their usual gossips and laughing. Suddenly, they became quiet and all looked at the entry of the factory floor gate, as a rugged, tall, muscular man stepped out.
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Karan Shergil, 28 years old, was the senior supervisor of the factory and leader of the workers union. Karan had been the working in the factory for six years now and had grown up the ranks to become the youngest senior supervisor at Mahajan auto parts Ltd.
Karan's father Kanwal Shergil had been the union leader at Mahajan Auto Parts Ltd for more than 20 years. Karan spent his childhood in Jeevan Nagar around the factory vicinity. He studied at a government school nearby. When he finished his school, Karan's father wanted him to pursue mechanical engineering. While he could not afford the fee himself, the owner of the factory, Mr Deepak Mahajan, was happy to take up the educational expenses for Karan, given his father's long-standing service in the factory.
Karan's parents were always indebted to the Mahajan family - Mr Deepak Mahajan and his father Premchand Mahajan. However, Karan wanted to move out of the town and settle down in big city after his engineering.
When Karan was two years into his engineering course, his father succumbed to a massive heart attack. Karan's mother was worried about his remaining education and their future. But Mahajans ensured that his mother was well taken care of while Karan completed his studies. In return they asked Karan to join the factory when he finished his engineering.
With heavy heart, Karan returned to Jeevan nagar. He knew his mother wouldn't want to look ungrateful to the owners of the factory. So Karan had joined the factory and worked hard for six years to grow up the ranks as fast as he could. Also post his father's death, there was no stable workers' union leader at Mahajan's factory and there were frequent worker conflicts with the owners and management of the factory. Therefore, at the request of the workers as well as Mahajans, Karan was given the responsibility of leading the labour union as well.
Karan's hard-working and fearless nature made him a loved leader. He was able to communicate the demand of the workers to the owners and the owners trusted him to be fair and reasonable. The arrangement had worked well for most part. However, in recent years there were rumours that the factory was not making enough profits, the owner Dr deepak Mahajan had been staying abroad with his family due to his Heath issues, and his visits in the recent past had not been very encouraging.
Back to the current day, as Karan stepped out, he noticed the group of women staring at him. It was no secret that Karan was admired by most women at the factory. Karan was always shy and modest while talking to women. Probably because he always studied in all-boys school and college, he was reserved around women. In fact, he hardly spoke to any women, except his mother, other elderly women in the township near the factory and Reena. Reena was Karan's next door neighbour since childhood (her father also worked at the factory till retirement) and now worked as the assistant to the factory manager, Mr. Randhawa.
Reena came to Karan when she saw him. She liked how other girls were jealous when Karan spoke to her and not them. And today she had something to share with Karan.
"Karan. Hi" she called out Karan "Hi Reena", Karan replied calmly. "Sab shaanti ? (All good?)" "Shaanti to hai, par toofan se pehli ki Shaanti. The calm before the storm" Reena informed Karan. "Matlab?" Karan was curious "Matlab ki main Randhawa sir aur Mahajan sir ki phone conversation sun ke aa rahi hoon. Matlab poori nahi, but jo suna wo tujhe pata hona chahiye" Reena increased Karan's interest. "Kya?" Karan's forehead was creased as he sensed something was not right. "Wo keh rahe the kal kuchh bada announcement hone wala hai. Kuch aisa jo factory ko bachane ka ek hi tareeka hain. Shayad koi aa raha hai." Reena gave all the details she had. Karan wondered what could be the big announcement. There were rumours about the losses in the factory but he didn't have clear information. Who could be coming? Did Mahajans sell the factory? It was always a probability after Deepak Mahajan's health condition became a concern. He had no son or nephews. His only daughter lived abroad. So it would either be a factory shut down or a sale. The calm of the afternoon was suddenly lost. Karan wondered if he should let everyone know. This could be big for everyone.
The sirens blared again signalling end of lunch break. As everyone rushed back to work, Karan could sense a storm coming. He felt restless and couldn't understand why. The calm before the storm was becoming heavy.
________To be continued_________ PS: Hope you like the story. Monami's entry follows in next chapter!
