Jhanak's New Journey

Jhanak's 1st Step towards Success

♪ Tanha sa Dil hai mera

Jaanu na kahaan kho gaya

Milta nahi pyaar ka aasra

Yeh naina... chainaaa

Dhoonde hai din rainaaa

Yeh naina... chainaaa

Dhoonde hai din rainaaa... ♪

Jhanak wiped off her lone tear as she walked out of the Jammu railway station. She knew, she is her only support, strength & family now. She is all alone in this whole world. She has to take care of herself & become successful to make her mom proud.

She reached the SP's office as she requested the officers standing outside SP's gate to let her meet the SP as the matter is of utmost urgency. Upon realising that Jhanak is alone & looked scared, they allowed her straight away; Jhanak thanked them numerous times before running inside the office.

As Jhanak entered the office, she a saw well-dressed, sophisticated woman sitting on the chair engrossed in her work.

The woman looked up at Jhanak from her work as she observed Jhanak's state, her eyes softened as she gestured Jhanak to have a seat & gave her a glass of water.

Jhanak sat on the chair as she drank the water, hurriedly & read the name plate on the desk which read "Gauri Dhar".

Jhanak murmured a thanks as she sensed that someone might actually help her this time.

"Hello, how may I help you!?", asked Gauri as she kept the pen on the table and straightened her back.

"Hello. I'm Jhanak... I'm from Srinagar. I... Me... Umm... Tejas... My mom... She died.... I...run... help", fumbled Jhanak as tears started flowing down her eyes.

Gauri passed her a box of tissues as Jhanak wiped her tears & composed herself.

"I am from Sri Nagar ma'am!", said Jhanak as she mustered all the strength she could.

"A criminal named Tejas is behind me as he wants to marry me, but I... I don't... So I ran away. Please, please help me.", said Jhanak as shivers ran through her spine.

Gauri looked at her with new found determination in her eyes as soon as she heard Tejas's name, & quickly pulled up a photo as she asked, "Is this the criminal you are referring to?"

"Haan Haan, yahi hai! Jisne mujhe kidnap kiya aur zabardasti shaadi karna chahta tha!", said Jhanak as she nodded furiously.

Gauri ma'am smiled looking at the photo as she continued, "I want to catch this bastard since I came here. You don't worry, tum bilkul sahi jhaga aayi hoon! Iss baar usse uski kiye ki saza mil kar rahegi."

Jhanak didn't care about any of this as she quickly said, "Ma'am please save my life. I'm a BA final student, & I want to finish my studies, & I also want to work. I'm ready to do anything; cooking, cleaning, waitressing, I... I used to sell flowers at Dal Lake in Srinagar, I also love... I love dancing, I even won 2nd place at the Kashmiri festival which happened this year. Anything, any work! I want to complete my studies! Please do something! Please!"

Jhanak pleaded as Gauri gave the faintest smile & picked up the phone. She talked to someone on the telephone as she gestured to Jhanak to take some cookies, but eating cookies was not important right now, finding a safe place to stay & getting a job is.

Gauri cut the call as she said, "Don't worry, you might help me catch the most wanted criminal of my life. 100s of r@pe cases, dozens of murders & still he is roaming free, like a vicious vulture. You are safe here. Relax!! And yes, I will make sure you get a decent job & a decent room where you can live until we catch this snake. Don't worry! Now, come on, have some cookies, looks like you haven't eaten anything since days, you need a lot of energy & strength to build your new life here.", finished Gauri as she persuaded Jhanak to have something.