SwaSan FanFic (TOL)

CHAPTER 5

The Tower of SM24 NEWS CORPORATION rose like a beacon for modern Kolkata. Situated in the busy Chowringhee lane, the office buzzed with eclectic energy. As soon as Swara walked into the lobby, she could smell the recently sprayed air freshener. The atmosphere inside the building promised a vitality and positive verve. Swara felt good to be here and a burst of joy welled up in her.

She met the HR officer and took note of her appointment schedule. She was supposed to join the office from Monday and she had to report to Mr. Ashutosh Ghosh for further instructions. She decided to meet him then and there but he was not available. There were ten floors in the tower and first four floors were occupied by offices of magazines and dailies that the company published. Rest of the floors were taken up by the electronic media. The office of HR was on sixth floor and the huge wall to wall glass window faced the Maidan. From here, one could see the skyline of downtown Kolkata across the Maidan. The HR officer asked her to take a look into the Newsroom while her official appointment letter was being made. The Newsroom at seventh floor was a flurry of activity. Number of television sets was mounted and displayed different channels. Swara presumed that all the channels showing on the sets were owned by them. Some of the reporters looked as if they had been up all night. Some had just come in. Swara stood there for some time studying and watching the workings of a newsroom and met the officer back to get her letter. She read it and noted that she would be getting a stipend of 12k. She almost jumped with joy.

With the help of a secretary in the office, she met some of the new interns and made friends with them. One of them called Nadira was from Tamil Nadu and arrived in Kolkata only last week. She was looking for accommodation and sought Swara's help. They went to the canteen to have a cup of tea.

The canteen was situated in the ground floor premises of the tower and housed a gift and bouquet shop too. They were having tea when another intern called Karan joined them.
'Hi, interns?' he asked and when they nodded he introduced himself and shook their hands.
'I joined last Friday. So who are you guys working under?' he asked joining them for a cup of tea at the canteen and chatted for a while.
Karan and Nadira, were allotted Secretariat and city round up respectively.
'What do you mean by Secretariat?' Swara asked
'Wait at the Writer's building where the assembly sessions usually take place and make notes. And if you come across fights or shoe hurling, report them too. I am waiting for such sessions.'
Karan joked because he was hanging out at the secretariat currently and covering the sessions. It sounded boring to Swara and hoped that her assignment would be different. Nadira's work sounded more interesting. She had to travel around the city with the team and report on the latest scene in art and entertainment.
Karan was from Delhi and he had that slightly egoistic attitude but he was very friendly and funny too. They spent an hour at the canteen, discussing various aspect of their life and parted. Promising to meet them on Monday, Swara took a tram to the nearest station from Baadi. Since the office tower was situated at the busy business centre, it was easy to take a bus or Metro for travelling regularly to office.

Hridoy called her up to enquire about the practice sessions that evening. Sunday was the evening when they had to perform for the concert. Hridoy was the band leader and he wanted her to practice with him that evening
.
'Hridoy, I can't come this evening. I have to take dida for sugar test. I was there in the auditorium waiting for you last evening but you didn't turn up.' She told him pointedly.
Hridoy was one of the moodiest persons she had come across. He was a brilliant singer but sang only when the mood permitted him. Swara was tired of putting up with his eccentricities. In fact all the band members were fed up but no one pointed it out to him.
'Now, do I have to explain my movements to you? I will be there this evening and you better be there Swara' he ordered in his broken Hindi and English. He was from Assam. He did not have a strong command of the language but sang Hindi songs soulfully.
Swara 's anger went through the roof and she spoke sharply 'No, Hridoy, I cannot come today. I am not your puppet. If you want to practice, come to the baadi after 8. Or we will do it tomorrow.' She ended the call and stormed out of the tram, cursing moody people.

The women at Maheshwari mansion got into a tizzy when their Guruji informed them that he was arriving that morning from the ashram with two of his assistants. Only ladies were present at home as the men were at work and Uttara was in college.Annapurna informed her husband and he along with his brother immediately rushed back home.Flowers with puja accessories were made ready and Sujata asked Pari and Ragini to prepare a special meal that was liked by Guruji. When DurgaPrasad and his brother reached home,the house was a hive of activity. Annapurna reminded her husband that this was Guruji's first visit after Laksh's marriage and they had to make it special.
An hour later Guruji arrived with his assistants. He had quite a following and Maheshwari family was one of them.They consulted him before every auspicious occasion in the family. He had a simple ashram on the outskirts of Kolkata and taught religious scriptures to his students.
Now as he settled down in the house,DurgaPrasad gave him all the updates on the family and the business.The wedding of Laksh and Ragini was the highlight of the conversation.All the horoscopes of their children were shown to him.
The Guruji took a look at all of them and approved of the match of Ragini's and Laksh. He did not have much to say about Adarsh or Uttara. But it was Sanskar's horoscope that caught his eye. He kept studying it. Sujata got little tensed.She was actually worried about Uttara's future and wanted to know about her wedding.But Guruji dismissed her worry saying that after two years, they can start looking for her.
Now as Sujata waited tensely, Guruji looked up from the horoscope and said seriously
'Mein ne pehle bhi kaha hai,Sanskar ka kundali bahut sashakt hai. Lekin ab mujhe khatara dikh raha hai.' (I have already told you about Sanskar's horoscope being very powerful but now there seems to be danger hovering over him)
Sujata and RamPrasad were shocked. What did the Guruji mean? Was Sanskar's life in danger?
'Kya Sanskar ke zindagi khatare mein hai?' They asked him.
Guruji took his own time before replying 'Yeh shaktishali hai, isiliye Sanskar ke zindagi mein hamesha koi na koi Khatara ya sankat hoga. Dushman bhi honge.' (Since his horoscope is very powerful, there will always be danger and enemies around him)
Ram Prasad and Durga Prasad asked the holy man for solution
'Guruji, Iss khatara se Sanskar ko nikalne ka Kya samadhan hai? Kya kuch havan ya Daan dharm karne se kuch hal hoga?'
'Nahi nahi... havan aur daan dharm se Sankat kam ho sakta hai lekin tal nahi sakta. Is samasya ka samadhan karne ka ek hi tarika hai.' He declared (No no... we can only reduce the intensity of danger by charity and pujas, we cannot stop the menace. There is only one way to face it)
'Ji Guruji batayei.. Hum turant karenge.' Sujata implored
'Aapko Sanskar ke liye aise hi ek vadhu doondna hoga, jiski kundali itna hi satej aur sashakt ho...
Agar aise hi dono kundali miljaye toh, is duniye mein koi bhi Sanskar ko haani nahi pahuncha sakta.
Haan dushman toh hamesha hi rahenge lekin jitna bhi woh koshish Karen, kuch nahi karsakte hai.
Lekin aapko jaldbaazi nahi karna chahiye...Sanskar keliye jo var doondoge, woh bahut soch samajke kijiye.' (You have to search for a girl for Sanskar whose horoscope is equally strong and powerful. If such two people come together, no danger or enemy can harm them. But you have to choose such a girl very carefully. You should not hurry about it.)
He concluded his advice giving back the horoscope to Sujata.

After the Guruji left, all of them were pondering over what he said.

Annapurna thought of informing her community matrimonial centre, where there was a bank of horoscopes. She would ask their family Priest to find a good one for Sanskar. Otherwise Sujata would keep fretting over what Guruji said and stress her heart unnecessarily. After all, the doctor had advised them to keep Sujata away from worry and tension.

Sujata could not get over what the Guruji said about Sanskar's prospects. Hey bhagwan, abhi toh wapas aaya hai....phir se iske upar sankat...Kya karoon?
She asked her husband 'Kaise hum aise chori doondenge? Kya sab se yeh thodi pooch sakte hai ki kya aapki chori humare chore ko bacha sakti hai?' (How will we search for such a girl? We can't keep asking everyone whether your girl can keep my boy away from danger.)

DurgaPrasad entered the room and answered Sujata's question
'Sujata, bhagwan pe vishwas rakho..Sabse upar ek shakti hai, woh hamko raah dikhayenge. Sanskar ke zindagi mein zaroor aise ladki aayegi jo usse har sankat se door rakhegi. Bas man mein vishwas rakho.' He comforted them with his thoughtful words.

Exactly at 8 that evening, there was a knock at the door. Swara opened the door and found Hridoy standing there sheepishly with a bar of chocolate......
He lightly pulled his left ear with his hand and Swara shook her head and asked him to come in.This was a routine thing between them since they were four or five years old.Hridoy's grandparents lived in the baadi and Swara was friends with him since they attended kinder garden together. His moody habits always angered Swara and they would end up fighting. A tall, thin and lanky guy, his idol was Kurt Cobain.He followed his singing and dressing style.His long hair and a single ear stud managed to annoy Dadi every time he appeared. She often asked Swara
'Swara, yeh ladki jaise baal kyon rakhta hai?' Swara tried to keep him away from dadi as much as possible otherwise dadi would embarrass Hridoy with her comments and questions. Not that he cared. He was fond of only dida whose motto in life was 'Live and let live.' Dida joined them in between their practice to feed them her newly tested dishes. She loved trying out new dishes and feeding it to one and all.

As they settled down to practice, Hridoy asked
'Hey, how was the first day for our working girl?'
'Oh Hridoy, it was so good to be in that tower. The atmosphere was so energetic.' She got up in her excitement and spun around to explain 'I felt so high, as if I was going to see another world....And I made ..............' She went on talking about her day, friends she made and the news room experience.
Hridoy watched her but only listened to half of what she was saying. He was transfixed by her animated expression and joy. He had been in love with her for donkey number of years but he had never expressed it even once to her. Because he knew her too well to accept that she did not reciprocate his feelings.Love was not in her plan of things.She aimed high in her career without any ties or bind. As long as she was single, he did not care. He was always her closest friend and continues to be so.

Who could explain to young hearts that love is not planned but happens in the most unexpected manner? Like a tempest, it unleashes its fury in such a way that one either gets destroyed or gets carried away to another world.........

PRECAP

Will Sanskar attend Swara's concert? Will Annapurna be able to find a girl for Sanskar?.............