The Rubble

CHAPTER 3

After a tiring flight from Chandigarh to Mumbai, she stepped into the land of the Marathas, which was filled with traffic lights and two full lines of steel and tire, with horns blaring into the ears, in a baritone. It was 8 in the night and each car bathed in its own putrid fumes along with at least a hundred hands honking the steer. With already a long haul of travel, Praanvi was done with the traffic when the road went down like an angry snake, hissing on the wet road.

With a procession of headlights on her way to the hotel, she noticed how there were a lot of changes in the city she once used to live in. They travelled road to road, bumper to bumper as she noticed how there were more traffic lights now but did notice how the tea stall near the Queen's necklace was still surviving, despite all the changes the city has seen in the past eight years. She looked at her city of dreams in awe as she lifted the side windows to feel the little pearls of joy. She tilted her face towards the sky to feel the richness to each hue, the grey on the ground reflecting a glossy texture, reflecting the light of the moon. She noticed the trees and bushes waving at her softly in the breeze which made her lips curve despite all the tension mounting upon her.

While feeling each of these in an unhurried and phased gesture, Karan snapped her out of her dream world and asked, "Tea?", pointing at the tea stall.

She smiled wider and nodded in agreement as the wheels stopped in a corner. She got down to feel the damp browns of the earth, which bought steadiness to her soul as she jogged towards the tea stall. She noticed the strong aroma of elaichi and the brew made her mouth water. She noticed the frail old man making the tea before making a conversation with the septuagenarian.

"Yaad hai uncle?" she smiled before continuing, "main yahan aati thi, aat saal pehle," she tried to remind him of the days she spent here, with his tea and the breeze.

He simply smiled and nodded his head and she knew in her heart that he simply had no idea of her. Regardless, she took her cup and sat on the wooden bench, Karan accompanying her.

"So much has changed here, Karan, "she muttered, sipping her tea before Karan replied, "Of course, it's been close to a decade. By the way, I spoke to the driver. It'll only take us another twenty minutes from here. The meeting is at 4 pm tomorrow. Also, that guy has a flight at 10 pm. So, we might not be able to continue our meeting for dinner. We should wind it up by 6 and leave for the hotel."

"Oh, okay. I thought he'd stay for dinner. I mean, the invite was given long ago, right?"

"Yeah, but I got a mail from his secretary stating he'll not be able to be with us for dinner," he said showing the mail to Praanvi before adding, "so, it'll be just us. Why don't we call our friends, just like the old days?" he smiled in mirth.

"No, I think I'll just head back to our room," she threw the cup in the bin and walked away to the car as Karan shook his head in disapproval.

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7th November 2023

Mumbai, India.

It was the next day and Praanvi was getting ready for her interview whilst sipping her morning cup of coffee. She took notes of everything necessary for the interview as she dunked two slices of toast simultaneously. As she bit the slice, crumbs fell over her blazer which made her go mad on herself. She cleaned the mess and opened her mail to check for any last-minute changes as she noticed a message from Triber. Thinking it to be a random update, she closed her laptop and went on to check her itinerary for the day, for the twenty second time within sunrise.

"Hey, morning," she noticed Karan waving her a morning as he took his mug of coffee, whilst rehearsing in front of the mirror.

"Oh my! Karan, you are interviewing someone for the five hundredth time now. I honestly don't understand the reason for you to rehearse stuff," Praanvi chuckled as he quipped. "Of course. But you know this guy, it's not easy to get an interview. I am still wondering if that acceptation was a dream. I mean c'mon, he is like the King of the Kings. I wouldn't take a chance."

"King of the Kings," she mimicked Karan as she sat on the couch, revisiting their questionnaire form before asking, "I think we should just take a break. Let's go for a walk."

"It's 10 in the morning," he looked puzzled as she shrugged. She just wanted to get rid of the messages. It's been a day since she muted the conversation. However, on the back of her mind, those messages still ring a bell.

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19th February 2014

Mumbai, India.

It was another day, another interview.

Praanvi jogged around her house, took her recorder, bag, and lunch, and locked the door, and sprinted to the elevator. She was excited about today's meeting as it was her first-ever interview. She was all the more excited about interviewing the Nathan Hansen. She grinned to the studio, practicing herself in front of the glass on the car, whilst she munched on her sandwich.

For anyone else, this feeling is nothing but an impish glee, the kind that feels like the icing on cakes and splashing in the sea. But for Praanvi, it was a reverie come true.

Nathan Hansen is owning the world's biggest foundation for mindfulness and mental tranquillity- MindFeed. MindFeed today boasts of over a million clients and truckload other subscribers in its mobile application. With a wellness centre in every major city of every country, the company today has itself listed within 4 years of its launch.

With Praanvi also being a regular user of the app, she has a user experience that would make her more comfortable to interview its founder. She kept thinking about how she would be interviewing Nathan and thanked her stars to constantly, as her driver chortled at her antics.

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"Ms. Sinha?" she heard her name called from afar as she got up from her seat and breathed heavily as if she made it an art form, her chest rising and falling with sedative qualities. A smile crept on her face as she noticed a shadow in front of her. "Riddhi," she noticed the lady's palm move forward as she shook her hand, "Hello, Riddhi."

"Nate will be here in some time. We can get on with the arrangements," Riddhi said as Praanvi nodded in agreement.

She trod towards the studio and checked for all the arrangements as she sat on her chair, comforting herself before the meeting. She checked her dress once again and set the recorder ready as she heard steps approaching the room. She went outside to see a young man in his early thirties walking swiftly to the room as Praanvi gave the most beaming smile ever.

"Good morning, sir," she shook her hand as he smiled, "Nate will do. Shall we start? I am having a few other meetings to attend today," he said looking at his watch and brushed them twice before looking her in the eye.

"Sure, we can."

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7th November 2023

Mumbai, India.

Praanvi and Karan took their seats in the reception as she saw a lady approaching them. She knew with the scent that it was someone familiar to her. She looked up to see Riddhi as she got up in a haste, dropping all her papers.

"Riddhi!" she shrieked softly and asked, "I thought you shifted your base to London."

"Not anymore. I work with the Sal Foundation, Australia. So, I live in Brisbane," she clicked her tongue and hugged her before asking, "do you still live here?"

"No, I shifted to Kufri long back. We have a lot to catch up, how about dinner tomorrow at 7? I'll text you the place."

"Oh, no, Praanvi, I am leaving tonight with Sal. But the flight is at 2:30 am anyway. Let's go to The Maratha, it's nearby. I'll meet you as soon as the meeting gets over."

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