Chapter 6

“Hold it young man!” Yudhisthir Raizada said as he came face to face with an ever running Aakash “Good morning yudi!” akash raizada greeted his grandfather as he gave him a quick hug before gulping down his protein shake

“I really don't understand why you have to drink all this!....during our times, real physical exercise gave us muscles...not these fake artificial things!” the older man huffed as his grandson slung his bag over one shoulder and picked up an apple from the fruit basket on the breakfast table

“Yudi...its no use arguing with you on these things...you just don't see my point...” he said as he shook his head “Generation gap you know” aakash said spreading his hands to indicate the vast gap between their thoughts, only to yell back as his grandfather pinched his left ear

“Ooh...uff...yudi!!...its hurting!” he cried as his grandfather left his ear after giving it a right twist “Generation gap huh? Well, how come your brother and I don't differ then? Except for certain things....we think on exactly the same lines...” he said as aakash laughed out loud, startling the maids hovering near the table

“Are you kidding me? Bhai and you don't differ??...seriously what did you smoke today at your satsang??!” he guffawed only to get a scowl from his grandfather “Ok...ok...sorry baba...i'm just joking..but seriously...i didn't know that you were into floozy blondes yudi!” he said with a straight face before he ran away from there, leaving his fuming grandfather behind.

“Idiot...i meant in work and ethics and all....kids these day's!” he was muttering as arnav walked towards him fixing his cufflinks. He smiled at his grandfather and tapped him on his shoulders “Had another run-in with you younger grandchild?” he asked him with an amused face as his grandfather face reddened up

“I'm telling you arnav...i have had it with that boy...when will he grow up?!” he said as arnav sat down at the table. He buttered his toast while sipping on his orange juice “Leave him dadu...let him grow in his own time...i don't want him to loose out on his fun days” he said as his grandfather gave him a sad smile

“You mean, like you did?” he asked him in a concerned voice. Arnav stopped eating mid-way and looked at his grandfather “Its not like that dadu...I chose to grow up sooner than i wanted to...but i'll never force such a thing on akash...he's a good kid...and he'll be a better man because of it” he said as his grandfather nodded

“Ok, I need to get going now...have a meeting in an hour...and I do not want to get late!” he said as he got up to leave, only to be stopped by his grandfather “Wait...you still did not tell me what you thought of Khushi....we hardly spoke yesterday...” he said as arnav pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow.

“What's there to talk about? I don't know her that well...and we haven't even started working yet, so i can't really give you my judgement on her so soon” he said as he picked up his briefcase “Hmm..yes i suppose so....but what about first impression?” he asked arnav who stooped and turned towards him

“Lets just say....her grandmother was right in appointing her for this job....now I need to see, if she herself is worthy of it...or not” he said before saying a quick goodbye and walking out of the door...leaving his grandfather muttering again for the second time since morning....'Silly boy...i told him she was a good choice...'

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“Babu...at least eat a little bit of upma that lakshamma made” Garima urged her daughter who seemed to have wings attached on her feet “Uhh...mamma! You had to play that card on me right??!!” she said as she sulked and quickly sat down at the breakfast table making her mother and grandmother chuckle

“Khushi...you seem to be really excited for your first day in GR...I have hardly seen you this madly excited!” Shalini said as khushi smiled at her between quick bites of the scrumptious upma...one of her weaknesses...besides her mom's jalebis off course!

She stuffed down the rest before taking a swig of her soya milk “Nothing like that nani...its just that i wanted to get settled into the new office before the morning meeting...Mr Raizada and I are getting our teams together today...so it's going to be pretty hectic!” she said as her grandmother raised her eyebrow

“Yes, I suppose so...you kids do have a lot to work on...but i'm sure you and Arnav will make a good team” she beamed as Garima piped in “Oh yes...he is such a wonderful boy na ma? I really like him...he ahs achieved so much in such a young age...we should invite them all over for dinner one of these days soon” Garima said as khushi rolled her eyes

“Mamma, if it was possible, you would have a guest everyday at our dinner table, sampling your amazing food!...but i'm not complaining...i'm so looking forward to all my fav dishes being cooked!” she smiled as her mother gave her an indulgent smile

“Oh...speaking of food..when is fatty coming down? I need to meet his Mrs fatty...can't believe I have not met her yet....I mean, i do have have some say in the selection of my future bhabhi!” she said playfully at which her mother hit her on her arm

“Chup kar!...and stop calling Akhil fatty...he's a grown up man, taking the most crucial step in his life..you should learn from him!” she said with an admonishing stare at khushi who leaned forward and kissed her mom on her cheek “I did ma...i learnt how to stuff my face from him!” she said with a cheeky grin before hugging her grandmother and sprinting from the house.

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“Good morning everyone...as you know that this meeting has been called in to introduce and work out your new job responsibilities in this organization” Arnav said with a deep no nonsense voice as he looked around the room. He had Khushi sitting next to him on his right while the rest of their collective teams were sitting around the huge conference table

“You all have been working at various levels and posts in Raizada & Sons and Gupta Mills...but here at GR Inc, there might be slight shift in your work profiles...but you are all young and some of the best amongst our employees, so we have made sure that whatever is assigned to you, will only help you grow and achieve more in this organization” he said with a stern face as everyone nodded.

He gestured for khushi to take over from him. He had met up with her before the meeting and both had discussed the possible profiles the mixed core team should have; and luckily enough for them their choices had been bang on for each of their trusted team members

He saw her nod at him before sitting down himself. She gave everyone a brief smile before proceeding towards the projector screen. He watched as Aman switched off the lights while Lavanya started the presentation on the laptop...he did wonder how they had already started working so in sync within just the first 3 hours of meeting since morning.

“So everyone..let me ask you one question. And I want an honest answer from you lot” she said as all the assembled people looked at her keenly. Arnav leaned back in his chair and looked at her as she clicked the presentation pointer to the first slide. He took in the dress (see below) she wore that gave her that 'I mean business' look, while her silky tresses were today tied in a neat chignon;

“What do you think drives success?” she asked in a soft but sturdy voice as she eyed every person around the table, before landing her gaze on arnav before going to one of the people who had raised their hand “Yes..” she said to a young man in his mid 30's from Arnav's team “I think it has to be hardwork” he said to which she nodded and then lazily shook her head from side to side

“hmm...yes, but hard work is a given...what i want to know is what drives you to work harder to achieve you goals?” she said as a couple more people tried for answers, but all of them failed to give the right one. Arnav looked on amused as all started discussing amongst themselves...and though he did not like wasting time on one silly question...he knew that she must have asked it for a reason...and he will be damed if he assumes something about her again!

“Ok..ok...everyone...since none of you'll got it...let me tell you” she said as a sudden hush fell in the room. She then clicked on the pointer again and a single word appeared in a small font in the centre of the screen “What we need to drive success...is Passion” she said her eyes meeting arnav's surprised ones for a split second before lowering down.

“We need passion to succeed, we need passion to tackle each and every obstacle in our path and we need passion to become number one. I will not settle for those who think of this as a 9 to 6 job...i will not tolerate anyone questioning their roles in this company. I need...” she said as she quickly reminded herself that there are two of them.

She looked at arnav before continuing “WE, need a team that will give their heart and soul to this company...now i know I can't force loyalty on anyone...but if you have even a smidgen of doubt in your mind after seeing the new organizational chart, please feel free to let us know...you will be free to go back to your earlier job in either of the parent company's” she said as everyone stared at her

“Am i clear?” she asked them as everyone started nodding and murmuring at once while she clicked on the next slide and the organization structure came up. 

She looked at arnav who gave her a 'go ahead' before she started explaining the new teams, their superiors and juniors. He had felt a kind of jolt when she changed her 'I' to 'We'...guess they really were in this together....and there was no going back.

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Khushi sat in her office, sipping her strong masala tea, as aman reviewed the minutes-of-meeting; she nodded as he recounted one of the points she had made earlier during the meeting and closed her eyes and relaxed back in her chair.

She liked the chair...it was comfortable and gave her spine the perfect posture for sitting, in fact she liked everything about her cabin; it was minimalistically designed with carefully selected but practical furniture in rich dark walnut wood. She took a deep breath to smell the freshly painted walls and smiled.

She knew she was perfectly poised and in control of her presentation earlier, but somehow her mind reacted violently whenever she had looked into those all seeing eyes...she did not understand this need to be perfect in front of him...was it because that small past incident still hurt her? Or was it something else.

All through out their private meeting in the morning, she was trying too hard...she was going too far in this desire to impress him if not better him...and that disturbed her...she was never like this; all throughout her life, the only two people whose opinion mattered were her mother and nani...she had never found a need to get any sort of approval from anyone else...so why now?

She opened her eyes as she heard aman's voice piercing her thoughts “Maam?” he asked her as she quickly leaned towards him and rubbed her temples “Yes aman?” she said as he looked at her skeptically “Uh..i was just asking if you would like to attend the 'Aastha foundation Mela day'?" He asked her as she gave him a confused look

“Oh ...uh, sorry I don't suppose I briefed you about it...well, its an annual event that Raizada & Son's carry out for the various orphanages under Aastha foundation, it's held at Azad maidan, where all the children from the orphanages across mumbai present various dancing and singing talents..other events like art competition and sports are also carried out for them...many donations are made out on this day..” he said as khushi nodded

“So Lavanya told me to inform you about this; ASR wanted you to join in as well, that is if you want to go” he said as khushi smiled at him “Sure Aman, off course i'll go...why do you even need to ask...mark it in my calendar...”she said as he quickly nodded and left her in her cabin

Khushi was just about to call her grandmother when she got a call from her front desk “Yes?” she picked up the call as a nervous voice came from the other end “Maam..ASR is here to see you...” she said with a panicked voice while khushi felt like giggling...what happens to all of them when he was near

“Please let him come in” she said as she stood up and straighted her dress, the door opened after a few seconds “Hey!” arnav greeted her as she gave him a small smile and gestured him to sit down, he looked around her cabin and took a deep breath “I love this smell!” he said as he sat on the couch in her office.

Khushi gave him a small smile as she came and sat on the sofa chair on his left “So Mr Raizada...were you ok with the meeting today?” she asked him curiously as he pursed his lips and nodded “You did a good job Ms Gupta...i must say, I'm really impressed!” he said as khushi felt elated at the compliment, but she donned a mask of indifference and gave him a slight smile which wavered listening to his next words.

“But my marketing manager did have a complaint for her role” he said as she looked at him with a quizzical look “Oh? She did? But I thought you said, she will be very happy handling the key areas given to her” she said in a slightly offended voice which arnav did not fail to notice

“Yes..i did, and i've handled her..don't worry...she did not have any problem with the job assigned to her...she was just not comfortable working under you” he said as she looked at him questioningly. Arnav leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees before answering her

“See Ms Gupta...Sahiba has been with us since nearly 5 years now...plus she has a total work-ex of around 8 years....so for her to work under someone who has half her years of work-ex is difficult...” he said as khushi nodded stiffly

“Now, i'm not saying that she is right in her worry, but i suppose my people don't know you very well and most of the work you have done is in international market...” he said as khushi continued listening to him “Over here in India, things are a bit different...” he said as khushi got up and picked up a fashion magazine from a nearby table.

Arnav looked on as she opened a page that featured an ad by a leading fashion brand and held it out to Arnav “What do you see in this ad Mr Raizada?” she asked him as arnav mulled over what she was on about...did she even listen to a word he had just said to her. He looked at the ad and told her what he thought about it

“Beautifully pictured, perfect location...the fabrics are in line with the season depicted and the designs are in tune with the natural flow of water shown in the background...overall a very good ad to showcase the brand's autumn collection” he said as khushi nodded

“Great...so you understood what the brand was trying to say right?” she asked him as he nodded...where was she going with this?...she plopped back onto her seat and looked at him with her flaming hazel-green eyes

“Mr Raizada....marketing is nothing but promoting your brand or company in a positive light...sometimes it might be disruptive and sometime it may be as simple as writing the message you want to get across on a plain background and making a huge flashy hoarding out of it.” she said as arnav looked on intently.

“All I'm saying is that, yes...I have worked more in the international market...but that does not mean i don't understand the indian consumer...this ad which i showed you is made for the indian consumer by an international brand...and they have done a tremendous job of getting their point across” she said as arnav nodded

“I can't help the fact that I was chosen for this role with having a mere 5 year work-ex, but let me tell you one thing Mr Raizada....i may be active in Gupta Mills for a short time, but the company runs in my veins..its in my blood. I'm sure my grandmother chose me for a reason” she said passionately

“I'm not doubting your team and their talent and i think we have both worked out good if not perfect roles for them in this organization...I will not try and prove myself to anyone for any damn reason...my work will speak for me...and if they still think that they can't work for me, they are free to go back to their old job...but i will not tolerate people who don't even want to give this a chance” she said as she crossed her legs and leaned back, tired after the long speech.

Arnav gave her a slight nod before getting up and folding his arms across his chest “Fair enough...i'll let sahiba know...she can decide for herself...” he said as khushi nodded stiffly. She got up too as arnav turned towards the door but stopped before steeping out

“By the way...I did have my doubts about you at first...but i must admit that i'm seeing you in a different light now” he said as khushi nearly gasped at the first positive word from him “I know, you'll do good Khushi...and i'm glad you are part of GR Inc” he said before swiftly turning around and leaving.

The fact that he had called her 'Khushi' did not even register in her mind...instead the only thing that she felt at that moment was the thundering beat of her heart as his last words reverberated in her mind