Kalpana Mishra - Love Forever @Rajpath

SRISHTI PUBLISHERS & DISTRIBUTORS

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First published by

Srishti Publishers & Distributors in 2016

Copyright Kalpana Mishra, 2016

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This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, organisations and events described in this book are either a work of the authors imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, places, events or organisations is purely coincidental.

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

Dedicated to the two most important men in my life:
One who shaped me and made me
The person that I am today
My late grandfather Shri D.P. Tejwani;
The other without whose unconditional support
My life would not have been what it is today
My late father-in-law Shri Gopal Mishra.

Acknowledgements

A s I keep my fingers crossed that this book is liked and enjoyed by all, I also hope that it may become a source of creating awareness amongst our countrymen and women.

My parents: Thank you for making me what I am today.

My husband, Shailendra Kumar Mishra: I cant thank you enough for first conceiving the idea of creating this work of fiction, and for keeping patience enough even when I used to lose it and wanted you to leave everything aside too. You not only lend your ears to what I had penned down, but gave your earnest opinion too.

My kids: I wish to thank my kids who were five years old and one year old then. Especially my daughter, who being the elder one used to play and babysit her newborn sibling when I wished to pen down some ideas immediately.

My friends Hemlata, Monika, Lakshmi and Reema: The book would not have been completed had my friend Hemlata not stood behind me like a rock, coaxing me to write further. I wish to thank my best friend Monika for taking out precious time from her busy schedule and becoming my first editor-in-chief. I had constant discussions with the four of them through various phases of drafting and re-drafting, and coming up with a suitable title and a cover page for the book. I also wish to thank all those who helped me in editing the script and making it crisper.

Lokesh and Prateek: Thanks to my photographer Lokesh and the book cover designer Prateek for using their craft so precisely to give the book the look that it so rightly deserved.

Srishti Publishers: It was the logo of the publishing house that caught my attention so much that I actually wished secretly that this book be selected by them for publication. They turned out to be a real source of inspiration.

Special credits: Special thanks to Aastha, Umesh and Palak for being my continuous support systems.

Although planned as a work of fiction, as I completed the writing part, I realised that this book has a few resemblances with my real life too. Hence, I take this opportunity to thank all the people who have been a part of my lifes journey so far.

In the end, I wish to thank the Government of India for introducing Child Care Leave (CCL), which helped me in tending to my newborn and grooming my elder one during their formative years. I actually felt rewarded when my daughter (seven years now) came up with her own short story one fine day. Hoping to see her write many more.

Prologue

I t was like any other day in Patiala House Court in Delhi when Shalini entered. She was nervous as hell. She had accompanied her superiors to the court for defending official cases earlier too, but this was the first time on two accounts: firstly, she had come to file a case and not defend it; secondly, this time it was her personal case.

The chances of one filing a case against a loved one are rare. Such a decision is not made at the drop of a hat. Anyone who has been through it would have definitely felt the pain and agony and gone through the turmoil, the way Shalini was going through. She felt like Arjuna from the Mahabharata, who had to fight a war against his own people. But, at that point of time, she was sure of what she was doing; that she wanted to teach him a lesson.

Sitting there on a bench, and waiting for her turn to come, she was going through thousands of emotions. Being aware that this case may bring about an end to her relationship with Kartik, she was secretly hoping that her fears may prove to be false. Ignoring the fact that Kartik had not spoken to her even once since the time she had taken the decision to file the case, she was just being confident of the man in her life. Hoping blissfully that he might be reeling under the initial shock, but would soon be back with her and supporting her as always. Little was she aware of the impact of family bonding and pressures that Kartik was going through.

Case numbers were being called from the court room, and Shalinis case was still a few numbers away. Half an hour later, her number was called, Case No. 24. At that moment, she felt that here in this place, her whole identity had probably been huddled to a case number. Her advocate took her inside the room from where the number was called. The court room was not the same as is seen in the Hindi movies. It was much less crowded than the waiting area outside that she had just witnessed. It seemed to her that the woes of the people present inside were written all over their faces. Although, as the judge was about to give his verdict in the case preceding hers, it was already clear from the looks on the faces of the parties involved whose favour it was going to be in.

The judge then asked for the next complainant. After having heard the case through the advocate first and Shalini later, the judge asked, Who is there from the defendants side?

Suddenly she went numb upon seeing Kartik entering through the door.

I am representing the defendant, said Kartik, leaving Shalini in a state of shock, unable to understand whether this actually meant an end to her most loved relationship.

K artik, come lets go and meet our new batch-mates, said Shyamal Kumar. He had been the second person from the 2000 batch to join the organization in 2002. He had joined the post of Assistant, a Group B post in a ministry of the Government of India. Kartik had been the first one to join. All employees in a ministry are categorised under Groups from A to D, A being the highest rank.

Kartik Vats, a tall, fair-complexioned twenty-six-year-old guy, had a thick moustache and was soft spoken. It had been barely a month since Kartik had been appointed and had joined the Finance Department. But this young and dynamic man, who was otherwise an introvert, was already considered an outstanding performer. He requested Shyamal to wait for him, as he had to finish something.