Despite claims by Alka that she no longer wanted to have anything to do with her father, Nityanand had persuaded her into becoming the president of his political party. Convincing her hadn't been too hard, Nityanand mused, Savitri had shed a few tears, pressured by him to blackmail Alka, and Alka had also started to gain interest in politics. What Nityanand didn't know was that Alka was only interested to fulfill the promises she had made to Chander, promises to make Chander's dream come true, promises to make their city come out of the clutches of corruption and poverty.
Alka came inside the building, dressed in a kurti and jeans. Nityanand had talked her into leaving those outrageous western outfits she owned, but she still didn't wear salwar suits at work. She said that she looked unprofessional. Alka was a confident person, and she dealt with everything with a flair of authority, an air of calm confidence, a trait she had inherited from her father.
"Think of the devil, and here you come" he smirked.
"Good Morning, Papa" She rolled her eyes, in a way that showed that she would rather be anywhere but here.
Deciding to get straight to work, Nityanand lead Alka inside his office.
"Sit down, dear" he pointed at the chair in front of his mahogany table.
"I haven't come to sit down, if there is work, then tell me, otherwise I have to prepare my speech for tomorrow's rally"
"Sure, sure. Dear, you are always in a rush, you never sit down. Stay for a while, I will tell Kaka to bring tea"
"No thanks" Alka said firmly, "Please papa, tell me what I have to do."
"Hmm okay, Alka, you've always been stubborn. Quite like myself, actually" he chuckled.
"Papa, do you have something useful to say?"
"Yes. Alka you have behaved in a very rude manner towards my friend, Mr Malhotra. I heard that you called him a corrupted old guy who can't take care of his own son, let alone the rest of the country"
"Well, I said the truth"
"Alka! You know very well that he is an old colleague of mine, and I won't have you disrespecting elder's like this"
"Yeah, yeah. I got it papa, I am going to prepare everything needed in the rally from home. I know you are there to handle things over here. Bye"
-
She decided to visit Chander again, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to handle it. She needed to look at him, just once, and then she would have the confidence to give a speech to millions of people she didn't know. She would have the strength not to blank out because of the pressure of the media that scrutinized and criticized her every move. Just one glance, gave her the energy to live a few more days, in hope that the next ones after that wouldn't be without Chander. He had lain their for six months now, in a deep slumber that no one could get him out of, several tubes and wires attached to him, reminding Alka that he wasn't just sleeping.
"Chander, how are you?" She tried to be brave, to act as if everything was normal. "Did you know, I have a rally tomorrow! I am nervous, but I know that even though you won't be there with me physically, you are always with me, in my heart. Chander, today papa was scolding me for telling the truth to Malhotra uncle. But shouldn't he be glad that I didn't say that the very same truth applied to him as well? He couldn't take care of his own son, or daughter....I feel so alone, but you will come back, won't you?"She gave a half-hearted dejected smile and squeezed his hand, before walking out of the room.
"Maam, someone is at the door" Alka's secretary, Milly shouted from the kitchen
"Can you please open it for me?"
"Sure"
The knocking on the door grew more furious, more urgent, and a girl screamed out "Alka didi!"
Alka ran towards the door and unlocked it, letting the girl inside.
"Indu?"
"Didi, help me!"
The girl's black hair was falling on her face and she tucked it back behind her ear, her arms wrapped around her stomach protectively, as if doing that would stop any harm happening to the fetus inside it. Indu was panting, and could barely hold herself up. Alka hooked her arm around Indu's shoulder and dragged her to the sofa. "Are you okay?"
"I was at the mandir near your house, Rajesh was at work. I don't know how, some men came and they started chasing me. I was to far away from home, so I came here. Didi.." she sobbed and leaned forward into Alka's arms, as Alka stroked her hair.
"Milly, you go and see what is happening" Alka ordered.
"But Maam"
"Go!"
"Yes Maam" Milly nodded and took her phone out of her pocket, "I will do what I can do"
"Indu, you go to the room beside mine, you will sleep here tonight. I will call Rajesh and tell him to come here, is that fine?"
"Yes didi"
Alka sighed and sent Rajesh a text message, saying that Indu was staying at her house and he should come too.
Grabbing her laptop, she went to her room to start working on her speech.
_____________
Hope you liked it
I will be writing about Abhishek- Nandini, next😊, and of course I cant keep Chander in coma forever😉
Suvi
suvi,
its amazing ,i m dying to see what u will write for abhi-nandini 😉
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