Chapter 9: Peek A
Boo
The night gave way to a beautiful
morning. The sun smiled pleasantly at the world while the birds were chirping
and the air perfumed with centaur flowers gave rise to a pleasant smell. The
Singhania mansion was buzzing with activity. Gardeners were tending and pruning
the bushes and flowers and the servants were running hither and thither. Gowtam
Singhania hated any hitches in the morning schedule of his yoga, exercise, and
breakfast on the table at exactly 7:30AM in the morning. While he was getting
ready to head to office, on the other end of the mansion Arjun was trying his
best to wake his lazy friend, Geet.
"Geet, wake up!" Arjun said for the
nth time shaking Geet, who simply tossed to the other side of the bed. "Uff
Geet! I seriously don't know how Anu mamma has the patience and time to wake
you up. Agar tum nahi uthi na I shall promise you I shall pour a bucket full of
water," he warned, "cold water," he reiterated.
"Hm, tum aisa kuch nahi karoge,"
Geet mumbled in her sleep.
"Geet I am really serious. And also
just to remind you, in the pace you are going definitely you shall not be on
time for the interview," he yelled.
The word interview did the trick.
Geet had badly wanted to work here and she had worked hard to get selected. And
never was she going to let this chance go. She quickly sat up on the bed,
rubbed her eyes and looked into her palm for a small morning prayer. After
invoking the Gods, she wished him a bright morning and ran towards the bathroom
to get ready for her big day. She came back from the shower and stood near her
suitcase wondering what she would wear for the interview. After intense search
and randomly throwing her clothes around, she found a neat pair of black formal
pants and matched it with a clean plain pink shirt. Slipping into her formals
and neatly braiding her hair into a tight bun she looked into the mirror for
final touch up of mascara and khol her eyes. She placed a small bindi on her
forehead and complimented her look with a small streak of vibhuti (sacred ash).
No matter what kind of dress she wore, she always had to have a bindi on her
forehead and a streak of vibhuti. She took a final look at her reflection on
the mirror and dashed towards the breakfast table to grab a quick bite. The
servants had made sure they made few dosas, sambar, and chutney as she had
always insisted upon a good South Indian breakfast. She would complain that
without her dosa sambar, her day would not transition smoothly. At home, her
mother always cooked breakfast for her. And whenever she visited the
Singhanias, the servants were instructed to cook South Indian breakfast
especially for Geet. Arjun was busy eating his breakfast when Geet ran to the
table to eat her breakfast.
"Hello Miss Bambai Maami, tumhari
favorite dosa ready hai, jaldi se khalo I shall drop you," Arjun said with a
smile.
"Thanks, but if you again call me
Bambai Maami, I shall not come with you," Geet said placing a dosa and some
chutney on her plate.
"Accha?
Okay sorry Bambai Maami I shall not call you that," he teased.
Geet
threatened to shove dosa down his throat knowing his hate for South Indian food
if he continued to call her by that name. Arjun, fearing she would definitely
do something along the line, decided to keep mum. She finished her breakfast,
picked up the necessary papers, and went to the car that Arjun got out of the
garage. As the drive to the company was far from their house, they started a
little early to escape early morning rush traffic. While on the road, they
caught up with each other on what they did during their separation. They
finally arrived at the entrance of the company. Arjun dropped her near the gate
and said he would pick her up when she was done. Wishing her luck he turned the
car and drove away. Geet looked at the huge building that read Khurana
Constructions. She took a deep breath and walked into the building praying,
"Muruga! Please help me Muruga. Today is a big day for me so only you have to
stay with me. Okay Muruga? I know you will but just putting my request so that
you don't go away to someone else when I am in dear need of you."
The
building was classic indeed. Like the company's reputation, it was crisp, neat,
and precise. Geet walked through the large glass doors to be greeted by a cute
and short receptionist who was munching down a handful of banana chips. She
wore a neat shirt and formal pants, with her hair left out. She had a small
streak of sandalwood paste on her head portraying her Malayali roots. She was
talking on the phone with a slight accent when Geet arrived at the desk. Geet
gave her a huge smile when she motioned to wait a minute while she finished up
with the call. She gave a toothy grin to Geet and asked how she could help her.
"Hello,
I am here for an interview for junior architect. My name is Geetanjali Handa,
coming from Bombay." Geet finished showing the receptionist her interview
letter. The receptionist glanced at it and looked at the appointment book to
see if there was any scheduled interview. Finding Geet's name, she affirmed her
appointment and came out of her chair to show her the way to the conference
room. She walked her to the conference room and motioned her to take a seat.
"Geedanjali,"
she said in her Malayali accent, "you please take your seat so while I go and
call Adhi and Sasha to take your interview."
"Thank
you, Miss?" Geet asked wanting to know her name.
"Oh
I am Priyatara Menon, known as Pingy (Pinky) to all," she said shaking her
hands with Geet.
"Oh,
very nice to meet you Pinky," Geet greeted back with a friendly smile.
Geet
settled herself comfortably in the seat while she waited for the people to come
to take her interview. After a few minutes a man in black rectangular glasses
along with a woman of small stature in short skirt and shirt walked into the
conference room. Geet stood up to greet the duo. The man returned her smile
while the lady just shook her head while holding her cold gaze.
"Hello
Miss Handa, very nice to meet you. I am Adhi, the HR manager in Khurana
Constructions, and this is Miss Sasha, Senior Architect of Khurana
Constructions" Adhi said extending his hand for a handshake and motioning her
to take her seat. Geet gave her file containing the mark sheet and other
important papers to Adhi while Sasha asked her a few technical questions about
architecture. Geet's short and precise replies and her certificates and
qualifications for the job impressed Adhi. After a Sasha was done with her
questions she whispered something curtly to Adhi and left and Adhi took over
from there.
"Well
Miss Handa, given the qualifications and your performance in your college,
Khurana Constructions were pleased to offer you a job. And this interview was
just a mere formality to see if you fit in with the qualifications perfectly.
Congratulations, you are definitely selected and I shall be happy to discuss your
salary and other things that you need to know to work here," he finished with a
smile.
Geet
was ecstatic at Adhi's declaration. Her dream job to work in Khurana
Constructions was finally fulfilled today. She gave a quick mental prayer to
her Muruga thanking him for helping her fulfill her dream. She thanked Adhi and
let him know her eagerness to join the company. They walked out of the room.
"As
you know we are the number one construction company in business today and so we
expect the best from all our staff. The quality of the work and sincerity and
dedication is absolutely necessary and we demand that you give your best
effort. From what I see you are based in Mumbai so I shall give you a few days
before you join our company. I shall discuss your salary and other perks but
before that let me get your appointment letter and other papers ready so that
my boss, Maan Singh Khurana, can check it and approve it. Until then Miss Pinky
shall introduce you to our staff," Adhi said signaling Pinky to take Geet around
the office.
Pinky juggled with banana chips in
one hand and the phone in the other while nodding in the affirmative to Adhi
that she would take Geet. Adhi walked away and Geet patiently waited for pinky
to take her around the office. Pinky shoved some chips into her mouth before
leaving her desk and walked towards Geet. By the time she reached where Geet
was standing she had quickly munched down the contents down her throat.
"So Geed, I can see you got
selected, congradulations," Pinky said swallowing the remaining bits of her
chips.
"Thanks a lot Pinky," Geet replied,
"I am really excited about working here as a junior architect. And since I am
here to stay, allow me to extend my hand of friendship to you. Will you be my
friend Pinky?" Geet asked with a lovely smile.
"Of gourse Geed," Pinky replied
excited about the new turn of events and asking her to follow her so that she
can introduce Geet to everyone in the office. Both walked towards the nearest
cubicle. A man in his late twenties got up to greet the ladies.
"Hello there my beautiful ladies,"
he said winking at both Geet and Pinky.
"Romeo, stop flirding (flirting)
and behave properly," Pinky said with a slight annoyance in her tone. "Geed,
this is Romeo, the Accounts Assisdant (assistant), and Romeo this is Miss
Geedanjali Handa, our new junior Architect" she said looking at Geet.
"Hello Romeo," Geet said shaking
her hand with him, "toh aapki Juliet kahan hai?"
Sensing that he had met his jolly
match, "Intehaa ho gayi intezaar ki," he said with his hands on his head as
though he his infinite wait would never end. Geet laughed at his humorous
enactment and assured he would find his Juliet soon. With that being said, Geet
and Pinky moved to adjacent cubicles. Pinky introduced her while Geet got to know
about her new colleagues, Tasha, Sasha's personal assistant, Lohit Sharma,
known as Lotus, from the accounts department, Haridas Pandey, otherwise known
as Pandeyji, who handled legal considerations. Everyone seemed nice and
friendly except Tasha who had merely acknowledged her presence by a curt smile.
Geet wondered about Tasha reaction but soon forgot about it when Pinky was
seriously mentioning about their boss, Mr. Maan Singh Khurana.
"You know Geed, among us girls our
boss is known as Dhak Dhak, shortened as DD," Pinky said with her dreamy eyes.
Geet was surprised and asked, "Kyun
woh Hero Honda bike hai kya, jaise bole Hero Honda desh ki dhadkan, dhak dhak?"
"Ayyada, ente Guruvayoorappa! No
Geed, not like that. I meant like Dhak Dhak as in," she paused trying to think
of a better explanation. An idea flashed across her face, "You know as in that
famous Tamil song, manmatha rasa manmatha rasa," she said waving around her
arms while failing miserably mimicking a dance move, "he is that manmatha rasa."
Geet laughed at Pinky's explanation
and appreciated her sense of humor. "Pinky stop joking around, I mean I haven't
heard a lot about Maan Singh Khurana except the fact that he is number one in
his job. But seriously manmatha rasa, you are too funny Pinky," she said
laughing out loud. Seeing Pinky's serious face, Geet stopped her laughing and
eyed her curiously.
"Yes Geed, his looks are to kill
but the problem is he never looks," she sighed. "All he does is work, work, and
more work. And that's it. A man of few words but his anger is bigger than the
tallest building on earth. So people fear his presence and run to the corner to
avoid his piercing gaze. So just warning you don't get on his wrong side."
Just as Pinky finished telling her
a loud siren blared throughout the office. Geet was alarmed by the sudden noise
and looked baffled. Pinky informed her that it was the signal that Maan Singh
Khurana had arrived and would be in the office in a few minutes so everyone
should get back to their work. By the time she finished explaining, Adhi
arrived and told her to take a seat in their boss' cabin so that he could give
him the final details about while she gets a chance to meet him personally.
Geet agreed and went into the cabin while Adhi went to print out the agreement
papers.
A man in purple shirt, striped
matching tie, a black jacket vest, and formal black pant, walked into Khurana
construction surrounded by three bodyguards. His boots echoed down the hallways
of the office while everyone in the office quietly ran back to their respective
seats before he/she became the wrath of his anger. His cold gaze pierced the
onlooker and his stern expression gave an image of being in a serious
parliament assembly.
Maan Singh Khurana walked into his
cabin to find a new woman facing her back towards him. He wondered who would
have come to meet him this early, as he had no appointments until 2 in the
afternoon. Curious about the new visitor, he strode down towards his chair. But
before he made it to the other side of the desk, the person sitting on the
chair suddenly rose with a horrific expression on her face.
"Tum, Mr. Jellyfish!" Geet shrieked,
"yahan bhi peeche peeche aagaye?"
NOTE: Okay Guys from now onwards the story may have a lot of familiarity in Maaneet interaction. Although some are intentional most are my imagination and my touch on Maan and Geet's encounters. I fell in love with the Maan Singh Khurana from GHSP, the angry young man, so I wanted to keep his character intact. Thats the reason the story is going through a phase of Maaneet office interaction. Please let me know how you like it. The plot and details are definitely different but this Maaneet nok jhoks in office may look like the one on the show if you dont like it please let me know so that I shall change it although I prefer to keep it. please let me know how you guys feel and do comment or at least press the like button!
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 13 years ago
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