AMBITIONS
Prashant was a final year student of the reputed 'College of Textile Engineering (CTE) ' at New Delhi . Only a year was left for him to be thrown into the world of reality . He was fixing the tubelight in his room when his friend Gautam entered .
' Hi Prashi .'
'Hi , How are you ?'
'By the way , Prashi , what are you planning to do after leaving college?'
' Becoming a real rich business magnate? said Prashant confidently.
'.How is Richa , by the way?'
'Oh ! She?s doing fine . Got a call from her yesterday. Didn?t get one today.'
' I cant fathom what the hell you people talk about everyday !'
'I cant imagine not talking to her for a single day? answered Prashant emotionally.
' Oh o '.! What intense feelings . Tell me , if you had to Richa and your career ,which will you prefer .?
'Obviously Yaar . Lady first.'
Later that evening , Richa called Prashant .
' And how is my young lady ?' asked prashant .
'Not happy with you, you seldom call me !'
'I'm sorry for that dear . I promise you wont have this complaint in the future.'
'That?s so sweet of you. Hey Prashi, parents are going out of tomorrow to attend a marriage in Gurgaon and are likely to spend the weekend there itself .
Why don?t we go out somewhere?'
'How about some botanical garden?'
'You are outdated Prashant. Lets go to some cool place. Why not go to
Fun 'n' Food?'
'Done , I'll pick you up tomorrow at 10 .'
Prashant and Richa had been friends since childhood and now this friendship was fast manifesting into subtle bonds of passionate love. They spent the whole of Saturday in Fun ?n? Food reveling in the pleasure of each thers company and pondering about their life to come .
Prashant completed his graduation and was now readfy to venture into the world to fulfill his ambitions. He went to Surat and landed up as a Textile engineer in a reputed firm manufacturing synthetic fibres.Two years had passed since Prashant came to Surat. Now , he was the head of a research lab dedicated to the development of synthetic fibres. One day, he was working on an experiment in his lab . He had tried five times before and failed all five times. He just couldn?t make out where the flaw was creeping in .Precisely at this moment , the lovely secretary came in and declared .
' Sir ,you have a phone call from New Delhi.'
'Who?s it ?' demanded Prashant.
'It?s Richa.'
'Tell her that I can?t spee?' Ok I'll attend.'
'Hi Richa . How are you .' asked Prashant hurriedly .
'Wont be fine any longer .'sighed Richa.
'Why, what's the problem dear ?'
'My father's started looking for a match for me and he is serious about it this time .'
'Can you come to Delhi tomorrow ?' asked Richa.
'Not tomorrow . I'm working on a very important experiment and if it succeeds it would change our lives .'
'I hope that happens before my father changes my life .'retorted Richa .
'Don?t worry dear . I'll call you later , good night.'
'Bye'
When Prashant returned to his lab , he was no longer thinking of Richa but his experiment . He worked through the night patiently and finally completed the experiment successfully .
The following morning began a new life in Prashant?s lire .He decided against handing over the results of the experiment to his employer .He rather decided to set up his own manufacturing unit where clothes will the clothes would be woven out of the new variety of synthetic fibre that he had developed . He was playing a big gamble which had the potential of bringing him on the roads of paving his way to the castles . To appease the high ambitions that he had bred , he confidently took the risk.
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His savings and borrowings from friends and relatives helped him set up his own firm under the name of ?Modern Wears?.Clothes coming out of his factory soon had taken over not only the Indian cloth market but also abroad . This resulted in expansion of his firm and soon Prashant had factories in almost every country of the world . Time had made him a cloth giant but the tragedy in his life was still to come .
As the business continued to expand, he found it extremely difficult to keep his Richa happy . She always longed to see his face . Richa?s anguish reached its height when on her birthday Prashant sent gifts through his secretary . When Richa insisted on marriage , after several denials , Prashant had to succumb . The marriage was scheduled for 22nd of October .
Incidentally on 18th of October , he had to fly to Us on an important business trip .He was trying to take over the Us based firm ?Denim Pioneers? which was an old player in the industry .
Prashant was sitting in a meeting with the president of the company , Mr Woodbrige?s cell phone kept on ringing and Prashant could not help asking him the reason . Woodbridge explained that it was from his wife . He had promised her they would go for yachting that day and she was all dressed up waiting for him . Although he told her that he had some very urgent official matters to attend but his wife simply would not listen .A young lady pushed the secretary aside and rushed into the cabin . Woodbridge got up . It took a while for Prashant to understand the and by that time the couple were into a very heated argument .
"Ok ! I'l divorce you ."were the final words of Mr Woodbridge that sounded in his ear .
Prashant felt very sorry for what had happened and asked his counterpart weather they shall postpone the meeting . Mr Woodbridge relaxed and clarified that it was not the first time it had happened . Already 2 ladies had dumped him before . He added prudently -?Business and wife cannot go together.?
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( Remaining part the story in the next edition .)
---------Manoj @ 134