AMBITIONS
Recap -
Prashant, a student of a reputed college of engineering had
joined in a textile firm at Surat as a textile engineer. Back at
New Delhi, he had a girlfriend named Richa.. Prashant loved her
dearly but his ambitions forced him forget the tangles of love
for the time - being and concentrate on realizing his dreams. But
he never knew when he became a victim of his ambitions. He
established himself as a textile entrepreneur. All this success
had come at the cost of his love for Richa. When Richa insisted
on marriage, he unwillingly, agreed. Just before marriage, he had
to go to US to finalise a merger where he witnessed the fragility
of a marital bond.
Just before evening Mr. Woodbridge and Prashanth concluded the
deed of takeover. Prashanth exchanged smiles and shook hands with
the ex-Chairman. Prashanth was bereft of a peaceful sleep in the
plane going to India that night. He had conquered yet another
milestone and now new vistas were opening for him to venture into
the American textile market. But his mind was not there and there
was agony in his heart. He was thinking of the additional burden
and responsibilities. He and his ambitions would be chained down.
His dreams had not been realized yet. To add to all this, he had
just seen how fragile a marital bond was. Something within him
told him that he was not prepared for all this.
Next morning, his plane touched the runway of New Delhi airport.
It was the 21st, and the next day was his marriage, Prashanth
recalled as he came out of the airport. Now he couldn't go
directly to Richa and tell her his decision of jilting her. He
decided to call Gautam.
"Hello, whom do you want?", inquired a lady's voice.
"May I speak to Mr. Gautam", asked Prashanth.
"I'll put him on line, just hold on."
"Hi Prashi, back in India? How was your trip?"
"Everything turned out to be as fine as I had
expected.", replied Prashanth.
"Congratulations, not for the merger, but for your marriage.
Richa must be very happy."
"She certainly is…", Prashanth said, with
indifference.
"Ah! Gautam, can you…do me a favour."
"Certainly man!", replied Gautam.
Stammering Prashanth blurted it out - "Can you tell Richa's
parents that I won't be able to keep her happy."
"What crap are you talking, Richa and you have been friends
since you were kids. She has always enjoyed your company and
today you are saying she won't be happy with you. What kind of
joke is this?", Gautam said with amusement.
"I'm serious.", retorted Prashanth, "Business and
marital life can't go together."
"So you mean to say that a businessman should not marry just
for the sake of their bloody business."
"But all businessmen do not have such an extensive business
empire to look after. Say if I breakfast in New Delhi, in Dubai I
shall have my lunch and I'll dine in London. Next day I'll wake
up in US.", Prashanth replied.
"I'm not exaggerating! You will never
understand!",frustration peeped out of Prashanth's
words."
"How will Richa understand this?" Gautam pleaded.
"I don't care. I can't simply let her play with my ambitions
when I'm on my way to fulfill them."
"You've gone crazy. You'll regret this", replied Gautam
and put back the receiver.
After 5 years -
Prashanth's company is a major textile giant swallowing up the
business and market of his rivals incessantly. People were taken
aback by the height of success he had managed to reach at such a
young age. Often his photographs and interviews appeared in
magazines describing him as the most outstanding entrepreneur of
the century. His factories have mushroomed in every nook and
corner of the world.
The managers of his US firm were trying hard to persuade
promising engineer of a rival company to join his firm. His
unique talent had made the manager believe that his inclusion
would definitely make the company progress by leaps and bounds.
With the kind of technology and surplus of money they had at
their disposal, they could definitely provide a better platform
for his unique ideas and innovations to be put into practice.
But, however, hard they tried to lure him, they were unable to
persuade him. He insisted on remain with the same company as it
was the one to give him a chance when all others had refused.
Finally, he agreed for an interview. The meeting was arranged in
a restaurant. To Prashanth's surprise, he saw Gautam and Richa
entering the restaurant and taking seats beside him. He was
speechless. He kept staring at Richa. Time didn't seem to have
any effect on Richa. Her face was so beautiful and full of life.
Her blue eyes seemed like deep oceans of innocence. Prashanth sat
there in silence recalling the fond memories of the moments they
had spent together.
Shattering the silence, Gautam spoke:
"So now, what do you want from me, Mr. Prashanth?"
"I …….. I don't want anything." Prashanth
said in despair.
He knew that he couldn't get Richa because getting Richa was
never his ambition. His craziness for business had made him throw
Richa out of his life. But now he was regretting. For all this,
for his lost love. All his wealth could not bring her back. For
the first time in his life, he realized that there was nobody to
care for him. He had sacrificed this wonderful thing just to
fulfill his ambitions. Endless thoughts kept hitting his brain.
He couldn't stand any longer. He rose from his seat and walked
out of the restaurant.
The next few days saw heavy crashes in stocks of Prashanth's
firms. Phones at Prashanth's office kept ringing and there was
nobody to answer them.
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MANOJ #134