Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Part 29 Scoop of Life---Seminar

February 3rd 2011, Thursday
India Habitat Center
2 PM Onwards

The seminar was receiving a phenomenal response. Delegates from SE Asia, West Africa and Central Africa were part of the events, hosting and participating. The Indian Government had "blessed" the event and wrangled an inaugural address for a Minister, but by and large babudom was missing, except in designated events where NGOs and donors wanted "policy maker" input.
She dressed in traditional Indian clothing on all days, her presentation was at 4 PM. Poonam had showed up early as her Mom was released from the hospital. Radhika was employed in her mind, though she was shunning the office since the UP debacle.

The Enforcement Director in collusion ith the businesses (no surprises there) had granted new licenses and issued renewals on companies that had serious violations. There was backing from "Delhi" she was told.
Her Dutch partners were very encouraging and supportive and so was Arindam and the entire team in Delhi.
They recommended she must vow not to give up. She was initially very reluctant, wanting to take a break, but working for the seminar had given her time to think and ponder.

The more she thought (she was not a thinker, she just DID things) the more likely it was that she might continue with her NGO. Ritwik had spoken to her after reaching and commented mockingly "Maybe tujhe wedding planner ban jaana chahiye, Dilli mein aajkal un logon ki mauj hai, you can talk your competition out of business"
She wanted to punch him, but then she wanted to punch him for many things

She missed him a lot.
He was more like her best friend. She had a dozen friends she hung out with routinely, none knew her as much as Rit did.
Likewise for him.
Though she had threatened to spill the beans on his sexcapades she hadnt said a word to Ma.
Papa seemed really busy since starting his new job, he had promised to attend her presentation but had bailed in the last minute.
A part of her was happy that he had found something,............ finally..... that he loved so much. The company had manufacturing all over India. He had to travel frequently to Maharashtra and Rajasthan. He said though it was privately held, by two brothers, it functioned like a public corporation.
She was not into reading or learning more about Corp India, but her Papa couldnt stop talking about this venture.
She could see a glint in his eyes, something that told her "This could have been US Radhoo, US, we could have grown and flourished if things had not tanked in our end of the world"
Everyone else had moved on, Papa was still "there" on most occasions
Poonam: Tabiyat to theek hai tumhari tum chup kyon ho? (nudge)
Radz: HA! I like that! No rey, I was thinking, if we should go to Dehat Kanpur in Marchish time frame?
Poonam: REALLY? (overjoyed)
Radz: In a senti sorta way jab bhi main paani peeti hoon mujhe woh 20 hajar log yaad aate hain aur main roti hoon.
Poonam: Kuch zyaada nahi ho gaya? (hugging her)
Radz: I know.... (smiling) Par u know.... kaise chhod sakte hain adhura?
Arindam: Are you two conducting a seminar just for urselves?
He was short and muscular, very bright, and articulate
Radz: Ofcourse not! You are the honorary invitee. Just you! (pokes him)
Arin: I saw the hand outs and the scorecards, they look great Rad!!
Radz: Actually I was almost late collecting them, tumhe pata hai kya hua jab main hospital se nikli, I gave a ride to.......... (she starts off)
Arin: Yaar please not now. (swears in Bengali)
Radz: A COOKBOOK author! Do you believe it? She looked gorgeous, like a movie star or something
Poonam is busy pretending to work
Arin: Unke ghar par kaun kaun hai, kitne billi hain, whats the name of their maid
:Radz: Funny!! Servant ka naam nahi poocha, haan but met the badi aun... sorry Dadi... and the beta.
A strange uneasiness over powers her........., out of the blue....
Arin: Kya hua?
Radz: Not a thing! (confident)
They are in a huge "back room of sorts" there are posters on the wall identifying the various NGOs and donors and other tertiary organizations all concentrated in the effort of bringing clean water around the region.
The attendance was quite pleasing, and people seemed happy and upbeat.
Radz reviewed her material one last time with Arin, and hesitantly approached the topic of wanting to go back to Kanpur. There was a glint in his eyes, he quickly hid, "Sure" "Thats what you should do if you want to go back there" (very bland)
Radz: Tum zyaada excited nahi ho main ruk rahi hoon? (sad)
Arin: kya pata ek mahiney mein you will say, I plan to get married and quit it entirely, I have to be fearful of you single uns! " (winks)
Radz: Dont ask! My parents are stalking me. I actually stood a guy up last Sat I think, he works for DOW Arin! What a cruel twist!
Arindam looks worried, he knows how passionate, committed and involved she is with this cause. She is not doing this for the sake of eventually working for a multinational non-profit later. She was doing this because she wanted to work at the grass roots level. There was a no nonsense air about her when it came to work matters.........
3:45 PM
She made her way to one of the many seminar rooms, there were multiple seminars happening at teh same time, so people could choose the topic they favored, some speakers spoke at multiple times as well, hers was scheduled for one time, Arindam was plugging his ideas thrice in 4 days!
She wore a pale pink cotton suit, with a marroon dupatta, with chunky silver in her hands and ears, there was none on her neck
She wore a bindi today..............
The convention center was circular with rooms all around, there were "reception desks" placed in multiple areas where companies, non-profits and individuals could register if they wanted to be contacted later.
"Social responsibility is beginning to make good business sense in India" she talked to herself....... yep, she did that a lot.
She stopped at a NGO that was working in North East reviewed the posters and grabbed a few pamphlets and turned and walked right into someone.
He steadied her...
Raghav: Radhika....
Radz (startled) You made it? (like he lived on another continent)
Something urged her to check her appearance once, she did that as surreptiously as possible.
Folding her voluminous dupatta into a 4th pleat on her shoulder..........
He was quiet, observing how she did that......
He noticed her blob of an earring, like an "umbrella" he thought..... her big eyes were kohl lined as always....... he noticed a kajal straightline of a bindi on her forehead "pretty" came to his mind
Radz: I was just checking the other NGOs some are doing great work. I like the way somehave actually more than one person in the "field offices" unlike us, who shift our field office acc to our convenience. Dont let Arindam hear that (giggles) Poonam was mentioning a famous non-profit being based out of Golf Links, not sure you know of it, not that you should...........
His arms were folded outfront........ he wore what seemed like formal clothes....... "navy trousers and a blue shirt" the frame on his glasses seemed different, she wanted to ask but did not.......
But continued to talk........... all to herself, as usual..... " We are running out of project report copies, Umesh was supposed to go grab a box thats in our office but looks like he is playing hookey"
He had blown off a lunch date with Nayana!!!!!
He had looked up the seminar website twice since she had visted two weekends ago.........
He had gone into work to speak with Usman Ali and a site supervisor at Kanpur in a phone conf. The laether initiative was his baby, he was showing a spark of enthusiasm, just a spark......... nevertheless it was there...

Work only interested him so much usually........
Especially when the image of a luscious dark haired big eyed girl was beginning to haunt it, work was more pointless.......
She spoke and spoke........ he just beheld her
Radz: there is a very cool AV presentation at 5 IF you can stay. It brings together efforts from around the world, they are planning to clip it to a 3 min film for pub svc announcements about conservation of water.... Doordarshan bought the rights...... tum ruk sakte ho kya? I can buy you chai at the canteen" (smiling)
He wondered how she can act like she has known him for ever.
"It does not matter!"  he told himself........ smugly.......
Raghav: I can stick around Radhika!
She stopped.......... THATS all it took!

11 comments:

  1. nice one adi..
    so radhi is not quitting for now..
    arindam has point..his worry abt having unmarried girls at work..
    wow..shuru kar dhi radhi ne..
    radhi bumping into raghav..i find the way he calls her radhika very endearing..for now its just him who calls her radhika..
    hhhmmm..he checked the website twice..man he is too observant n does this make radhi very much aware of him..
    as raghav wondered how is she able to do this like she knows him for ages..she can hit it off very well even with a non-talkative person like raghav..
    raghav's interest in work..LOL!! but this baby which he has shown interest is going to bring pain later i suppose..waiting for radhi to know abt this..
    so raghav is going to stick around with her..super cool..
    awaiting the next part..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. abs right Ramz.. when Rads comes to know abt his work, will she accept him?? she stoop up a guy just coz he worked for DOW..
      waiting to know how much Rads will change if at all she changes..

      Delete
    2. hmmmm...me too thinking the same ....this leather refinery is going to be bone of contention between the two R & R!!!

      Delete
  2. lovely.. Rags wants to tick around and listen to her bak bak... good... she and her not stop talking... LOL..

    ReplyDelete
  3. ooh. he blew a lunch date with Nayana.. her dad is working on his dad's company.. and the son is 'working' on the daughter!! good going.. finally everybody is happy to be in work!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Adi,

    Finally caught up with all the parts I missed till date. You have been narrating SOL in wondeful way. Loving how R-R have been keeping bumping each other. It seems they are destined to be together. Rad is such a cute. As alway blue-pink combo is the heart of this story. Missing Casa a lot. Thanks. Hope you will keep updating regularly.

    Cheers, Karishma

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Adi...caught up with the last two updates.....loved the interactions between the two R & R, Daadi and MK...here too Daadi is very sharp and smart, so Daadi can feel the attraction as she is the one who noticed Radz going quite quiet as Rag approached.... brought back the good old memories of CASA...Gujral Daadi...loved her!!!

    Mridula Kapoor(MK)....a cook book author, I too was amazed!!!!

    So Raghav indeed made it to the seminar...LMAO...blew off his lunch date with Nayana...speaks volume...LOL!!!

    Our Jhansi ki Rani..Radhika...(@ Ramzz...even I find the way Raghav says her name too endearing :D).. is intimidated by Raghav.....that must have been first for her...uska pehla BF toh Belgium bhaag gaya the use se dar ke...hahaha!!!

    Can't thank you enough for continuing with your writing....it cheers me up :))...something to look fwd to!!!

    Loads of love and Hugs!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks you guys! I am so thrilled to see SO MANY RESPONDING. Ann, you said it!! "It cheers ME up too" to write. I have something to look forward to after a dull or dreary or a busy or a nerve wracking day at work!!!!

    I finish my chores and think about this tale. Its great entertainment.

    I was floundering for a while after RBO ended, got sick, recovered, parents visited, now Ive settled into this niche.

    I try watching IPKKND, both are SO OTT, I cringed watching the Holi episode last nite. Complete hamming from both. Not an iota of spontaneity in either.

    This tale gives me something creative to do.
    This is my scrap booking, knitting, singing, cooking, herb garden, painting, sculpting ALL rolled into one :-P

    ReplyDelete
  7. Shal, naan just like that oru thriller madiri I am giving these clues abt where Papa works :-P
    I am smiling, reading how easy it must be to figure out........

    YES, its going to be devastating for both to find out their missions in life are so completely contrary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. whats interesting if both their ways are the same.. it would be boring..

      Delete
  8. Aditee i am running out of word to praise ur writing
    U are brilliant as always i keep repeating the same but loved this part too :)
    He came to the seminar listened to everything she said and finally his blue line wow "Raghav: I can stick around Radhika!"
    I really love the way he calls her by her full name Radhika :)
    Thanks a lot :)

    ReplyDelete