The tall and slender stewardess dressed in Indian kurti inspected the passenger seatbelts one by one and reminded them to fasten the seatbelt. Within fifteen minutes, the plane of Air India carrying passengers from New York to Mumbai would ground at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. A few minutes ago the captain's voice heard from the speaker announcing that they were above Mumbai.In the economy class row, on seat 17F, next to the window, there was a girl with a smile on her face, looking out the window. She seemed to observe the megapolitan city from her seat. Skyscrapers were scattered below. Mixed with other small buildings, which were so tight and dense. Unlike Boston, the city where she lived for 4 years, the buildings were so classy and covered with glass even though the population was less, but Mumbai, looked more simple and a bit monotonous.But she didn't care, after all Mumbai was her hometown. The city she was born and raised. Mumbai in all its realities was much m
Praveen seemed very nervous when his name was called to enter the audition room. Would I be humiliated again this time like before? He thought to himself. Every time he took audition, he became the jokes of the panelists. He was said not talented, can't acting, and other degrading remarks. And so far he was still strong enough to face panelists whose mouth were sharper than a razor. He believed someday, he definitely be selected to the next stage. That belief never waned in the slightest. He had memorized the dialogues from the script. It's already by heart, and later it's just a matter of executing it in front of the panelists. Hopefully, all goes well. But this time, he was too nervous, disturbing his concentration. He did not expect too much, it was because the message he received since two days ago which made him unable to focus. The Important message telling him to go back to Chandrapur. The message was sent by his mother's sister, Auntie Neha. There was no other explanation why
In the midst of his confusion, Praveen still thought what to do. His hand as trembling dialed Aunt Neha's number. There was a dial tone, but it wasn't answered. He tried to call again, still no response. What's wrong? Why wasn't Auntie Neha picking up the phone? Was she angry because he had turned off his cell phone before? He tried to contact her many times, but she wasn't available. Praveen was almost in despair. He needed explanation now. Was the message he received true? Why did his mother die? All he knew she was fine before. Indeed, he rarely phoned her, because she didn't have a cell phone. Every time he contacted her, it would be to Auntie Neha first and then to her mother. Their house in the village is near, only twenty meters away. His mother lived alone in their small house in the village. She selling vegetables in market in Chandrapur on a daily basis. Every morning before sunrise, she goes to the collector and picks up vegetables to resell at the market. The vegetables w
The Cranky expression still covered Rajesh's face. After the incident he just kept quiet, not a word came out of his mouth. Zoya was also silent and looking out to the people passing by and the row of shops along the road side. She was sure, the young man was not lying by telling his mother died. Zoya could see the sadness and confusion on his handsome face. Handsome? Suddenly she smiled. During four years in Boston she rarely saw Indian men, only White or Hispanic faces everywhere. Once in a while another east Asian face. That's what she often saw at least around her campus. She wasn't that interested in them. The face of India was more attractive to her because she felt closer culturally. And honestly she admitted that the young man was the most handsome Indian man she had seen since setting foot in Mumbai today. That's why she's not angry. Her heart was wondering, who the hell was he? From his simple appearance, the man was nobody, just ordinary man like people out there. But his
The train entered Chandrapur District station just before nine in the morning. The small city had started to be busy, but definitely not as busy as Mumbai. The city known as Black Gold City as the coal beneath its land relatively quiet.Praveen had not slept all night in the train. He couldn't even close his eyes. The bread he bought yesterday was not eaten at all. Only a little bottled water left.When the train had stopped, Praveen hurriedly got out of the train. He ran out of the station and called for a tricycle bajaj that was parked on the side of the road waiting for passengers. Everything was fast paced. He didn't even bargain the fare just got on board, sat down and asked the driver to take him to his house in the southern part of Chandrapur.His heart was pounding. His mind wandered. If it was true that his mother died who will take care of the body? His mother was lived alone. It must had been Auntie Neha took care of everything with Sarpanch's help. Maybe she didn't call h
The small house he had left three months ago was deserted. Praveen sat pensively in one of the corner. This the house where he was born and raised. All the joys and sorrows he experienced here. In this place also his father died years ago due to acute tuberculosis. At that time he was only six years old, still too young to know death. He wasn't as sad as he was now, because there was still hismother. He was not very close to his father because the man was taciturn. Rarely did he utter a word. He leaved in the morning for work and came home late at night when Praveen was already sleepy and going to bed. His father worked as a coal miner.It was the mother who later became the breadwinner. She became a vegetable seller and receive sewing order from neighbors. If there were enough sewing orders, she worked late at night even though the wages she received not much, only enough to buy two liters of rice and cooking oil. But she never complained.His mother's face continued to haunt. Like e
Two days Zoya was at home without doing anything. On the third day she started to get bored because all she could do was eating, sleeping and talking with her family. She wanted to go out, but was reluctant to go alone because she had no friends. His two younger siblings, Rahul and Danishka, were busy with their school activity.She wanted to talk to his father about the possible job at the Vishaya Group company, but her father had not said anything about it. Narendra Prashadh thought Zoya still needed a break before she actually deployed at the company.Suddenly she remembered to call her old friends. No one knows that she had returned to India, not even had close friend, Ramya. The last time Zoya phoned her six months ago while still in Boston. They talked for a long time on the phone at the time, reminiscing memories from high school.Ramya Shilpa was the daughter of an influential public figure in Mumbai. Her father was a well known politician. Zoya even heard that Ramya's father
Zoya never thought she would meet Sunil here. But the reality spoke differently, the man who once filled her days appeared suddenly from the middle of nowhere. She had forgotten about him, throwing away all memories of him. And she succeeded. But why was he here?Uh, of course Ramya invited him. They went to the same school including the girl with Sunil, Sharmila Swetha. At least, the girl used to be Zoya's friend.Sharmila, a girl who was not only smart but also beautiful. Her intelligence was from her father, a leading Professor and internist in Mumbai. Supposedly Sharmila also completed her studies in medicine.Sunil affectionately brought Sharmila towards her. They both smiled although in Zoya's eyes looks like artificial smile."Hi Zoya, how are you?" said Sunil. Zoya couldn't help but smile back and replied, "Good. How are you guys?""As you can see." It was Sharmila who answered."Back from Boston?" Sunil asked."Yeah, just a few days ago.""On vacation or what?""I've graduate
Ten minutes later, Danishka was fast asleep. Zoya immediately got up from the bed and stared at her sister for a while to make sure the sleeping pill really worked.She looked like a sleeping beauty. So Beautiful.Zoya was stunned. Her guilt surfaced again. How cruel she was to do that for her own sister. But she had to do this.She patted Danishka’s shoulder. She was silent and unresponsive."I'm sorry, Danishka!" she said once again with regret.She got up from the bed to the balcony and opened the door. Outside she called Praveen."Prav, I'll be down in a minute, wait on the balcony!" she said in a trembling voice."Is your sister asleep? Is everything okay?""Of course! I've given her sleeping pills! Everything is according to the plan.""Okay, I'll wait for you! I'm ready too!" "I'll be down in five minutes!" Zoya turned off her phone. She then rushed into the closet and took the bag she had prepared. Before she carried the bag, she took out a roll of rope and when she was abou
It was almost midnight when Zoya was finally able to go to her room.“Aren’t you tired, Danishka?” Zoya asked her sister.Danishka shook her head. Her face looked cheerful.“I won’t just let this party pass me by! You’re so lucky, Sis! Dad threw a party this big for you!” said her sister.“What’s lucky? Being mated suddenly is lucky?”“Your mate is your ex, right? You’ve both dated before?”“Actually, I didn’t intend to get married! But never mind! After all, everyone gets married eventually, right?” said Zoya, not wanting to prolong her conversation with her sister.What is clear is that she is now in her room and carrying out her next plan.But no! She had to wait for Danishka to sleep first. If she didn’t sleep, Zoya had prepared an alternative scenario.But honestly, she didn’t have the heart to give Danishka sleeping pills.But what if there was no other way?Zoya went to the bathroom to freshen up and call Praveen.While in the bathroom, she immediately took out her phone and ty
“They’re coming! You should stay in your room! Don’t go anywhere!” Rajesh said over the phone.Rajesh was still in the cafe across from the hotel monitoring the situation.As he watched Narendra’s family group enter the hotel, he swallowed his saliva and felt a bitter sensation in his throat.He cursed his fate for no longer being a part of Narendra’s family. Ten years of devoting himself to Narendra and being his confidant, did not end his life well. Instead he ended up as a loser.It was so easy for Narendra to dump him.Just because of Sunil Chakraborty.But he did not regret it because now he had the chance to get back at him.He would embarrass Narendra and Sunil. He swore that the wedding party would end in vain.He would help the bride run away with another man. A man Narendra hated.He never imagined that he would end up in a reverse position like this. He still remembered how Narendra ordered him to get rid of Praveen. With the power he had, he beat the young man until he alm
“They’re coming! You should stay in your room! Don’t go anywhere!” Rajesh said over the phone.Rajesh was still in the cafe across from the hotel monitoring the situation.As he watched Narendra’s family group enter the hotel, he swallowed his saliva and felt a bitter sensation in his throat.He cursed his fate for no longer being a part of Narendra’s family. Ten years of devoting himself to Narendra and being his confidant, did not end his life well. Instead he ended up as a loser.It was so easy for Narendra to dump him.Just because of Sunil Chakraborty.But he did not regret it because now he had the chance to get back at him.He would embarrass Narendra and Sunil. He swore that the wedding party would end in vain.He would help the bride run away with another man. A man Narendra hated.He never imagined that he would end up in a reverse position like this. He still remembered how Narendra ordered him to get rid of Praveen. With the power he had, he beat the young man until he alm
Praveen was back in the hotel room when Narendra Prasadh's family troupe arrived. Two luxury cars entered the hotel grounds in a convoy and stopped in front of the entrance. Not far behind were five more SUVs carrying employees and servants.Narendra Prasadh was in the first car. He got out of the car after the hotel staff opened the car door for him.He appeared to be wearing traditional clothing instead of a suit, and that did not diminish his authority as a wealthy businessman.His wife, Pratyusha Beniwal followed after him. She also appeared to be wearing a saree with gold ornaments. Precious stone jewelry in the form of a necklace and bracelet added to the luxury of her appearance. Truly extraordinary. Then followed by her youngest son Rahul.Before entering, the graceful woman stood for a moment waiting for the next car. The sedan carrying Zoya and her sister Danishka.The hotel staff also swiftly opened the car door for Zoya. She got out of the car carefully while fixing her sa
That morning at Amaneesh Chakraborty's residence, there was also a lot of activity.They would perform Ganesh puja, a ritual to ask the god for blessings.The procession will be held this afternoon. Many of Mr. Amaneesh's extended family had also attended.The joy radiated from the face of the Mumbai Police Chief. Of course, this was a happy day because his proud son, Sunil Chakraborty, was getting married.As a father, he could imagine how lucky Sunil was. Having a good career in the police force and also having a beautiful wife who was the daughter of a rich man in Mumbai.It felt like a dream.All preparations had been done well by a third party. They just went through it. Everything went smoothly according to expectations.Sunil should have also been very happy that day. But it was as if something was bothering him, and it was visible on his face. He was not completely happy because of one problem that had not been resolved until now.He should have been able to overcome Praveen a
Praveen was still lying in bed that morning. Even though the hotel room was so comfortable, he had not been able to sleep at all since last night.This was a very decisive moment in his life, preparing himself to carry out the plan he had made as best he could.He had thought about it down to the smallest detail so that this plan would succeed. There should be no gaps or opportunities for him to fail.If he failed, he could end up in prison.Taking away the prospective bride who is none other than the daughter of a prominent conglomerate and the prospective daughter-in-law of the number one person in the Mumbai police?It would definitely create a scene and become national news. More sensational than the kidnapping that Zoya experienced before!If he failed, his face would adorn the front pages of newspapers and even television, not as an actor or model, but as a criminal. The career he had built with great difficulty would end tragically.No, that couldn't happen!He immediately got
It was late afternoon when they returned from Dharavi, but nothing happened. Praveen's room was empty just like when Sunil visited earlier. There was no sign of him coming here. Nothing had changed at all.It was just that Zoya felt a different atmosphere when she saw the room. There was a longing that enveloped her, imagining when she and Praveen were alone in the room.She remembered the time she slept over during the heavy rain that caused flooding due to the moonson. Even though the lights were out and it was raining outside, she felt at peace in Praveen's arms all night. The man really took good care of her.There were indeed many memories in Dharavi. If not with Sunil, she would have gone to school to meet the teachers there, Mrs. Fateema and her two other friends, Harshida and Shanti. Or if necessary she would go to her rented house.Had everything remained the same or changed? She really didn't know."Where have you been? Why are you home at this hour?" Mrs. Pratyusha asked wh
A surprise for Zoya, but not for Sunil as they headed to the AMA office. A large billboard on the side of the road caught the attention of passersby.An advertising billboard starring Praveen. Apparently the advertisement had spread to several strategic places.Zoya was happy to see the billboard. She wanted to take out her cellphone and take a picture of it as memorials. But she didn't because didn't want to offend the man beside her. She didn't say a word, even trying to divert attention by pretending not to see it."Damn it! I don't want to see that billboard!" said Sunil."Isn't he the person you want to meet now?""Right, but not with his poster!""Okay! Just look away!" said Zoya indifferently. She tried not to look at the billboard as if it wasn't important.Sunil's gut feeling told him that she deliberately pretended unwilling to see the billboard. He was sure, deep down in her heart, she was happy to see it. It made Sunil even more annoyed.If only he could find him, he woul