It was very lively that afternoon at the Gateway of India. Many come to spend time relaxing on the sea side waiting for the sunset. The gateway of India is one of Mumbai's most famous icons. Every tourist who comes here both local and foreign, do not forget to take pictures in front of the gate overlooking the Arabian sea.Praveen was already here feeding the seagulls with the bread crumbs he bought earlier. Dozens of birds swarmed in front of him while pecking at the crumbs he had scattered. They looked tame. He didn't get tired of feeding them until he ran out of bread. More fun than just taking selfies. For a moment the mind was distracted. He didn't remember that he had just been kicked out by Auntie Jana.A group of teenage girls passed in front of him. He was busy feeding the birds. They whispered to each other and then smiled to him, perhaps surprisingly a young man with a charming face looked attentively feeding the birds.Praveen looked indifferent and didn't care about the g
At 9.30 pm, he arrived in front of the PN Shelter. The building looked more as a large warehouse than a shelter. For a moment he hesitated to move on, but he had no other choice but to stay here instead of sleeping in front of the shops. It's probably safer here, at least free from police raids that come to pick up homeless. Indeed, it was not every day that the police raid poor people, but recently had often been carried out due to the security situation not so conducive.Praveen dragged his steps towards the entrance of the shelter towards a table near the door. A man in his fifties with a gray mustache and beard sat there like a watchdog."Good night, Uncle." Praveen greeted him. "Can I stay here for a night or two?"The man looked at Praveen probingly. Maybe he didn't expect a young man in neat clothes to come to sleep in the shelter. His appearance was far from shabby like most homeless people"Why do you want to sleep here?""Because I have no place to stay. I just got kicked ou
"Make sure everything goes according to the plan. Don't let it go wrong. Wherever she is, make sure someone is stalking her unnoticed. Is that clear?" Narendra Prasadh said to Rajesh."Yes sir! Everyone is ready. I have clearly instructed them.""Is it clear where she placed in Dharavi?""Yes! Even our people are already there.""Good. But don't make it flashy or even revealed. It might all fall apart. If she finds out that everything had been set, it's still better. What I'm worried about is... if the people find out that she's my daughter. Her safety could be in danger." There was still a hint of worry in Narendra Prasadh's words.He knew that placing Zoya in Dharavi was indeed a high risk, especially in terms of safety and security. However, he would not reverse the decision. His daughter needs to get some mental training before taking the CEO seat. In Dharavi her sensitivity would be honed. At least she was more concerned with the working class so that later she would not be arbit
"Can you take me to Dharavi?" Zoya asked approaching."Of course!" replied the taxi driver with a big smile. He was a young man with the age of about 29 years. "Use the meter or not?""What is the difference?""If don't use a meter, it's about 200 rupees.""With the meter?""It's a bit expensive, it could be more than 200 rupees," said the taxi driver. He seemed to have memorized the tariff by heart."You don't have to use the meter, then.""Please get in!" the driver let Zoya in.Zoya opened the back door. She put her bag in first and then sit. The taxi immediately moved.Ten minutes Zoya was silent while directing her eyes outside. Her chest thumped a little thinking what she should do there. Obviously she would find lodging first. She knew there were also hotels worth staying for a while before getting rented.The taxi driver occasionally glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Looked like he wanted to talk, but hesitated.He cleared his throat a few times."You live in Dharavi
"Is it still far, Anil?" asked Zoya continued to follow the footsteps of Anil, the taxi driver. To be honest, she was starting to feel stifled through the narrow, stuffy, and cramped alley. The smell of curry mingled with the smell of sewers, and the smell of burning plastic bothered her. She wanted to cover her nose but she didn't do it, afraid she would offend the people around. They looked relax. Their noses must had been immune to those smells."About two hundred meters, Miss!" Anil replied looking relaxed. He jumped over a small ditch that was clogged and the water was black. Water pipes were milling over it. Zoya jumped it too. Luckily, she wore low shoes so it didn't obstruct her steps.The alley turned to the right and seemed to be getting narrower. The deeper they walked into the Alley, the houses getting densely and there were many small alleys on both sides. Zoya tried to scan the place and marked it as she was sure, if the driver suddenly run away, she could get lost.She
Ten minutes later Zoya and Anil were already on their way back to the taxi parked on the side of the road. They followed the path they had taken before. Zoya seemed to be observing the path which was nothing more than an alley. Let alone small cars, motorbikes may not be able to pass by, just for people passing by."What are you looking at, miss?" asked Anil surprised to see Zoya looking around."I want to make sure the alley we passing through so that tomorrow I don't get lost here. It's a bit hard to remember the route.""Really? It's easy!""For people like you who were born and raised here, of course it's easy.""It's still close to the main road, we haven't entered the heart of Dharavi yet. Inside, it's more complicated, there are many small alleys like a maze," said Anil, continuing to walk a little faster. "By the way why did you choose Dharavi as a place to live, Mumbai is so big isn't it?"Zoya was silent, unprepared for Anil's question."At first I thought it would be cheape
Praveen had been going around looking for the address Auntie Neha gave him, but couldn't find it. From Morning till noon, he was still going around in Dharavi. He even asked people by handing a small piece of paper written by Auntie Neha, all of them shrugged and shook their heads.It was too hard to find. Too many nameless alleys. Too crowded houses, and too many misleading clues. And what annoyed him was many people he asked gave different answers. Some of them pointed to the north, some pointed to the south, and not a few pointed to the east.What a confused! He cursed himself. Did he have to look for the address in all directions?He was getting tired of walking down Dharavi without result. At noon he felt thirsty and hungry. He persisted not to have lunch. But keep looking for. His stomach was smarting to be filled. But he didn't care. If today the address he looking for was not found, he would inevitably return to the PN Shelter to stay overnight. It didn't really matter if stay
With definite steps Praveen headed the Citizen hotel located at 90 Feet Road. The hotel was not far, only about 700 meters from the one he called earlier. He had passed the hotel twice. From a physical point of view, it doesn't look like a hotel. Only a small three-story building and painted orange that has faded. At the front there was also a restaurant. There was a large neon sign in front of the hotel that reads Citizen Hotel & Restaurant. He would wait for the person who would pick him up right in front of the hotel. Praveen hastened his pace even more. He couldn't wait to get there. It was better for him to wait first. *** Zoya received her room key after she registered and checked in right away. Her room was on the second floor number 203. She was a little overwhelmed to climb the stairs because of the bag she carrying. Even though it wasn't that high, her breath was a little ragged when she got to the 2nd floor. Uh, it must be because she's rarely been exercising. While in
Meanwhile, far away in Mumbai, Sunil Chakraborty still could not accept the reality of what had happened.He was angry, but did not know how to vent his anger. Why did all this come to light?This must be the result of Roohan's failure, the man he had assigned to eliminate Praveen. If only he had succeeded, it would have been a different story. That man would have rotted at the bottom of the river!He had paid Roohan. He had to take responsibility for this failure! He should not deny it like that day, at least he should get his reward!Sunil still felt his chest burning with emotion. He would teach Roohan a lesson!He immediately left the house. But his steps stopped when Amaneesh stopped him."Where are you going?""I have some business to finish!""No! You stay home for now! Let me take care of everything!""No, Dad!" said Sunil, ignoring his father's words. He continued walking towards his car and soon the car was out of the garage.Amaneesh was furious, but could not do anything.
The afternoon was approaching.The Balinese bridal make-up artist had finished dressing Zoya. She seemed satisfied with her work.“It’s done. You can look in the mirror now!” said her with a smile.Zoya turned her body slowly to face the large mirror not far from her and was immediately stunned.Is that really her?She looked very different wearing a typical Balinese bridal kebaya in maroon and decorated with gold thread embroidery. Her head was decorated with a majestic floral metal crown that was also gold in color. Both of her wrists wore gold color bracelets. Prada songket cloth with a color that matched the kebaya she was wearing further enhanced her appearance.The make-up on her face was not striking so that her beautiful face looked even more beautiful.She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a long time, not expecting it to be herself.However, she had a little difficulty moving her head because the crown was quite heavy, around three kg.She convinced herself that she
The Balinese woman looked so graceful in the traditional dress. She wore a short white kebaya with a silver Prada cloth with a floral motif.Her black hair was pulled up into a bun. She was around mid-thirties and spoke fluent English.“So you two will be married with Balinese customs and rituals?”“Yes, of course. I have longed to marry with Balinese rituals. It just so happens that India and Bali have similarities,” Zoya explained.She smiled and looked at the two of them alternately. There was a sense of amazement in her eyes. The girl looked beautiful and the man was so handsome. They both looked so harmonious, especially later when they wear Balinese traditional clothes. Of course it would be even more charming.She had served quite a lot of clients who were about to get married, and most of them were Westerners, but this time she met a unique client from India.Judging from their appearance, they were not from just anyone. If not the upper class, then they must be public figures
Zoya and Praveen had landed in Bali three hours ago and now they had checked in at a resort in the Seminyak region. Zoya had made a reservation before so they didn't have to bother booking a hotel.Praveen didn't expect to go this far. This was the first time in his life he saw the outside world directly. It never even crossed his mind to be on this island of the gods. Not for leisure pursuit but to get married!No! He didn't feel tired after a long journey, in fact when he set foot in Ngurah Rai Airport his chest was still beating fast. Since leaving India, he felt like he entered a new world.Uncertain? Alienated? No! He didn't feel lost as long as Zoya was by his side. She gave him energy and determination so strong that he was a man who could overcome all obstacles.He had passed the biggest obstacle perfectly, taking away the lover he loved so much to escape from the one-sided match made by her parents.Coming out of the airport he was already fascinated by the pleasant atmospher
“What’s wrong? What are you guys talking about in there?” Sunil asked curiously.Stupid kid!If there were no other people around, Amaneesh would have slapped him. But he held back his anger so as not to raise further suspicion.“Come on, go home! I want to talk to you at home!”“Just tell me here now. I want to know!” Sunil said curiously.Amaneesh shook his head. He saw several of his subordinates standing looking at him in surprise.“You guys go back to the office now! We’ll talk later!”His subordinates took a respectful position,“Yes, sir!” said them.Sunil couldn’t accept it, he just walked briskly into Narendra’s room and opened the door,“What are you talking about with my father, Mr. Narendra?!” he asked loudly.Narendra was sitting on the sofa realizing the mistake he had made. Seeing Sunil act like that, his disgust surfaced again, he really didn’t want to see the young man’s face again.“Just ask your father! From now on I don’t want to see anymore! Get out of my room now
Rajesh Kumar was cheered. He quickly got up and half ran out to his car. In less than half an hour he was at the cafe that Narendra usually visited.Apparently Rajesh had arrived first. Narendra was not there yet. He immediately took a seat in the corner of the cafe and ordered a drink.Not long, finally Narendra appeared alone. He entered with brisk steps and sat across from Rajesh.“How are you, sir! Long time no see!” he said, starting the conversation.Narendra ignored him and went straight to the point.“Why did you tell me this now? Why?”“Because this is the best time to reveal everything!”“No! It’s too late!”“Not for me!”“Where did you get that evidence?” asked Narendra.Rajesh then explained in as much detail as possible.Narendra Prasadh listened with an angry expression. How could a police officer do something bad to get his personal desires and the police officer was… his future son-in-law? Truly, he had been deceived!“Your daughter has found a suitable man as her life
Two investigators came to see Mr. Amaneesh that night. They brought very important news.“We have checked the immigration data at the airport and got the names we are looking for, Sir! It turns out that Miss Zoya and Praveen Jayachandran took a flight abroad. They managed to escape to Singapore!” said a police officer named Sukhdev excitedly. His other colleague nodded in agreement.“That’s right! They left at 4:10 in the morning, and this data has been matched with the airline passenger manifest!”“They fled abroad?” said Amaneesh as if in disbelief. He did not know whether this was good or bad news because if this was true, their pursuit would be more difficult unless they asked for help from Interpol.But was it possible, considering that they were not criminals or perpetrators of crimes that harmed the country?Nothing is impossible. He could have used his authority as the Mumbai police chief.“What else did you get?”“That’s it. I think this is a very important clue, so I reporte
There were no significant results of the investigation even though Amaneesh had ordered many of his personnel. Some were ordered to Dharavi, some to modeling agencies, and advertising agencies and more to guard the borders.But none of them yielded results.Towards evening, Mrs. Fateema was even more shocked to see Sunil and his men arrive at her house. They interrogated her again, even though previously in Doorna she had been visited by the police asking about Praveen's whereabouts. Of course she did not know where he was. Since Zoya's identity was revealed, he had never been there again. What shocked her the most how Sunil knew where she lives?"Don't try to hide something from me, Mrs. Fateema!" said Sunil intimidatingly."Why would I hide him whereabouts, Sir! I have no idea at all. Since Ashita, I mean... Miss Zoya is no longer in Doorna, he has also never come again! Especially since he started to become famous!"“You don’t know where he lives?”“I don’t know exactly! But he sa
The wedding ceremony that was planned to take place this morning really ended in a mess, even though the hotel had made good preparations. The hall had been neatly arranged, both the stage and the arrangement of chairs and tables for the guests. Decorations full of flowers were already available. So was the catering.But all that was in vain because the bride ran away.Approaching 10 o'clock, the hall was actually quiet. Guests who did not know and had already come were not allowed to enter the building. The hotel was closed to guests.Of course, many guests were shocked, not expecting the party to be canceled. Not a few were disappointed because they had already come.In connection with being closed, Narendra's family could not hide their shame.This was the first time in his life he felt humiliated, not by someone else, but by his own child.Was there a wrong decision that made his daughter choose to run away rather than follow his wishes?But what was wrong? Isn't it his duty as a