After walking around looking at Dharavi's situation, Zoya returned to the hotel. She felt tired, all her joints felt feeble after walking down the row of shops selling various goods. She had marked important places such as clinics, ATMs, restaurants, grocery stores, and so on. It turned out that her worries were baseless. Even though Dharavi was a slum area, but all the places she needs are available there. Of course she didn't go into the alleys leading to central Dharavi . She was afraid to get lost, knowing she was a new comer.Arriving at the hotel it was too late. It was Dusk. She immediately took a shower and rested. She had bought a bag of snacks to accompany her through the night. Tomorrow, she would check out before 2 pm. But she wouldn't wait to long, maybe a bit early, because she had a lot to do.Just finished taking a shower, her phone rang. Ramya's name was on the screen. She immediately answered the call. Just as she said hello, her old friend chimed in."Where are y
At 7 am Praveen had started work. He received brief training from Uncle Anand using a sewing machine and sewing pieces of jeans. In a moment, he understood and started sewing. It's not difficult because he just followed the pattern. The material of the pants had been cut.The stocky man repeatedly reminded him to be careful, there was no need to hurry because he wasn't as skilled as the others. Praveen understood that if he were wrong he would have to untie the seams and do it again.He slept curled up all night because the room was small and occupied by 7 people, making him sore that morning. Yes, the workers sleep upstairs. You can imagine a room measuring 3 by 3 meters filled with 7 people. Just like Sardines. Much better at PN Shelter. But he had no other choice. Luckily 3 other workers lived not far away, otherwise 10 people would be more crowded.By 10 am he was getting bored. Only this time he worked just sitting behind the sewing machine, not moving much. Do sewing. Finish one
Zoya was confused. Where should she wait? She couldn't wait from she stood now, obviously could be seen. Should she hide? But where? There's nowhere to hide around. She stood at the mouth of the alley leading to the field. On the left and right were only attached houses. She might enter someone's house. What if the householder thought her as a thief and shouted at her?She was getting more confused. There was no other way but to try to trace the alley she passed before. She hesitated for a moment and afraid get lost.On seeing Praveen coming out of the public toilet, Zoya turned around right away. She decided to go back. But a minute later, she tried to look back in the hope that he was behind her, but Praveen disappeared. there were only a few passers-by.Where the hell was he? Why did he suddenly just disappear? Zoya nagged herself. Damn it, she felt left out.Inevitably Zoya had to go home alone. She tried to remember the alley she went through. When there was another alley, she
Zoya sat in one corner of her room. There was nothing else in the room other than a traveling bag, a shopping bag containing the small things she bought earlier, a bucket and a dipper. The room still looked empty and loose. She was confused, how to buy items that are rather large such as folding mattress, small table, fan, portable electric stove and others?Actually, it's not about buying the tools that was the problem, but how to bring them to the rented house. Vehicles such as bajaj cannot enter through the alley. Like it or not, she had to carry it herself. Carrying a bucket and crackle bag, she had to suppress her ego in such a way, it felt like people were staring at her. She was not used to taking care of these things all her life. All her needs were always available. If she need something, there was a maid at the house to do it.Four years in Boston was also easier. She lived in a fully equipped apartment. Even though she lived alone, she felt comfortable. Just studying, she
The elementary school building looked dingy and in some places the plaster of the walls was peeled off. There was no signboard in front of the school, but at first glance one would had known this was a school. The building consists of several classes and the courtyard was reddish soil. It was spacious to allow students to play, or perform ceremonies or to exercise. Chhota Taara Elementary School or Little Star was one of the schools in Dharavi. This school was better than other because it was bigger and resembled a normal school. Other schools were mostly like ordinary buildings that attached to other houses or places of business. The only sign that marked it was the name sign written on the front of the building. Zoya was more than half hour looking for this Chhota Taara. She was a little tired of searching around and asking people. Luckily she went to this school in early so that when she found the school it wasn't hot yet, and she wasn't sweating either. The school yard seemed em
For the past two days Praveen had felt like a bird in a cage. He could not go anywhere other than just sitting diligently in front of the sewing machine, sewing one after another. Finished one, sewed another one, and so on. From morning until late at night. His body felt crushed, his eyes stinging because he focused on seeing the needle that went up and down. He could only rest for half an hour at lunch. He was sure this was not the right job for him. And he would not like a job like this for the rest of his life. He endured these two days for the sake of Uncle Anand who had been kind enough to give him a place to stay. From time to time he said a prayer, that the worker who had returned to his village would back here soon so that he would not have the burden of leaving this place. And sure enough, his prayer was answered in the afternoon, when that man appeared at Uncle Anand's house. It turned out that he was still young, at least the same age as him. He looked on cynically when he
It was a lonely night at Uncle Anand's house. The workers were away on weekend. Even though they still work on Sundays, they don't want to miss Saturday night. Incidentally Uncle Anand and his wife were also out. Only Praveen and Raju were in the narrow front room, sitting and watching tv. "You didn't go out, Praveen?" asked Raju. "How about you? Why don't you go out for a Saturday night?" Praveen asked back. "What for? Only spend the money. It's better for me just stay at home. This year I have to be frugal to raise money." "You want to get married?" Raju just smiled. "You think thrift just to get married, do you? No! I want to get out of India!" "Where?" asked Praveen curiously. "I want to emigrate. I have two choices, maybe Dubai or Australia. But most likely Dubai. Australia is a bit tough. I don't have any sponsors there." "Sponsorship? What do you mean?" "That's the person who guaranteed us there! Otherwise Visa will not come out. I don't want to be an illegal immigrant.
It's a half past ten at night. Uncle Anand's family hadn't come home yet. Praveen had been waiting for them for twenty minutes. Another worker who lived in the house had not yet returned either."Why aren't they home yet?" Praveen asked Raju who was accompanying him in the front room."At eleven o'clock they come home. It's normal, they often come home late when they go out at weekend. Just wait," replied Raju. "Would you like me to make some chai tea?""Don't bother. I don't want to drink.""Let's have a drink while waiting for them to come home."Praveen shook his head. He was a little bit nervous waiting for Uncle Anand to come home. He wanted to tell him that he got a job and start to work tomorrow and decided to move to a new place of work. Of course Praveen had to tell him because the man had already given him a stay.Finally Uncle Anand came home."You didn't go out or just at home earlier?" the man asked seeing Praveen and Raju just sitting in front of the tv."We also just g
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