Good day to all of you...!
This is my second article here at CCI......this one is about the greatest Love story ever in CA history...........I thought...Exam has just got over...so I think nothing could be better than this one to refresh and energise...you all..!
......................................Anjana, a vibrant girl full of life, was doing
articleship in a Chartered Accountancy firm.
With lovely peach and cream complexion and
dark and lustrous hair, she was envied by most
of her friends not only for her beauty but also
for her passion to learn. She had passed her
Professional Competence Examinations in first
attempt.
Last night, she had studied till one and next
morning she was not feeling too good. Her mother
immediately took out thermometer and checked
her fever. It was just 99 degrees. She wanted to go
to office, as it was an important day. However, her
mother did not listen and called up her Principal,
who was also a family friend and took one-day
leave for Anjana.
Soon her parents left for their respective
offices and Anjana took out studymaterial to study.
Tring Tring… The phone rang. Anjana was
irritated. Is it he? The same number flaashed on the
screen. Why was he calling her again and again? It
was indeed the same heavy masculine voice, who
had made umpteen calls. Before she could say
anything, he asked, 'is it 549593?'
She was raging with anger. Furiously, she
replied. 'Listen, whomsoever you are. I know my
voice is sweet and you have liked it. But, I am not
interested in you. You are a nerd and an absolute
idiot.
Stop troubling me or I will lodge a complaint
with the police.….' She went on and on. He tried
to pacify her by apologising and stating that he
had actually dialled 549593. That it was indeed a
case of cross connection. But she was in no mood
to listen to him. She simply smashed the phone on
the cradle.
Anjana could not focus on her studies. Her
thoughts kept on wandering to those calls and
that 'jerk'. He had called her five time in last one
hour. During the first call itself, when he had
wanted to talk to Rajesh, she had told him
categorically that no one by that name lived
there. She kept on thinking who was he and did he
know where she lived. She was scared and hoped
that he was not aware that she was alone at
home.
Anjana was an awesome combination of beauty
and brains. She was a charming girl who was highly
motivated towards her studies. She normally
could sit endlessly reading her study material,
solving problems and making notes. She had
wasted more than two hours and she needed to study for the forthcoming November 2010 CA final
examinations. Finding it difficult to concentrate,
she thought of calling her mommy and telling
about him. She picked up the phone to find that
there was no dial tone. The instrument was
broken. She silently thanked God for the blessing
in disguise, as that man will not be able to disturb
her again. Using her mobile, she called her mother
and told her about the 'Telephone Saga'. She told
her mom that she wanted to lodge a complaint
with the police so that he gets a
lesson for a lifetime. Mommy
advised her to keep her cool and to
study for the exams. She cautioned
her that involving police could
unnecessarily lead her to trouble
and felt that the caller could be a
good human being, who was
genuinely getting wrong numbers.
She told her to wait for some more
time and see what happens.
To change her mood Anjana's
mother started asking about the
taxation problems that Anjana had
mailed to Board of Studies of the
Institute. “Oh Mommy, they have
given good replies”, she replied. “However, right
now I amconcentrating on Law as my friends have
told me that the paper can have tricky questions.”
Her mother also asked her to have lunch.
She told her daughter that she had cooked pasta
in morning for her.
The very thought of pasta sent ripples of
hunger in her stomach. After disconnecting the
phone, she quickly opened the refrigerator. The
pasta looked tempting and after microwaving it
for two minutes, she relished her favourite dish
with fiery sesame sauce. Pasta was cheesy and
really delicious. She thought that with such good
culinary skills her mother should be running a
hotel instead of working for a newspaper.
The doorbell rang. She wondered who could
come at this hour. It had to be some stranger, as
the house normally remained locked during
weekdays. Being alone at home was very scary.
She looked outside through the security hole. On
seeing her mother, Anjana started jumping with
joy. She opened the door and giving a tight hug to
her mother she exclaimed, 'Oh Mom, you are
really nice and considerate. You took leave for
me.' Her mother gave a peck on her daughter's
cheek, and replied, 'I will do anything for you, darling, but today is Saturday. Office closes at
1.30.' Anjana smiled and said, 'I know it is Saturday,
but tell me during the last 52 Saturdays how many
times have you returned before 4 or for that
matter before 5 in the evening.'
The rest of the day went uneventful, Anjana
studied with full determination, secure in the
knowledge that her mom was now around to
handle all kind of intrusions!
On Sundays, they usually went out for lunch to
their favourite eating-place in the
heart of Delhi. They reached the
joint sharp at 1 p.m. Though it was
an expensive place, her parents
could easily afford it. They
preferred coming to this place, as
it was never too crowded. In the
restaurant, there was ample room
for everybody to sit and relish
food. They ordered Thai food for
everybody.
'This eatery was one of the first
to serve Thai cuisine', her father
remarked.
She started enjoying the
beautiful ambience. Although it was
a multi-cuisine restaurant, the decor was
unapologetically ethnic with a typical Rajasthani
signature. The huge carved door could be easily
mistaken for an entry to a big palace. There were
authentic paintings of Rajas and Maharajas.
Decorated old firearms and swords enhanced the
beauty of chromatic golden walls. On the left hand
side of the door there was a well-crafted palanquin
(marriage cart). An attractive mannequin wearing
traditional rajasthani bridal dress seemed to be
stepping out of the palanquin. Anjana's eyes stopped
at the girlwho was simply lookingmajestic.
Unwantingly, the thoughts of her own marriage
flaashed through her mind. Colour rose to her
cheeks and she started looking elsewhere. Just
as she was admiring the beautifully carved door, a
tall handsome man entered. He was fair, cleanshaven,
with thick curly brown hair. He was
wearing an impeccable white shirt with blue tie
and khaki trousers. She wondered why did people
wear formals on Sunday? Anyway, it was none of
her concern. He looked around and sat on the
table across her own table.
Easy conversation flowed on her table and she
simply loved talking from nineteen to the dozen
over her Sunday lunches with her parents. The family sitting
nearby were enjoying
north Indian food.
The family appeared
to be typical Punjabis
enjoying their Naan
Daal. She thought –
'How can somebody
eat same thing in a
hotel, what they have
been eating throughout
the week'. Then
she saw another
middle-aged couple
who were enjoying Baked Pasta. It looked yum.
The taste of the pasta that her mother had made a
day earlier was still fresh in her mind and made
her mouth watery.
'How do you do, Rajesh'. The unmistakable
heavy voice of yesterday's caller sent shivers
down her spine. It was he- sitting right across her
table – the same tall hunk in white shirt and blue
tie who had entered a few minutes back. He
appeared to be a perfect gentleman, rather every
girl's dream person.
She immediately realised her mistake. She
was embarrassed to find that this gorgeous man
was indeed her yesterday's caller, who was
actually trying to reach 'Rajesh', but was unfortunately
getting cross connected to her number. She
wanted to apologise, but was not able to muster
enough courage to go up to him. The presence of
her parents was another stumbling block as she
did not want them to know about the abusive
language that she had used over the phone.
She started listening to the conversation
between him and his guest who had joined a short
while ago. She learnt that it was a business
meeting and that explained the formal attire of
the 'Gorgeous Caller' as she had named him in her
mind or was it her heart? She found out that they
wanted to start a manufacturing unit in Gautam
Budh Nagar near Delhi. She wanted to know more
about him. During the half an hour that they sat
together, he did not speak anything about himself.
The only personal detail that she could learn from
her eavesdropping was that his name was Naitik.
After a long leisurely lunch, they returned
home. Her parents retired to their room and she
was left alone with her thoughts. She usually did
not study on Sundays but that day she opened her
books. But Naitik's face kept on haunting her. Being a single child, she was very close to her
parents. She wanted to talk to her mother about
Naitik, but was shy. She was not able to forget
him. Her anger of yesterday... her accidental
meeting him today. She thought there was
something more to it, than sheer chance. She felt
that the meeting may be God’s will.
In the evening when her parents wanted to go
for walk, she excused herself and stayed at home.
She picked up her landline phone. There was
still no dial tone. The instrument required
replacement. Luckily, the LCD panel was working
and she could trace his number as it appeared
repeatedly in the call history.
She wanted to talk to him, but again was
scared. She jotted the number and kept it under
her pillow.
Soon, her parents returned. They had tea
together. Her mother was surprised to find Anjana,
the chatterbox, to be unusually quite. Anjana
relied on the age-old excuse of a mild headache
and went off to bed. But her guilt of reproaching a
nice person, for no rhyme or reason did not allow
her to sleep either. She wanted to apologise to
Naitik. Her parents had also left for their room.
The sound of television filtered into her room and
she could make out that they were watching a
family melodrama.
She felt that at that moment her own life was
like a TV soap opera!
She took out the chit containing his phone
number and dialled the number, but there was no
response. She tried to reach him a couple of
times, but still she was not able to connect. His
phone was perhaps switched-off.
The next day she lodged a complaint with her
telephone service provider and requested for a
new handset.
By mid noon, her handset was replaced and
she profusely thanked the technician for the quick
service. She had barely closed the door behind her
when her landline phone rang. Tring Tring.....
She picked up the phone expecting a call for
her feedback
from the telephone
department
but fate
had other plans
for her. It was a
call from her
'Gorgeous Caller'! ‘Is it 549593?'the voice from other side asked.
She felt that she was dreaming and could not
believe her luck. She had merely said, 'Hello'
when Naitik realized that it was again a cross
connection. He started blabbering an apology
when she halted him in the midst of his sentence.
She not only sought his
forgiveness but also recounted
the sequence of yesterday's
events. She told him that she
wanted to personally meet him
and atone for her misdeeds.
He extended an invitation
for a cup of coffee at Barista the following
afternoon, which she readily accepted.
In the evening when her mother returned
from office, Anjana told her about the 'Telephone
Saga -Part Two', as she called it. Her mom appreciated
her honesty but also warned her to be wary
of strangers. She allowed Anjana to go for the
coffee and requested her to call them in case of
any trouble.
In Barista, Anjana had no problem in spotting
her 'Gorgeous Caller' and walked to his table.
They both started speaking simultaneously and
immediately burst into laughter together. Once they started talking, they realized that
they had a lot in common, starting from their
academic background, as he was also a Chartered
Accountant.
She insisted that he must come over to her
place for dinner, as her parents would be
delighted to meet him.
He told her that he was travelling a lot in the
coming week and would surprise her with a visit,
whenever he could.
On returning home she could not stop thinking
about Naitik and eagerly waited for his 'surprise
visit'.
Days and weeks flew. Thanks to the technological
advancement, Naitik and Anjana were constantly
in touch via SMS's, net chats and phone calls.
One day Naitik arrived at her place. On
meeting him, Anjana's parents were also floored
by his charm and felt that he was, in fact, the
perfect match for their extremely beautiful and
sensitive daughter.
Anjana also managed to pass CA Final
Examinations and achieved anAll India rank, thanks
to Naitik's guidance and loving encouragement.
Today they are the owner of one of the India’s biggest company.
courtesy: www.icai.org
CAclubindia
