Chapter 28

My mind was raging with fury. I could not understand Agam's on and off behaviour with me. At one moment he was warm and friendly offering advice and the very next he could be cold and distant. I had to steer away from this man to keep my sanity or better still stop making any sense of his behaviour.

I did not have to ring the bell, bua was waiting to greet me at the door.

"Who dropped you off?"

"Hi," and I stopped right in my tracks.

"Oh, you saw me from the window." I tried to make it sound as casual as possible. She kept looking at me, searching for an answer. No, I wasn't going to lie. I was going to tell her the truth.

"He is a senior reporter at the channel."

"Uh..huh." I felt the need for more explanation. "We had gone for an interview together and on the way back he offered to drop me home since he was coming this way."

She nodded.

"Can I come in?" And with my question, she realized that she had been interrogating me at the door. She was flustered.

"I am sorry. You must be tired. Why don't you freshen up while I serve dinner?"

"I will help you." I offered generously. She felt guilty for the interrogation and declined. I put her at ease and said it would be a welcome change and would take my mind off work. I changed into my comfortable pyjamas and went to help bua. Conversation flowed easily with no restraints. I felt I had been keeping too much to myself. And I had been ignoring my parents too. I had to tell them about my work.

I mentally made a note to call my parents regularly and also keep Jivi bua in the loop about my work.

"I am sorry, Abhi I shouldn't have..."

"Bua it is fine, just let it go."

"You know I found this new dress in the washing machine. It was nothing you have worn before. And your fufaji said he had seen you wearing this dress so I was a little stressed."

"Oh bua! I am so sorry for stressing you out." And I reminded her about me getting drenched, stuck in the traffic and hence the need to buy a dress before I died out of a bad cold. I talked to bua and assuaged her fears. She was at peace with the fact that I wasn't hiding anything from her. After the (not very) honest open conversation, dinner was a surreal affair. I was too tired to talk or do anything else. I had an early morning shift starting the next day so I called it an early night. I was dead the moment I touched the pillow.

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I was on time but as usual, no one else was. I followed my daily routine and went to the cafe to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and wake my senses. Manto was sitting quietly in a corner gorging on her all-time favourite breakfast of Maggi.

"Hey." I greeted her cheerfully. "I just don't get to see you around anymore. What's keeping you busy?"

She genuinely smiled. "Maggi?" She offered.

"Nah. I am good with coffee."

"Why haven't you switched your shifts? Is this convenient?"

"Sort of." She murmured. "Spares me the unnecessary attention." She stopped speaking and I turned to see what caused her hesitation.

Rasik! My goodness, how was that possible? He was in this office at this ungodly hour. Must be something big. Manto turned pale and started gobbling the leftover noodles. Rasik always gave Manto a fit. I don't know what her history with him was but there was definitely a problem.

"Relax, he won't..."

And there went my advice in the bin for Rasik overturned it with his loud shout.

"All interns report immediately." He glanced at Manto with steely eyes and walked out. There seemed to be hostility between the two; but what was it based on? It didn't seem something trivial, Manto was totally shaken and scampering. I finished my coffee in one gulp while Manto let the noodles remain on the plate. We walked back to the office. The entire team was in. Rohit seemed to have a major announcement to make.

"Guys!" Rohit commanded our attention from the word go.

"It's a tough day. Neeraj Goyal Case, the final verdict at the high court. Our priority is just not soft stories but tear-jerking headlines. We need to generate TRPs and keep people glued till prime time. Each reporter will be assigned an intern and some of the interns might have to run for the big story on their own. So, big day for everyone.

The bifurcation is like this: Mansi heads the team and will track family movements and news around them. Mihir will be taking care of the accused and her details. The high court proceedings will be tracked by Hrehan. Others will be on standby working on the prime time debate and help the on-field reporters. I hope I have made myself clear. All the best and let's get going.

There was so much paranoia. Mihir told me to get the van and cameraman ready. We were heading to the Byculla Women's Jail. Why were we tailing a convict's movement? As if we were glorifying her crime. She was a stupid actress, just about that. But this country is so mesmerized by the silver screen that anyone on it had to be fan fared. Sadly, this time it was for all the wrong reasons.

I was least excited about lodging ourselves outside the Byculla jail from 9:30 in the morning. She was to be presented before the judge at ten-thirty. What was comical was a swarm of reporters outside the jail. Hell, we were not the only ones thinking that way, the entire bouquet of national channels was just concerned about the TRP from a sordid affair gone wrong. Phew!

Mihir couldn't hold his disdain anymore and remarked, "We have stooped to such low levels for entertainment." I chuckled wholeheartedly and he grinned.

"I have never done this kind of reporting before and even if this comes under the entertainment gambit, I did not hear about Sanaya Daruwala till yesterday."

I could not hold myself and continued to be in splits while Mihir went on with his honest rumbling.

"God, if they expect me to ask any question, I am going to die out of mortification because I have no hold on this case."

"It's okay," I said laughingly. "I have you covered. I have done my research pretty well."

"In fact," I continued with some effect, "I have even read her and her boyfriend's statement to the police."

"Such dedication." Mihir mocked.

"Okay, what is interesting in this story to you?" Mihir quipped.

"If you think it's the affair Mihir Sir, you are wrong."

"Hmmm...go on I am listening to your reasons."

"I am interested because it involves crime... and I thought a little harder. "Okay it's sensational and I just want to know the truth." I resigned.

"There you go. It's the bedroom drama you are interested in."

"See if I would have told you about human psychology and its complex things...would you have believed me?"

He thought for a moment and replied, "No."

"Then it's better I stick to sensationalism."

I scanned the crowd to look for familiar faces but there were none. One thing that was supremely common amongst all of us was the numerous interns thronging the scene. I believe free services are loved by all. For all the dirty work we were supposed to be sent.

It was already an hour and a half and the woman was nowhere in sight. And finally, when everyone started thinking about brewing trouble, we came to know that the convict was sent to the High Court through the back gate to avoid media frenzy around her.

Mihir's ringing phone was an interruption to our very serious conversation. He moved away to talk.

Mihir continued to make calls while I tried to gather information from the crowd assembled. What everyone seemed to be murmuring was that Sanaya was being presented in the court and the verdict would be out soon. Most of them were sure that she was to receive a sentence of a lifetime and would be coming back to jail soon. However, when the news of the verdict came out, the continuous ringing of cellphones indicated otherwise. Sanaya was acquitted as the time spent in prison was equal to her sentence of three years of imprisonment.

I gasped for air and broke out from the crowd. Was this for real? How could she be absolved of such a heinous crime with a sentence of three years? She was party to the murder and helped hid the evidence too.

Mihir was engrossed in a conversation with another reporter. I walked towards him to know the next course of action. The morning had been well spent in this commotion. I excused myself only to find that we were to wait for her return and get a byte. She most probably would get over with the paperwork at court before lunch and would be acquitted by four from the jail. It was still noon. The wait for Sanaya Daruwala was going to be long.

It was lunchtime now and most of the reporters from the channel had made a coterie discussing the various theories about how the lady was acquitted with a lenient sentence. Some propositions were slanderous and some downright funny, some were in bad taste and others outright disgusting. To say that Sanaya agreed to sleep with the judge to get through the ordeal or a lover in the mafia were simple rumours. My inexperienced brain could not distinguish between the truth and malicious gossip.

Mihir excused himself to come to me. He asked me to go for lunch while he waited here lest we missed out on something important. I walked towards the opposite direction of the jail to look for some street food.

"Abhilasha, Abhi."

Someone was calling out to me and I was surprised to see the familiar face from college.

"What are you doing here?" were the first words that came from my mouth.

"That's rude!" She announced pouting her face.

"I am surprised. How are you?" And I teased her with an equally contorted face.

"I am good and I am hungry." She replied with a smile.

"Me too."

"There is Mama Mia nearby and I just googled to find reviews about its amazing pizzas. Let's go there."

What a big hole it would burn in my pocket! "I don't have much time." I lied. It was the truth, partly. I had to finish mine to relieve Mihir.

"Oh! Common don't be a spoilsport and that Sanaya Daruwala won't be back before evening."

"You are here for the same story?" I enquired.

"How? Weren't you stationed at the Delhi office?"

"Yes baby, I am interning at the Delhi office but I flew in for another story and since I had nothing to do in the morning, the office sent me out here."

"Interesting. How is your stint at DBTV? Are you learning much or...?"

"It's fun as well as boring. I mean the first few weeks I struggled but once I got the hang of it I knew licking asses is the only way up."

"Wow, that's brutal Nandi." Nandi aka Nandita Thakur was my classmate in college. We weren't friends until the last year of college. We belonged to different groups. The collision of our common friends in a relationship resulted in the two of us hitting off. Plus Shash or Shaaket, Nandi's boyfriend and I were on good terms. He treated me like a little sister since day one of college and we had grown closer over the years.

"How about you?" She asked.

"Pretty much rusted with no or little work."

"How many stories have you worked on?" She kept on firing questions about work while I had nothing interesting to share.

"Two and none seems to have seen the light of the day."

"How many weeks have you been working here for?"

"Three."

"Two is a sad number." She wasn't rubbing salt on my wounds but sympathizing with me.

"Why don't we walk and continue our conversation over lunch. Standing here in this heat will make me die of dehydration."

She agreed immediately and we started walking towards Mama Mia, despite my non-interest in eating a pizza.

"I got a chance to work on 'The Debate'." She announced.

"Oh my God! That is huge. I am so happy. It is my favourite."

"I know." And she squeezed my hand in acknowledgement.

Mama Mia was close by. The restaurant wasn't a fine dine luxury experience and thank god for that. It was a small, quaint place with modest seats. The menu though screamed of overpricing.

We sat quietly in a corner and ordered a farmhouse pizza with coke and cheese garlic bread. It was too much.

The skinny little thing that Nandi was, she would never have to worry about the extra cheese going down her system. Less than five in height with a small body, the pretty face and the beautiful smile she bestowed on people lighted up even dark, gloomy things. She was lively and her enthusiasm was infectious.

"So, what's the new goss?" She asked.

"Nothing that you wouldn't know. Angela, Preeti and Anindya are leaving the country and are with the same people they were as before."

"I know that." She scrunched her face to show me her displeasure.

"I am talking about hot gossip from your office."

"Nothing great. I am the last to know if there would be something.

"So..."

"What about your office?" I asked disinterestedly.

I believe she was waiting for me to give her the green signal to talk about the latest happenings from her workplace.

"You know Amal Shahid?"

"CM of Himachal."

"Yes. Do you know he is sleeping around with Nazia Gony?"

That was huge and made me sit straight.

"Is that the reason why he frequently is a guest on her show?"

"Totally. I heard they have bought a house in Lutyens to do you know what."

"He is married with two kids." I screeched and felt dejected by a politician whom I admired for his looks.

"Well love is sprightly...and at the end of the day I am sure they will keep things hot under the bed and nothing else."

"Well, things seem serious between the two. The whole office gossips...

"But no one dares. What next?"

"Gony is investigating Amal's rivals for misappropriation of funds in the last election. She has got something huge and will break it out in a day or two."

"Well, there she is on a witch hunt."

"Hmmm..." escaped her mouth. The pizza had arrived and it looked tempting. The first bite I dug into spelt heaven for me.

"This is so good," I murmured between mouthfuls.

"Isn't it? What about your workplace?"

"Well, I have no news about the link-ups but there might be something going on between Agam Khandelwal and Mansi."

"Who is Mansi?" She asked.

"An entertainment reporter from FMN."

"Okay. You have no news about the Delhi office?"

"No, we hardly connect. We get mere instructions and approvals from there."

"God, you're so boring, Abhi."

"Let me inform you that Anurag Kanwal (editor-in-chief of FMN News Network) is headed for separation with his wife. Rumours are that he is taking a sabbatical of six months to pay attention to his relationship."

"But why would Sangeeta agree to take a sabbatical from her work?" I asked rather curiously.

"Well, she won't want to risk her marriage. And so there are the winds of change as the whispers are going."

It just dawned upon me, what the winds of change meant when last week Pooja and I were chatting.

"I did hear about the winds of change but did not know in this context. So, who is taking up the editor-in-chief post?"

"Well, that's not disclosed yet but a few names are coming up."

"Enlighten me."

"So, there is the name of Dibyendu Sarkar, Naina Palaskar floating but one cannot be sure. It's still under the wraps."

I looked at her bewildered. "Where do you get this information from?"

"I keep my ears open and keep my friends close and enemies closer." She said all of this with such over the top actions, that I could not hold myself from giggling.

"Okay, give me your phone number." She said.

"It's the same."

"Okay." And she got busy tapping the numbers.

"I have added you to the intern's group. We are a bunch of friends who are interning at news channels, print, and web media and we give each other the latest gossip from the business. So, now just stay updated."

"Do I know anyone?"

"Why should you care about knowing people? Take the info and if you have some of yours don't forget to share. Just keep your eyes and ears open." I rolled my eyes at her candidness.

We were almost finished and had spent close to an hour chatting. I took out my wallet to pay the bill, when she said, "the tab is on me."

"Is the channel footing your bill?" I could not help myself from asking.

"No way! I had to pay for my flight and stay too."

"Ouch! Why did you agree to come if that was so?"

"Because I wanted to come to Mumbai."

I gave her my stinky looks. "Shash's 'Arms and the Man' is opening tomorrow night and I wanted to be there to support him."

"Oh, yes." I forgot all about it. He did send me the invite for the same."

"Are you coming?"

"I don't know. Depends on how my day pans out tomorrow."

"For better or for worst, but I am sure Shash would be happy to see you. So, I am seeing you there tomorrow, without excuses."

"I am not making empty promises but I will try."

We moved out of the restaurant to go to Byculla jail. Halfway through it, Nandi got a call from her office. By the time her call was over, she was fleeing the scene. She had to go for the interview for which she had travelled all the way.

"This one's not so important." She told me. We hugged each other. She did not leave before reminding me again about the play and Shash, the next night."