Chapter 20 Interview
Once again, my life was turning pages in a split second. I didn’t know what my destiny was; my life changed like seasons. From one way to the other, things were happening unexpectedly and the pace was uncontrollable. I harbored the same feelings that I did five years ago. Those incidents still haunted me and my only prayer to God was that nobody goes through something like that ever in their lives. My mind was muddled with a barrage of different thoughts. Utkarsh’s surprise announcement broke my heart. I saw my life losing hope in one go. I did share my feelings with Aparna but she waved them off. I told her to go along without me. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was happy in my own space. I was upset after the wedding day and didn’t want to talk with Utkarsh at all. I started to avoid him and so made myself busy. I concentrated on my job. I started coming home late and avoided conversing with Utkarsh all costs. Saanvi wanted me to interview Jaghdheer Mehta on our news channel and I agreed to host him.
The news channel sent him the invitation for our weekend show ‘In Live with Audience’ two days before the elections. Saanvi wanted to get an in-depth knowledge of the incident with Dilshan and then, almost, with Utkarsh. She set the questions and wanted me to grill Jaghdheer about it and bring the reality in front of everyone. Saanvi wanted to expose him. She didn’t hate Jaghdheer but she wanted to expose the other side of the coin for the sake of the public. I was, on the other hand, confident that Jaghdheer was a messiah for the people and his party had its ideologies at the right place. However, I had to do my duty. A lot of buzz was generated for the interview. There were advertisements of it on newspapers, TV channels, on the radio, and even on street hoardings.
The preparation time passed quickly and the day arrived when the interview was supposed to take place. I was quite nervous taking on the live session for the very first time. I locked myself in a room and kept rehearsing till Jaghdheer arrived in the channel office. After five minutes or so there was a knock on the door.
“He is here. You got five minutes,” Saanvi whispered.
I stood up and faced myself in front of the mirror and finally got myself ready for it. I opened the door and went to the session area. Jaghdheer was already sitting on the chair. I shook hands with him and sat opposite him. I asked him if he wants to see the questions he would be asked.
“No need for that. You can ask whatever you like,” he said. I comforted myself and drank a sip of coffee.
Soon, we went live and started with a brief introduction to the party, the vision behind it; and talking about the election manifesto for development, running campaigns, etc. For the first twenty minutes, it went smoothly. Now, it was time for the revelations. Ishita waved at me from behind Jaghdheer and signaled to put forth the main question.
“Sir, last week your bodyguard, Hemant Kumar, was convicted in a bank fraud case involving Utkarsh Dhiman. He was arrested but he was proven innocent. You might know of it. What’s your take on that?” I asked him
“It came as a shock. The person who was my caretaker since the childhood… when he was found guilty, I was really upset. But, what I can do? All I can really do about it is be very careful when hiring someone the next time,” Jaghdheer answered.
“Okay But still, what do you feel about it?”,
“I respect the court’s order. The final decision of the court is supreme. I couldn’t agree to it more,” he replied with utter confidence.
“Great Sir, you know that same person, Hemant Kumar, runs a girls trafficking racket too?” I asked.
“What are you trying to say?”
“One week before this incident. Hemant Kumar and his goons chased down my colleague Dilshan and one little boy from the orphanage in Powai area.”
“So? How are you so sure he was Hemant only?” Jaghdheer looked at me with piercing eyes,
“Do you have any proof?”
I took out my mobile phone and played a sound recording.
The Voice Clip
‘Hello, Jaghdheer Bhai. There’s a little problem here. “What?
“One little kid saw me killing a girl but he ran away.” “What the fuck? How could he run away? Hemant, the elections are almost here. If that boy goes to the police, our business will get exposed, what will we do then? Find him or I’m going to kill you.”
Jaghdheer was astonished to listen to the audio clip. His body language explained that, at least, his mental functions had stopped. He raised his eyebrows thrice and rubbed his hands ove his face a couple of times. His voice began to choke to numb, almost gasping for a little oxygen, and he trembled in fear.
“How I can believe you? This is fake,” he pointed his hands towards me.
“This is a fake voice clip,”, he sounded infuriated, and shook his head and disbelief.
“I agree, this could be fake one, but one question I want to ask you - If this is indeed fake, your hands should not be trembling like this,” I pointed out.
Jaghdheer was boiling red. His eyes were fuming with anger. He pushed the chair, stood up and left the interview midway.
I didn’t expect him to leave like this but Ishita was confirmed about it. I saw her rejoicing in the corner behind the camera. However, I had to finish it on a good note.
“My name Is Avinash Sampath. It is my kind request to all the voters to re-consider your decision before casting your votes day after tomorrow. Thanks for watching the interview. Now, signing off.”
The live telecast ended.
...
When I was driving back home, I sort of had mixed feelings in my mind about the whole thing. On one hand,
I was relaxed that the interview went in my favor and we showed people the true face of the Lokshakti party. But on the other hand, I was wondering what its consequences could be. What could it lead to?
Ishita was with me and I asked her about the conflict in my mind. She waved it off, saying not to worry about it too much. My mind, however, was still wary. We reached Ishita’s house after a while and saw Utkarsh and Saanvi waiting for us.
