"Sir, we are here," I heard the driver's voice from the front and was brought out of my thoughts. Outside, I saw Shailini had come to receive me and she opened the car door. "Thank you," I said, stepping out and looking at the hotel. It was twenty storeys of grandeur that met my eyes.
"Sir, let's go inside," she said and egded me towards the entrance. Behind us, more cars were pooling in and the guests were still arriving. We climed the stairs and passed through the glass doors and were met with a pair of beautiful women in red saaris, greeting us with folded hands. I nodded a polite smile towards them and made for the other end of the lobby, towards the lift.
"What time does our chief guest arrive?" I asked her, as we gradually rose through to the 10th floor with the banquet hall serving as the venue for the evening's event.
"He will be here in about-," she took a quick glance at her watch before answering,"-half an hour."
The lift doors opened and we exited into a well lit corridor that extended on both sides. There was an invitation placard placed right outside the lift indicating the direction to the hall. We headed right till the end of the corridor and then turned right again to entre the hall itself.
The entire place was decorated lavishly. From the lights to the flower decorations, everything seemed perfect. At the far end of the room was a small stage and a podium. Chairs were arranged to surround it in a semi circle. On the other end were long tables, laid out with food and refreshments. The space was filled with people, some recognisable faces, others not so much, all greeting me with smile plastered on their faces, like the ones I had just seen on those two women downstairs. My eyes however, were scanning all around, searching for the one face I was looking for, desperately. Once, when I thought I had caught a glimpse of the person I wanted to see, the individual turned around to dismay me all over. As the host for the evening, I had to indulge in pleasentries with all the guests who had come to this event, but I longed for that one face that mattered to me the most.
Then, there was a sudden rise in mutterings amongst all gathered and we turned to face the entrance. I walked forward knowing the chief guest had arrived. It was Manoj who entered first, then followed by a bunch of security personnel in black uniforms, and amidst them was Dr. Shankaracharya Swaminathan, the honourable education minister of the country. The crowd in front dispersed on his arrival and I went forward to greet him. Dr. Swaminathan smiled as he saw me and we shook hands.
"Welcome sir, thank you for coming," I said.
"Mr. Dutta, how could I not, when you invited me so personally. And trust me, its a pleasure," he replied.
We walked towards where the sitting arrangements were made on the stage and everyone else began to gather around. More pleasentries followed as the minister was welcomed by the other members of SHIKSHA. When all the guests had settled down, Manoj took to the podium to begin the event.
It had been 10 years since we had established SHIKSHA as a nation wide publishing house, beginning in Delhi and Bangalore. Also, what had begun in the small conference room in Kolkata had eventually spread like wild fire. Social Media, which had been remarked as the the curse for youngsters, distracting them from their purpose in life, had finally acted as a boon for all of us. The drive that we had started, collecting and publishing stories from young writers all throughout schools and colleges had spread outside the boundaries of the state and had become a nationwide phenomenon. Not even days after establishing our offices in Delhi, were we piled with loads of written materials pooling through from almost every corner of the country. So much so that we had to revive the old Indie House establishments at Bangalore and setup another office there. Manoj had been almost wholly responsible for that venture. But later, after his marriage, he had moved to Delhi.
