Weird, isn't it?

Part one

"Latika Singhal, come in", Mr. Arvind Talvar, her boss and the CEO of the Times Of India, called her in and gestured her to take a seat. Slightly nervous and highly confused she thought about all the possible reasons because of which the CEO himself had called her in his office.

Fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, she mentally prepared herself for any bad news that the person in front of her was about to give her. She thought about the last assignment she had got, the front page article regarding sex trafficking.  She had done a high amount of research, even went to the red light areas to get the real view of the whole thing. The report that she prepared also concluded how many important and powerful people were engaged in this, encouraging it even further, and how the weak judicial system had the ratio of victims constantly increasing. Due to the completely blunt exposure that the report provided, her seniors had ordered her to make the changes according to them to make the report fairly decent. But she being the person she was, rebelled against this and went ahead to print the article, she had originally made. First the seniors were extremely furious at her but when the front page story seemed to become a major hit, they cooled down a bit. It had became the talk of the town for a while, and was even appreciated by many important people.

So now they probably had nothing to be angry at her, but what if they still were and had decided to fire her?

Shaking her head to get rid of all those disturbing thoughts, she leaned a bit forward in her seat and asked, "So, what am I here for?" Mr. Talwar stopped his work and looked at her with a hint of smile, " I have a very important news for you", pausing a bit for creating suspense, he continued again, " Today we got a very important call for you, Ms. Singhal. IRE awards committee called to inform you that you have been elected as the 'International Editor Of The Year' award for your very appraised sex trafficking story. Congratulations to you."

By now a full blown grin was plastered on Talwar's face. Latika got up from her seat in a rush of excitement and exclaimed, " Are you serious, is this actually true?!!"  Her boss chuckled and replied, " I am being extremely truthful and this is no joke." Latika was so excited that she wanted to squeal and scream and perform a happy dance, but not wanting to look like a retarded idiot after getting honoured for such an intelligent article, she quickly composed herself and left the cabin after having a little chat. Today couldn't be more perfect, she got honoured with the most prestigious award and also got promotion as the senior editor-in-chief.

Still smiling widely at last week's incident, Latika started dressing up for the award ceremony. Today was the big night, the night when she would get her award, she couldn't be more happy. Past week was amazing, her friends, her family, her colleagues, everyone had congratulated her, taken pride in her success. After doing the final touch ups, making sure she looked great she made her way out.

"I want to thank my parents, who have always supported me, my friends, who have helped me in all the way, my colleagues & my bosses who have encouraged and guided me all the time. I only want to say that always represent what you truly believe and never compromise with the genuinity of your work", she said, after getting the award she had waited for too long. After that the rest of the awards were being given.

After what seemed like a long time, the award ceremony finally compilled but before she could take a sigh of relief, Latika remembered about the press meeting she had to attend just after this. Press meetings were always boring, she knew, afterall she was a reporter herself. She prepared herself to answer all the same repetitive questions calmly and got up.

"Ms. Singhal, we all know how equally excellent all of your stories are, but if you had to select any one assignment given to you which you would never forget about, which one would it be?" A reporter asked after some time. By now mostly all the important questions had already been asked, so they were casually asking about her likes and dislikes. As this question popped up, a slight humorous smile took over her features, "I do not have to think even for a second to answer this question. Its quite a hell of an encounter to forget", she said taking a sip of water. "Do tell us about it", another reporter said as now everyone was curious to hear her answer. "Trust me, most of you would not believe it", she said thinking how she herself had a hard time believing that all that what had happend had actually happened. "Oh come on, you can't just say no after making us curious", a young lady reporter complained.

Latika let out a sigh, shaking her head as if she already knew what their reactions would be, but anyways started, "Okay fine. This was about six years ago, when I had just started my journalism career. At that time I didn't used to  work for Times. My boss wanted me to write a story about some old, very old mansion, or more probably a Haveli, which was very far from here in Mumbai... at some remote, small village in um... Rajasthan or Gujarat...I don't exactly remember. I excitedly agreed and instantly got ready for a new project..."

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For those who don't know, Rajasthan & Gujarat are states in India.

Haveli is a term used for big mansions in India, with archaeological and historical significance.

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Aliyah