Warm gusts of wind hit her face, as she stepped out of the air-conditioned surroundings of the Indira Gandhi Domestic Airport. Someone pushed their trolley into Khushi's legs, and she winced with pain. "I'm sorry", said the stranger. "It's okay. I'm sure no one would do something like that intentionally." The stranger looked at her momentarily. He was just about to respond when a driver clad in a white uniform approached Khushi.
"You must be Khushi memsaab," he said, relieving her of the trolley. Khushi nodded. "Myself Ashok Yadav. I am driver of the ASR. Very pleased to meet you memsaab."
"Pleased to meet you too Ashokji."
The driver shot her a quizzical glance. From what he knew, she was ASR's latest Business Developer. And yet, she looked very different from the ones he had seen traipse in and out of his Saab's life over the last seven years.
"The car is on the third level of parking lot. Will you wait while I go get car?" he asked cautiously. His experience had taught him to speak to his Saab's business developers in English. They looked down on anyone who spoke in Hindi. So he tried his best.
"No bhaiyyaji," she sweetly responded. "I would rather walk with you to the parking garage."
And as an afterthought added: "You don't need to talk with me in English. I speak Hindi fluently."
Ashok Yadav smiled, a full-fledged smile, showing all his teeth. He liked this girl. She was different. "Shukriya," he said. Khushi smiled right back at him and the two got talking about the usual things.
"Is it always so hot in Delhi?" she asked as she began walking towards the parking area, with Ashok leading the way.
"No memsaab, but this year's been extremely brutal. It's already September and yet there is no sign of winter."
Passerby's looked at the precarious way Khushi balanced the bags on her trolley, the number would have put a cargo train to shame. On her person, Khushi was carrying a backpack and another fairly large cloth bag slung against her shoulder.
"You don't need to call me memsaab, bhaiyyaji," she chirped. "I am almost your daughter's age. Please call me Khushi." And she held her hand out for a shake.
The driver looked at Khushi with renewed respect. He was yet to come across one of his Saab's "Business Developers", who acknowledged him as a human being, forget treating him with the respect this new girl was giving him. There was something special about her. He hoped, that special quality still remained by the time his Saab was done with her.
Oblivious to the thoughts running in his head, Khushi casually chatted away, talking about Lucknow and New Delhi and telling him little stories about her family.
On reaching the vehicle, Khushi took her place in the back seat of the vehicle while Ashok proceeded to load her luggage into the trunk.
*****
It had been over an hour since the car had left the parking lot at the Indira Gandhi Domestic Airport. Lakshmi Nagar was still nowhere in sight.
"How much longer will it take?" asked Khushi, her voice tired.
"Another hour at least bitiya," he replied. In that hour, Ashok had told her that he had three daughters, two of who were of marriageable age and that he was working with ASR for the past seven years. He had proudly stated that although his Saab might seem very inconsiderate on the outside, he had a heart of gold.
"I had just started my job with Saab, when my mother, who is no more, was admitted to the hospital. She had a heart attack and the doctor asked for 50,000 rupees before he would operate on her.
"We are poor people, bitiya. Where would we go for so much money? But when Saab found out, he simply gave me the money and asked me to take care of my mother.
"Since then I have tried to return the money many times but Saab won't take it back. 'It wasn't a loan' he says. Use this money for your daughter's education.
"It was only because of Saab's generosity that all my girls are educated until high school. The youngest one wants to go to University."
Khushi stilled. Ashok had just told her that a fiber of kindness existed in the great and mighty ASR and yet as far as Khushi was concerned, that was nearly impossible. The true nature of the devil had no kindness in it.
The air-conditioned car made the New Delhi heat bearable. The New Delhi traffic was altogether a different issue.
She was almost cursing her situation of having to fly to New Delhi rather than being able to take the train. The journey, the weather, the traffic, and her life for the past few days were playing havoc in Khushi's brain and she was almost on the verge of a breakdown when Ashok announced that they had entered Lakshmi Nagar and that her buaji's house was only a couple of minutes away.
*****
Stopping outside CR 267, Lalita Park, Lakshmi Nagar, New Delhi, the idea of finally meeting her buaji considerably raised her spirits. While she was busy tidying her appearance, before stepping out of the car, Ashok got busy unloading all her luggage and carrying it to her aunt's doorstep. As he was carrying the last piece of luggage to the door, he casually remarked: "Bitiya, Saab must definitely have a soft corner for you. Otherwise, he has never allowed any of his Business Developers to ever visit their family while they were working for him."
ASR, the city, weather, and traffic had already tested Khushi's patience to its limit. The fact that Ashok, a driver, was aware of the demeaning agreement acted as the proverbial last straw and totally against her nature and temperament, Khushi snapped at him.
"Ashokji, I don't really care what your Saab allows or doesn't allow. I will do as I please when I please. If I want to visit my buaji, I will visit her." She paused to draw a deep breath in and added: "And I am no Business Developer. I have joined AR as a Trainee Designer," before making her way to the spot where her luggage was neatly stacked.
She didn't notice the slight smile of appreciation that Ashok Yadav gave her. His Saab had finally met his match. If anyone could walk into the lion's den and come out unharmed, it was Khushi bitiya. He would pray for her success.
*****
Standing at the door, waiting for it to open, Khushi could smell the onion pakoras being fried inside the house. Even as a child, her aunt used to make them especially for her. Her Baba liked them too. She touched the frame of the house she had spent time in with her parents before it opened and Madhumati Agarwal, the eldest sibling of Shashi and Rishi Gupta took Khushi into a warm bear hug. "What's all this", she asked eyeing the luggage stacked up outside her door. "You know New Delhi is a bustling city with loads of shops selling anything and everything you need, right?"
Khushi laughed. Her Buaji had a quirky sense of humor. "I know Buaji", she replied. "But when you compare the quality of the products you get in Lucknow with that of what you get in New Delhi, you are definitely left wanting", she added winking.
Her Buaji smiled. Khushi was crazy. And she always managed to come up with equally crazy explanations for her crazy actions. However, otherwise, could you believe that the quality of Colgate toothpaste in Lucknow was better than that in New Delhi?
"Khushi I am so happy to see you", she crooned. "I wish you could stay with me here, but Shashi babua explained about company policy. Still, it was very generous of your boss to let you spend a week with me."
Khushi didn't think Arnav Singh Raizada had an iota of generosity. She clearly remembered her last conversation with him, before she left Lucknow.
She had walked Mr. High and Mighty out on her mother's insistence and was just considering thanking him for his polite demeanor towards her family when he said: "Don't think I am Prince Charming who has rescued you and your family from the depths of despair.
"I am no knight in shining armor and this is no fairy tale. It's just pure business. See you in New Delhi, Miss Gupta."
And in the true ASR spirit, he sat in the back seat of his Black Mercedes and drove away, leaving a flabbergasted Khushi staring in the direction of the car, long after it was gone.
Her aunt's constant chatter brought her back to reality. She was in New Delhi now. And there was just a little more than a week between Khushi Kumari Gupta and the new mistress of Arnav Singh Raizada.
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Vocabulary for readers who aren't familiar with Hindi words:
Saab - Sir
Memsaab - Madam
Bhaiyya - Brother (used commonly to address strange older men)
Shukriya - Thank you
Bua - Aunt
Bitiya - daughter (used commonly to address strange younger women)
Ji - A suffix attached to a person's title, relation or name to show respect
Babua - a way of fondly addressing a younger male child