Honey trap : Chapter one- first step

1. Shruti

“hi!”, Shruti beamed at me, her pretty face lit up in one of the sweetest smiles I have ever seen.

“I want a real big treat!”, she continued, slipping under the rug which was enveloping me in its cocoon of warmth in calcutta winter,.

Shruti was my cousin, therapist, mentor, friend since my parent died in a freak accident two years ago. It was she I found whenever I needed some one to hold on to, whenever the despair gripped my soul in its dark claws.

“you remember Jhumamasi?”, she continued in answer of my questioning glance, “she called me up today, when I was in chamber, she is coming to Kolkata tomorrow for a person referred by me, who is willing to shift to Rajpur and join them as her private secretary and ultimately run her business as a manager independently. That person is you!” she grinned from ear to ear.

Jhumamasi was Shruti’s mother’s sibling. She married a rich Rajasthani businessman against her father’s wishes, because that guy had a wife and two children, her family did not had any choice but to accept her wish because she was already pregnant with his child. They shut their doors on her citing her a bad example for her other siblings, she shifted to Rajpur with Keshav uncle, her husband. But her strained relationship with her family came back to normal when she showered them with help after her father’s accidental death and they observed that Keshav uncle’s first wife and sons have accepted her with warmth and respect.

I looked at shruti with tears of gratitude in my eyes. She winked at me.

She knew very well about the grave financial condition I was in. the little money my parents could leave for me was already almost exhausted because I had to finish my graduation studies and vocational courses with that. The few Fixed deposits in bank and the single room in my ancestral house shared with my uncles barely took care of my present, forcing me to gaze at a bleak future.

I knew the meagre money in fixed deposit will never meet the expenses of an average marriage, forget about a standard marriage- a marriage with a person of my type. My parents passed away suddenly leaving me in dire straits, but i was being brought up with good education and taste. They could not send me to the best schools but family background and their way of bringing up has turned me into a very sophisticated girl in comparison to my current financial position.

Every time uncle, Shruti’s father tried to find a match for me dowry became the roadblock. They never searched for a hi fi guy, all they looked for was an educated guy of decent family background and decent job. They all liked me initially, because of my looks and manners, but the moment they came to know about my financial condition they backed off. After about half a dozen rejections I requested them to not look any more, I will find my match by my own and prepared myself for the worst.

I knew it was almost impossible for me to get a groom of my choice, hence I concentrated on job, but that too was betraying me. A few interviews I faced brought further despair, the amount of salary that was being offered, to accept that and continue the work, I would have to spend from my own pocket.

Shruti’s words opened a floodgate of security and happiness. I could not utter a single word of thanks as I hugged her tightly, she hugged me back tightly and laughed.

2. Rajpur:

One month later I landed in Rajpur. It was a tiny town, studded with small hills and numerous lakes… a thing which I never thought could be possible in Rajasthan. I was quite amused about my lack of knowledge in geography..

Jhumamasi was waiting for her in the Railway station. “How are you? How is didi?” she clasped my arm warmly as I bowed down to touch her feet. “Don’t touch my feet, unmarried women don’t touch feet of others in this province.” She smiled.

Her airconditioned car was waiting outside the station. She opened the door and I sat down beside her. She drove the car to her home. A house made of sandstone. The real surprise was inside.

It was a piece of art, the floor was of marble and every inch talked about extravaganza and taste.

Keshav uncle was waiting in the bedroom. I noted that he was lot older than aunty. He has expertly dyed his hair but his face was betraying his mask. He gave me a warm loving smile which instantly won my heart and I started to worship these two kind, generous souls. Who were rich beyond measure and kind beyond words.

3. first night:

I was placed in aunty’s guest room. She asked me to settle there till they think about my future.

There was something in that room, I felt really bad there. I admit I was scared of ghosts, but not that much. My ancestral home was a centuries old building.. and my nerves have settled down after living there for years but this room made me really uneasy.

I used to go for the switch right after entering the room and changed my habit.. I started to sleep with the night lamp on.

I still recall the first night there, I was about to go to bed after spending the whole day talking with Jhumamasi, she accompanied me to the room.

“There is one thing, we don’t close the bed room doors from inside. Its strictly prohibited. One of Keshav’s sisters committed suicide.” She told me.

“Its alright, there are only us, no outsider can enter these rooms. A guard sits outside the gate all night.” She added reassuringly.

“That’s ok masi, I will not bolt the door from inside.” I replied.

Well I did. The moment I heard her mounting the stairs to her bedroom I softly bolted the door, soundlessly and went to sleep.

4. Blue star:

She knocked my door early next morning. “Good morning child!”, “Did you locked the door from inside?”

“No, I was changing when you knocked!” I told her. After all she could not prove any thing from outside.

“Get ready quickly. I will take you to the office.” She smiled.

It was not much far away from aunty’s home. Keshav uncle’s first wife and her two sons along with their famillies lived just a few blocks away from Jhumamasi’s home. Both the sons went to office, only Romit was studying away in Doon School.

He rarely visited Rajpur, Jhumamasi and Keshav uncle went there to meet him. They of course had a resort there, and that resort had a special suite for Romit. He could stay there whenever he wanted.

Keshav uncle ran a few hotels and restaurants in Rajpur and surrounding. Its Jhumamasi’s lady luck he openly says which has enabled him to open a worldwide chain of resorts, restaurants and hotels. Well, it had two things behind it, her lady luck and her sharp brain.

When her car pulled in the driveway a guard ran to open the doors. he saluted in local dialect. I noted he was wearing an uniform.

The office was quite spacious, it consisted of a huge hall – partitioned and three separate chambers for uncle, romit and ronit. Yes the name of uncle’s eldermost son was Romit. Heaven knows why they named their youngest son Romit.

“I sit with Keshav whenever I come to work. My seat is in his chamber. His first wife Ritu visits office in once in a blue moon as a guest.” She answered as if guessing my curiosity.

“Just like me, Rekha and Sunaina sit in the chambers of their husbands whenever they come.” She continued in a way of explaining. “Rekha is housewife, sunaina is smart. She cant come here right now because of two young children but earlier she used to help Ronit a lot. Rekha is issueless, its been more than ten years after their marriage, so…”

She introduced me to the staffs. Who stared at me as if I am an exhibit from zoo. There were a huge number of employees. The entire network was maintained from here very meticulously. Apart from these there were executives. Who were based here but handled the supervising of resorts/hotels.

“Keshav prefers local people. He thinks that reduces the chances of cheating.” She said. “Lets see whats he planning for you.” She smiled.

5. The office:

I joined the office as computer operator. “We will take things slowly, so that people don’t get jealous.”

“Start with this job and then we will slowly lift you up the steps…” Jhumamasi said.

The more I saw the people attached to Jhumamasi’s company Blue star my amazement increased, starting from jhumamasi to her peons every one seemed to have found the key to el dorado, the city of gold, there was no limit of their wealth.

Keshav uncle was a little partial about his first wife ritu and her sons Romit and ronit, he has built two houses for his two wives, situated a little further from each other. Each of them owned a personal car. Even Jhumamasi’s son Ramit who was studying in Doon School and came to Rajpur only on vacations had his own car standing in garage. The houses with their elaborate decoration and size will make millionaires envious.

Jhumamasi’s explanation to it all was, “If you can make a solid base of satisfied customers, you will earn more than you can even dream of, all you will have to do is retain the customer base and increase your business assets in a way that it adds up to your present business.”

She further explained how she has slowly invested all the profits of first 15 years in building a chain of hotels in the tourist spots in which Blue Star had restaurants , so they could offer their customers rooms there at a reasonable and honest rate.
“This was my idea!” she proudly said, “And this idea brought in the harvest of gold, in last fifteen years we have built more than hundred hotels in India, and a chain of restaurants outside India, but outside India we will stick to small hotels, because it will be foolish to compete with big hotels. We should better reap the craze of Indian foods.”

She had found the long wanted listener in me. She used to share her dreams, hopes and expectations with me while we sat on the swing in her balcony or I helped her in kitchen. She preferred cooking herself.

She said even though the entire idea was her but she did not hesitated to share it with her husband’s first family and his sons, even though its because of their hostility she had to send her only son to Doon, because she was always afraid for his life.