A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

‘It could be said. But he is very clever
... he was telling - if I become Director,
then his investment on flattering me will
stand him in good stock.’
‘That means he has also guessed that
you have been brought to Delhi to replace
Mr. Khanna as Director. ‘
He wanted to say that she was right
and that there was nothing wrong in it.
After all, Saluja has spent his entire career
comfortably in Delhi. He has never faced
the dust of the plant. What does he know
about the plant.
But overtly he said, ‘Nothing can be
said. Let us see what happens. If everything
goes well, then let us take it as a reward
for all our struggles and inconveniences
after coming to Delhi.’
Such apprehensions turned any time
into voices hovering around him. The cloak
of urbanism was spread everywhere. He
used to think that people have put with
ease the ‘hearing aid’ of cosmopolitan
thinking in their mind. This machine is
any time more powerful than his real
‘hearing aid’. Even after taking out the
‘hearing aid’, he used to hear loud and
strange sounds.
That abiding moment of verdict came
and passed by too. That evening, he silently
lay on the bed after coming home—he
was despondent, as if a huge bulldozer
had crushed him. He felt like crying his
heart out. Otherwise also, he was feeling
a lump in the throat. Saroj kept mum.
She had already known it through his phone
call.
‘How did it happen? Till yesterday,
your name was doing the rounds. Suddenly,
today...’ He burst out, ‘Oh, Saluja has kept
under his thumb Khanna and many other
big shots. It is as if he wears the bellmetal
ring in his fingers. It is all the effect
of this.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The meaning is dawning upon me now.
When Saluja’s order came out, Raina was
telling—Sir, it is an old game. Saluja is
Khanna Sahib’s pub-chum. They often drink
together in the evening. Saluja has a big
hold. His brother is a very big builder.
He has got relations in the Ministry. He
managed the plot for Khanna Sahib and
got his house constructed. He was retiring.
Saluja had only one hindrance in becoming
the Director in his place that he was not
having any site experience. Therefore, in
the last moment, he was sent to the site
in place of you just to fulfill this formality.
You have been used just like a pawn in
this game. It was already fixed with Khanna
Sahib that Saluja would become the
Director.’
‘Oh, now I get the point.’ Saying this,
Saroj also sulked.
He became silent. With the stillness,
spread the terror. Many sounds started
creeping towards him like serpents. He
106 :: January-March 2012