6 Changed Mind
Part 6 Changed Mind
Arnav was dumbfounded, seeing Khushi, looking at him, perplexed.
"Didn't you go to the interview?" Arnav asked, composing himself.
"My file..." She said, pointing at the back seat.
Arnav looked inside the car. He opened the door and took it out.
"This is the most important one, and you forgot it..." he said, smilingly and extended it to her.
Without taking it from him, she gazed at him.
"What? Don't you want to give the interview?" he asked.
"You said you studied only tenth grade. Then, how could you talk such high-standard English fluently?" she asked him.
Arnav rolled his eyes.
"So what if I don't study? Even Sachin Tendulkar studied only the tenth grade. Doesn't he talk English fluently?"
Khushi folded her hands.
"Sachin talks English because he is a cricketer. He was always with people who spoke English. So, talking in English is not a big deal for him. More than that, he studied in an English Medium school in Mumbai."
"Likewise, I too have a friend who is an Anglo Indian..."
Khushi frowned.
"He was my neighbour. I would be with him all the time, in his house. His parents also talked to me in English only. That's why I learned it easily and talk fluently..."
"Oh..."
"Madam, people who are selling things in tourist spots also talk standard English. Don't forget that..." He smiled.
Taking the file, Khushi walked.
"All the best, madam..." he shouted from behind.
Khushi looked at him, turning her head and nodded.
Arnav drove off from the place.
.........
Khushi waited for her turn. The girl next to her smiled at her.
"Did you prepare well?' She asked.
Khushi nodded.
"I, too, prepared well. I'm continuously giving interviews. So, this interview will not be hard for me... You can ask me anything, and I will answer..." she said confidently.
Khushi gulped hard. She studied for just three days. She didn't know what the questions would be like.
The girl was called. She went inside. Khushi waited restlessly. If the girl gave the interview well, the interview might end there itself. She didn't know how many candidates they would select. She bit her nail nervously.
After a while, the girl came with a hung face. Khushi went to her and asked,
"Did you do it well?"
She nodded no.
"I can't even answer a single question. The interview is too tough..." she walked with disappointment.
Khushi became nervous. If the girl who had prepared well could not answer a single question, what would she do? Her heartbeat rose. It seemed she should have prepared more.
Khushi was called at last. She went inside. The authorities asked her questions. She answered well because they were almost current affairs. She used to read the newspaper at the nearby shop when she went there. So, it was not hard for her.
"You are appointed..." the HR head said, making Khushi unbelieving.
"Your salary is thirty thousand. You will get an increment according to your performance."
Khushi widened her eyes. Thirty thousand? She was dumbfounded. She could not believe it.
'You can join from tomorrow."
Khushi nodded ok.
"Wait for a while and get your appointment order."
"Ok, sir..."
She came out of the room, like a person in a dreamland. She got the job with a thirty-thousand-rupee salary. She looked at the office building, throwing her head back. She blinked her eyes slowly.
She saw Arnav dropping someone off at the office gate. He looked at her and smiled.
"You are still here? I thought you would have left, finishing the interview..." he said.
"The interview just completed..." Khushi said.
"Oh... ok, shall I drop you home?"
"Mmm..." came from her without thinking.
He opened the door for her. She sat in the car. Arnav sat in the driver's seat and was about to start the car, but he looked at Khushi, hearing,
"I got the job..."
"Wow... really? Congratulations..."
"Thank you... and thank you for referring the job..."
"My pleasure..."
He started the car. He saw Khushi through the rearview mirror, thinking deeply.
"Don't worry... I won't ask you for money right away..." he smiled.
"I didn't think about it..."
"Thank God..."
"This is an IT sector... I don't know why they asked questions about current affairs, that's not their concern..."
"Did you answer?"
"Of course..."
"How do you know the answers?"
"I read newspapers..."
"I think this is why they gave you the job..."
"Means?"
"Who is reading newspapers nowadays? Everyone is watching videos on their mobile phones, forgetting themselves. People don't even give heed to the people around them. The company authorities would have considered it, I suppose." He said smiling.
"This sounds silly, but logic..." she smiled.
Arnav also smiled.
"By the way, you talk English well. Why don't you teach spoken English to children and earn?" she asked.
"Teaching English, and me? No way. I can talk English, but if you ask me how to form a sentence. I don't know... I just talk," he laughed.
Khushi raised her brows.
"Don't you know how to write?"
"I can write with a lot of spelling mistakes..." he laughed.
"Do you know how people struggle to talk in English?"
"I know..."
"Really? How?"
"Didn't I tell you about my Anglo-Indian friend? He talks to educated people in English. I saw them struggling to cope with him."
"You are right. You are so blessed that you learned English easily."
"My friend asked me to come to London after he settled down there. He was even ready to arrange a job for me. But I didn't go."
"Why?"
"How could I go leaving my mother here alone?"
"Take her with you..."
"She won't come... our country elders are so sentimental."
"Mmm... did your friend go back to London?'
"Yes, a few years ago..."
"I see..."
"Why?"
"I thought to call him here to learn English, as you did..."
"This is not done..."
"Why?"
"If you want to talk, you can talk to me too..."
"But you won't correct me if I make a mistake..."
"But you can correct it if you watch me keenly..."
"Mm..."
They reached home. Arnav stopped the car. Khushi came to him and extended a two-hundred-rupee note. Arnav looked at her, wondering.
"Take it..."
"Hundred rupees is enough...that's our deal," he said.
"It's ok... I will give you two thousand rupees every month for dropping me off at my office."
"Whaaat? Are you sure?"
"Mmm... I bargained with you because I didn't know my salary would be thirty thousand."
"Oh,"
"Now I can give you two thousand. My salary and house rent are more than enough for me..."
"You are so nice..." he took the two hundred rupees.
Khushi walked to her portion.
Arnav saw a pregnant lady going to the street hand pump. He went to her and filled the bucket for her. He took the bucket and headed to her house.
"Thank you, Bhai..." the woman smiled.
"You welcome..." he walked to his portion.
Khushi smiled, seeing that.
Arnav saw Akshaya coming out of the house. He smiled at her. She plastered a smile.
"One minute..." Arnav said.
"What?"
"I'm planning to go to my village this weekend to meet my mother."
"So?"
"I will talk to my mother about you. Will you give me your photograph? So that I will show that to my mother..."
"No need..." she said with attitude.
"Means?"
"I'm not interested..."
"But you wanted to marry me..."
"Now, I don't want to marry you..." She left the place.
Arnav stood, frowning. What happened to her that she changed her mind? He shrugged his shoulders and headed to his room, thinking that 'he would not get scolded by Khushi for entertaining her.'
To be continued...
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