Dreams and Nightmare

Chapter 1. Riddhi Harshad Panchal Dear Miss Panchal, Congratulations! You have been selected for Thakersey scholarship...... We are sure that this scholarship will help you live your dreams, study well and achieve all of your goals....... Riddhi caresses her fingers on the printed paper for the third time this morning to make herself believe that her hardwork and prayers have finally been answered. Two more years and she will live her dreams with her flesh and soul. Her only dream is to be an English Literature Proffesor. To become another like Mrs. Pramila Kulkarni, who inspired and supported her on each and every step she took to follow her dreams. It was easy for Mrs. Kulkarni to help her as she is indeed hardworking and a smart girl. She has to be. She is the oldest kid in her family and her father doesn"t earn much money to bare the education expenses of two children. She is proud to have a father like him who puts aside his dreams to be with his family and do what he can to make their dreams come true. " Riddhi...." "Coming MAA!" She yells back hurriedly, putting the letter back in its cover. Her mother"s urgent voice indicates that she will be late for work. She works in a bookshop which helps her in two ways. First, to cope with financial issues and second, to serve as her only hobby. After tossing a diary in her hand bag she hangs it over her shoulder so it rests her waist. Leaving her room she grows excited as she is looking forward to what this new day will teach her. Her father is already having his cup of tea accompanied with a newspaper. When he sees his daughter his eyes widen with delight. " Hey dear! Ready for the new day?" he cheerfully asks his only daughter. "Yessss! What about my dear father?" She greets back, emphasizing her answer. "Riddhi, you remember how I promised you a gift for when you get the scholarship?" Her Father places the question with delight and pride in his eyes. "Oh Come on Dad, You don"t have to buy me anything, I have everything if I have you people." She honestly appreciates her father"s generosity but knowing that they don"t have much money she denies the idea of a gift. "Stop being all goody-goody OK? Look there"s a sale for Mobile phones and you really need new one. So tell me what you think?" Mr. Panchaal moves the open newspaper to her daughter and points towards the advertisement. Riddhi follows the pointing finger and is really impressed by the ad. Suddenly some bold letters caught her attention on the opposite page. "An Accountant Murdered His Employer For The Prize Money Offered By His Competitor" What is so significant about these headlines? After all, these things are really very common in the competitive world. You know, murdering people and especially for earning big amounts of money. But two names catch her eyes and they are "SURAT" and "ANUJ JARIWALA". There is something about those names which make her curious so she decides to read the whole article. " Riddhi? What happened baby? Don"t you like it???" Her Father"s question breaks her reverie. "Ya dad its... its amazing." Her stuttering gives her father a feeling of trouble. " Are you Ok? Sure you want this?" " Ya Dad, I am fine and honestly I love it. You should buy it as soon as possible." She hurriedly hides her feelings and wears her "Perfect Daughter" facade. Mr. Panchaal smiles and kissed his daughters forehead. "Okay, I will be right back." Her Father leaves to go to his room to collect his regular stuff. As soon as she sees him enter his room she grabs the newspaper, looking for the reason of her curiosity. "Surat, The Diamond city of India. Which is really moving fast on the glorius path of development. But who knew this path may be painted in blood. The body was found on the 1st May, Tuesday morning. The pale dead body of Mr. Karsan Das was found in his own office cabin at 9am morning by Kisan, one of the cleaning staff. Das is the entrepreneur of the small private company "Das textiles" residing in Mahinderpura area of Surat. During the inquiry it was found that victim had been last seen with juniour accountant Anuj Jariwala......" Riddhi"s heart skips a beat as she reads the name in her mind. She closes her eyes and opens them after a few seconds as if to erase her view, but unfortunately it doesn"t happen. She reads the name a few more time to believe that she is not mistaken. After a sigh she continues to read the left out part. "He had been arrested soon but during interrogation he stood firm by his statement that he is innocent. He was there in office till 11pm that night because of some data entries related to new accounting software his boss ordered him to do. It was important for him to use that program the following morning to present the statement to Tax Officials. But when he went to the cabin for permission to leave, he saw Mr. Rawal in his Cabin. Mr. Ganesh Rawal is one of the most successful businessmen of the city and owner of Rawal Group of Companies. Police arrested Rawal also for further inquiry, but he denied to confirm Anuj"s statement. Instead he said he was not in town that very night, as he was in Baroda for some important buisness. Tables turn when forensic reports were out which confirmed that both the suspects were present at the crime scene. Both Rawal and Anuj finger prints were in Das" cabin. So the police came to conclusion that both suspects were involved. Thursday. 3rd May. 4pm Das" family will fight in court for justice. Das" elder Son Manish Das stated that he will fight till the culprit won"t find the hanging knot. Surat city has to wait for justice till hearing ..." Her forehead wrinkles with a shiny drop of perspiration, Her eyes are glistening and she is frozen like an iceberg. "Riddhi, Dear what happened? Are you finished the newspaper because we are getting to be late dear and I have to drop you off also...." So finally "The Titanic" clashed with the iceberg. It was her Father Mr. Panchal. Waking up her Dreaming-With-Open-Eyes Daughter. "Huhhh?" Riddhi rips her view from newspaper to look at her father with questioning brown eyes. "Its getting late dear, hurry up," her father replies to her amusing eyes. "YY -Ya, Dad you carry on. I will help myself, I have to stop by to-to meet Navi...," Riddhi stutters while explaining to her father. She doesn"t want him to identify her broken heart scattered into pieces. " Ok honey, see you in the evening." Mr. Panchal bids good bye to his family, moving out from the one sided wooden door towards the stairs leading down to the main road. She watches her father"s every move while her heart is beating fast in her chest. Suddenly he turns his head around to look at her. She thinks her father must"ve caught her upset figure. " And Ya, give Navika my warm regards and don"t forget to invite her for dinner ok dear? Bye" Man says to his frozen daughter with a perfect ear to ear grin on his face. Riddhi releases her tense shoulders, taking a deep breath for a moment before bidding ba-bye to her father again with her weak hand wave. She turns to see newspaper one more time to make sure she is not having some dillusion. But she reads those damn lines again with his name. What is so significant about that piece of news? Maybe not for the world but for Riddhi its a nightmare. That Juniour Accountant is non other then Anuj. "But why did he do this?" "Did he really did this?" "He couldn"t have done this." "But if he did then why did he have to do it?" The blank question flashes in her mind but no one can answer the single question. She is unable to believe that Anuj, a person like him, can be a criminal. She can"t even believe he could even think about something like this. He has always been a jolly good fellow with a caring and loving heart. A straight forward and stable boy. Riddhi is fond of him, especially because of his attitude. He never keeps grudges, he is a stubborn lover of forgiveness. He can"t do this, no way.... The annoying sound of a wall clock rhythm interrupts her train of thought. It"s 10 O" clock and she is getting late for her job. She leaves her seat and starts towards the door. "Riddhi, are you leaving dear?" Her mum inquires as she sees her leaving. "Ya Mum, Bye!" Riddhi replies, trying her best not to sound tense. "Don"t forget to invite Navika for dinner tomorrow night. Ok dear?" "Ya Mum, will do that for sure. Now bye, I"m getting to be late for work." She shrugs and turns away with one question in her mind, "Will I really forget about all of this and go about with my daily routine? ...............