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“Hey everyone… Hi JL ..!” Ray said brightly seeing her sitting at the back.  Only her head was visible.  She had hidden herself.  

“JL? What is JL?” Ragini asked curiously, sweetly.  Ray gave them a sexy smile winking “Its personal…..!” he said.  

“Personal? But you just called her JL..!” Ragini asked shocked, looking back at Dhatri.  Dhaa grew restless.  “What does he have personal with me?” She wondered.

“Let us come to the coding standards….!” He shrewdly sidelined the question and started off with CMM level 5 documentation standards…! They forgot about JL… except the one who was called JL. 

 “Yeh… ABCD ka Bacchha…!” she frowned.  “Why did I attend this call?” she repented.

“You know, what? This CMM levels and all, is all bullshit…. I bet no one follows those standards…. He is simply ragging us…!” Dhaa said aloud when the call was concluded.

“Shut up…! People use it, Ok!” Ragini flared up.   Dhatri shrugged…contemptuously.  “Yeah… We were told in the placement talk…!” Ragini provided further.  

“Humm… How would I know? I am not selected in Campus….!” Dhatri said loudly with a smile on her face.

“This is not a thing to be proud of… Dhatri!” Poorva snapped.  Dhatri grinned.

“Who wants placement? I am better off the way I am! Papa will provide food and shelter and Rini didi has promised me to take care of my other miscellaneous needs like clothing and petrol…!” She said proudly.  She had set everything in her life.  Poorva sighed hopelessly.

“Why did you do engineering?” she asked aghast.  

“Pressure…. Poorva, Pressure! From Family, from friends… from society…!” Dhatri said dramatically banging her palm on her forehead.  Ragini burst out in laughter.  Dhatri grinned.  Poorva opened her mouth …

“No… No need to convince me, Poorva…. I have set up everything …. Will stay with Mamma-Papa… take care of them…. Do some serious treks twice a year… Who needs a job with full belly?” she asked grinning and then looking at Poorva’s furious face changed the track…!

“Of course I will try some local software companies… I will do something, Poorva, don’t worry!” She assured confidently.  

"I am all sorted out...! No jhigjhig...!" she added.   

“Don’t you have any ambition in life?” Poorva asked all lost. 

“Ambition? What is that? How does it taste?” Dhatri wore a question mark on her face.  

“Duffer…. Tera Kuch nahi ho sakata….!” Ragini slapped on her shoulder.  Dhatri ducked.  “Why? Why not? I have set my life… I am happy…. What else do I need?” Dhatri asked tossing her head back.   

“What about your future, Dhaa?” Ragini asked.

“Future? This is my future….! You people won’t understand.. You all are blinded by that so called ambition ….!” Dhatri said pitying them.  

“Humm…  “ Poorva concluded the discussion with a sigh.  Really “Dhatri ka kuch nahi ho sakata…!”

*************   **********   *********

“Mamma… I am coming for the award ceremony…!” Disha said excitedly and Nilima had a broad smile on her face.

“Yeah, Disha… Even Ravi had called up…..” Nilima couldn’t complete her sentence. 

“Ravi? Did he call you? Why?” Disha suddenly grew suspicious.

“Why? To congratulate us…!” Nilima said plainly.  “Indroneel gave him the good news….!”

“Ohhh,,, This professor….!” Disha muttered angrily.  “Mamma…. Beware of this Ghosh uncle…. His overenthusiasm will land us in trouble, some day!” she said gravely.  Nilima didn’t understand….!

“But Rini says….!” Nilima started off.  “Forget about it, Mamma…. We will talk about it later… Now I got to go…!” Disha cut the call.  Nilima sat there bewildered.  “Why is she so weird?”

“Oh! I forgot….!” She dialled Disha’s number again.

“Disha…. Hello… I forgot…. Rini and Vinit…. Have decided …. They are getting married ….!” Nilima said in one breath.

“Wow… that is great….! When?” asked Disha all excited. 

“Its going to be a simple one…. Registered marriage in Delhi…. “ Nilima said and Disha took a sigh.  “They will have a grand reception after the marriage in Delhi…! Military style..!” Nilima said forgetting to give the date.

“When, Mamma?” Disha asked irritated.  “Oh! I forgot.. In January … fifteenth…!” she said and Disha calculated.  Fifteen and Twenty Sixth… so she had to be there atleast for fifteen days.  She had to plan for her trip….! 

“That’s great, Mamma… Will call you later…!”

“Does this mean, Ravi will also attend the award function and the wedding?” a pain surged…..! Her insecurities surfaced again.  She felt restless. 

“Disha Didi? What a surprise!!” Dhstri picked up Disha’s call.  

“Dhaa…. I am coming for the award ceremony…. And the wedding reception…!” disha declared without preamble.  Dhatri smiled happily.

“Yeah…. That is great! Will freak out…! All my friends are also invited…!” Dhatri said happily glancing at Poorva who had reappeared….! Poorva raised her eyebrows? 

“Disha didi!” Dhatri lipped.  Poorva went away.

“All your friends? How many you have, Dhaa? Only Three!” Disha mocked and Dhatri retorted.

“How many you had didi? And how many you have now? I mean FRIENDS…!” Dhstri stressed on the word friends.

“Shut up Dhaa….!” Disha flared up.  “You had only one…. And you married him…!” Dhatri retorted….!

“Shut up..!” Disha disconnected the call angrily.  All her happiness of the possibility of going to India was sucked out with Dhatri’s retort. 

Dhatri sat on the bed thinking about her Disha Didi and then remembering her Rini Didi’s advise, pulled her laptop to write a mail to her Disha Didi to make amends. 

“Humm…. Disha Didi…. I don’t mean…. What I am writing…. This is just for My Rini Didi… because she has asked me not to argue with you….!” She murmured and wrote….

“Disha Didi…. I am sorry, for what I said….!” 

“Finally…. She is on track… feeling sorry for what she said to her elder sister…!” Disha smiled smugly feeling elated by Dhatri’s sorry-email….!

**********  **********

“Bol naa Dhaa…. Who gave you that gift?” Ragini’s curiosity was killing her.  Dhatri fumbled…. Poorva was watching them apprehensively.  “Umm….. I don’t know…!” Dhatri said looking away. 

“You don’t know?” Ragini turned the gift packet… Indeed there was no name… no card…!

“Why didn’t you open it?” she asked still turning the packet in her hand.  

“Are you kidding? What if there is a bomb inside?” Dhatri asked looking at the packet frightfully.  Poorva grinned.  “She is back….” Dhatri was back with her deadly sense of humor.

“Then why did you keep it with you? Throw it away…!” Ragini said raising the packet to throw it.

“No…!” Dhatri snatched the packet.  “I mean… How can I throw the gift, Ragini…. It’s a gift…!” Dhatri tried to hide it inside her bag.

“Then open it…” Ragini said holding her hand.  Dhatri’s heart skipped a beat. “No..!” she said suddenly flaring up.  The trauma came back engulfing her…! Poorva was watching the changing expressions of Dhaa ….! She intervened.

“Its Ok. Dhaa….! But tell us what it is, when you open it…Ok?” she said reasonably to Ragini’s disappointment.  She was very close to opening the packet.  Dhatri stuffed it into her bag.  “Yeh Hungry Gudda Marawaegaa ek din…!” she muttered moving out with her bag.