Chapter 1
1. Sarthak Mukherjee
‘Sarthak you are going nowhere without this Raksha-kawaj’ Gauri protests.
‘Areyy bhai itna kya hai pehen le na’ Adarsh said. ‘it’s not that big of a deal’.
‘If that is soo , then you wear it na! Why are you forcing me!?’
‘Are you blind?’ Adarsh replied while showing his wrist where the dhaga was tied.
‘Please na beta , Wear it no , what’s that big of deal , please wear it for me , please!’
‘Oh-okayy!!! , i will wear it’ I said fed up with the situation. ‘here tie it’.
Mom and her silly superstition always gets on my nerves , everyday she comes with a new piece of dhaga and everytime it’s the same red dhaga but with a new cause. One for Prevention of Bad luck , one for peace , one for wealth , one for health and one to relief from Constipation....it was for my Dad, not for me.
Everybody in the house is fed up with these superstition but no one dares to confront it infront of her or else she will start with her daily sopes drama and start behave like we are the cruel sons who treat their mother as a maid.
‘Oye!’ A voice came from downstairs which was my brother’s , Gaurav bhaiya . He is 5 years older than me and he is simply the type of big brother you see in movies. Grumpy but kind , scary but funny and Controlling but Supportive. Gaurav bhaiya was my main supporter when I announced that I want to be a singer. When everyone disagreed on my decisions and turned their back on me he was the one who supported me through all ups and downs , he was simply my Support System. ‘Sarthu jaldi aa nahi toh tu phir practice ke liye late ho jayega’.
I came downstairs.
‘Chalo’.
’Sarthak How the fuck can you forget every single day that you have Singing lessons exactly at 2pm and see as usual it’s already 1:45pm there is no chance we will get there by 2. ‘no bhaiya there is one way we can get there in time’ i protest.
‘Are you ready Bhaiya!?’
‘Never more Unready in My life’ He says as Adarsh bhaiya Pushed the Clutch and we moved in a speed so fast that we were held back in our seats not being able to move. Since childhood Adarsh bhaiya has always been my Partner in crime , he was always very active and passionate about everything, he can do everything painting , cooking , running, swimming you name it but the thing he is best in is driving, he drives like he is born to drive he born to drive a car and whenever he sits on that driver’s seat , he looks like kind of a bollywood hero who is going to save his heroine from the goons.
‘Aa gaye!’ Adarsh bhaiya said as he stopped the car and me and gaurav bhaiya finally opened our eyes to the see the nameplate of the building ‘Melodies’ , My Own Stuudio.
Before I could get out of the car I was held back by Adarsh Bhaiya. ’What happened!? . ‘You are again forgetting something’ Adarsh bhaiya answered.
‘What?‘. ’
‘This!’
‘Oh!!’
‘How dumb a person can be!’ Gaurav bhaiya said irritatbly from the backseat.
‘Oh come on dude! It’s just a freaking Cap and a mask’.
‘Oh Really....how could you forget the day you didn’t wear this Useless Cap and mask’
I was then hit the flashblacks of the day when I forgot to wear the mask and cap , I was spotted my female fans and they were trying to kiss me and even with the protection of 5 freaking well - built bodyguards , one of my fans held my face tighly and kissed me so hard that my lips started to bleed. Oh man , being an Artist is not easy.
The moment I went outside the car , paparazzis gathered around me asking me millions of questions at a time but handling all of them I along with my brothers went inside the building safe.
And there my coach , Mr Saha , A typical old bengali man shown in movies with a tabla and harmonium was waiting for me. Saha sir has been my singing coach since I started singing and even though he is quite a talker and never stops giving lectures he is still my coach. My family has asked me before to change my tutor as his and my genre are hella different but the thing that they don’t know is that , he is a completely different person, he is so well in this field that he can even match the tune of the harmonium and tabla with a rock song.
‘Sarthak , Throughout your whole career all the songs you have been writing is either a song about heartbreak or it’s a war song , isn’t it getting a little boring?’
‘......umm.....sir what do you mean?’
‘Sarthak , Have you ever been in love?’ Mr Saha asked. ‘liked have you ever loved someone like anything like love someone so much that you think to write a song about them?’
That was a question for which I had no answer because even though I have been in several relationship I have never been in love with someone so much that I think to write a freaking song about them.
As the question triggered a part of my heart I went silent for 2 minutes and seeing that Mr Saha changed the topic .
After 2 long hours of practising, I went home.
Just after reaching home I found my dad sitting on the sofa with my mother on the side and in his hands was a file which I knew was of what.
‘Baba , I don’t need No Personal Assistant or Whatsoever’ I said sarcastically while opening my jacket to ma as she stood up and took it from my hand and kept it on the sofa.
‘Sarthu , try to understand , for these 3 years we have been managing your stuff but now We are getting old and your brothers are getting busy in our family business day by day , and if goes on either you or us will get sick and frustrated so it’s good to have a personal assistant who could manage all your stuffs professionally and that person will also do things very mindfully as it will their job’ Ma said with an concerned face.
After thinking about it for a while I realised they were right , Ma baba are getting old and Gaurav and Adarsh bhaiya are also getting busy in their own work so it’s better to have a professional handle my work and agreed to them.
‘Okay so Tommorow keep yourself free as we will interview this girl named , Sayantani Chatterjee.’ ‘She is 24 years old , She was a professional Dancer but due to financial issues she couldn’t continue in the field and She has graduated with English Honours 1 year ago’ Adarsh bhaiya said while reading her portfolio
.
‘Sounds Cool......okay I will cancel my schedules for Tommorow!’.
2. Sayantani Chatterjee
Today Is a big day for me , This is like a new start for me after that incident and after my break , i am back in Kolkata after 6 years , the country that destroyed me in every way possible.
It took a lot of courage to come back in my home country but Living in the US was also not that fun , I was mostly staying in my own and to all those bullies In My University, I was just an easy target....an innocent looking Indian introverted girl with a book in hand , hair tied in a bun , in a baggy t-shirt and a jeans. But they didn’t know that I was not the person I am right now , I was cheerfull , full of energy, full of light but because of that one person It was all ruined , my mental health got fucked up , my family broke down into pieces , my studies and dreams got crushed and that jolly girl became a depressed boring lady.
Whatever!
Today is a new start of my new life.
Today I have to crack this interview as they offer a huge amount of money (₹27000 per month) and the job seems to be pretty easy so it’s a win-win.
I take my purse and book a cab.
The cab arrived in a few minutes and that was pretty surprising for me as the last time I booked cab in Kolkata it took 1 hour to get to my place which was just on the high road.It was frustrating!.
I sat on the car and the weird smell of the leather which made me vomit and feel sick a few years ago was like a hit of nostalgia and memories, memories of Ma-Baba , Diya. Remembering them I take out my Purse and look at our Family picture attached with my purse. I was just about to tear up wheni got a call
SAYANTANI
‘Helloooo Babyyy!!!!’
AHANA
‘Tu kab ayegi aaj?’
SAYANTANI
‘pata nahi yaar abhi toh filhal Woh interview Dene Jaa Rahi hoon’
AHANA
‘Woh Sarthak Mukherjee wala?’
SAYANTANI
‘hmmm’
AHANA
‘Waise maine sune Hain ki unki family kaji rude and strict hai!’
SAYANTANI
‘bhencho!, dara mat!’
AHANA
‘Hahahaha......nahi nahi don’t worry , acha jayega interview’
SAYANTANI
‘okay then I think I have reached my destination , i will call you after the interview!’
AHANA
‘okay bye, love you!’
SAYANTANI
‘love you too’
And then got to my destination , Mukherjee Villa , cliché name , I know but still the wealth they got is enormous. They had wealth and money from the start but Mr Sarthak’s Success got them more money as well as fame and they are probably one of the richest people in West Bengal and all these things scared me about their personality.
I was lost in my thoughts when someone called me from behind.
‘Excuse me-Sayantani!?’
‘Yes , Yes!. That’s me!’
‘Come inside!’
I went inside with the lady , the lady looked Kind and Polite and looking at her face i remembered that she was Mr Sarthak’s Mother but she didn’t look like the stereotypical mother of a rich family , she looked a lot like My mother , when she was with me , Her Curly hair , Her Small Red Bindi , Her ‘Shakha Pola’ , A Safety pin hanging on one of her bangles and her Sober Light Yellow saree , everything reminded me of my mother.......it felt weird but homely.
When I went inside the house , it was nothing as I expected it to be , no walls with fancy , no fancy decors , no expensive unnecessary things, it was instead just like a normal bengali household , The White And yellow Walls , The Cute Golden Chandelier hanging over the Beige colour sofa and Just infront of it was a wooden coffee table with a sculpture of a Panda eating a bamboo. And the Big Or should I saw Huge T.V hanging on the wall infront of the Sofa and just below it was a Showcase with Medals , prizes, Books and old newspapers which were mainly of Mr Sarthak. The whole house gave me a homely feel rather than an expensive house.
It didn’t feel like a Celebrity’s House.......it felt familiar and close to home , which I didn’t even get in my Own House.
I was just admiring the beauty of the house when Mrs Mukherjee called me to a room and there Mr Mukherjee, Mr Gaurav ( Mr Sarthak’s Oldest Brother) , Mr Adarsh ( Mr Sarthak’s Older Brother) and Mr Sarthak Himself were sitting on individual chairs.
Unlike everyone in the room the main person , Mr Sarthak was busy in scrolling through his phone like he had no interest in interviewing me , Rude!. But except for the rest of them greeted me good morning but it was 1 pm so it was technically afternoon but still whatever they wanted to be sweet and they are actually sweet. And then they start to interview me and ask me some questions about my studies , my personality, my past experience.
Half of the interview went by and Mr Sarthak was still in his phone and he didn’t even take a glance at me and just hummed at every answer.
After I answered the last question they told me to wait outside for a bit and I went outside , nervous.
Some moments later , Mr Adarsh came out with my portfolio and a smile and said
‘You are hired!’
