Trampling the Dreams

Shastri was not intimidated by the glaring look of Niriksh. He turned to Mr.Vardhan and said," I agree Mr.Vardhan. Even though I have successfully brought your daughter in front of you I don't feel any satisfaction about the case."

"What do you mean Mr.shastri?" Mr. Vardhan asked. But his eyes were constantly shifting.

"You don't think that the one who solved the case would not know the cause of the case right. Surely you don't think me of being such a fool? You can tell us the truth with your mouth. You have seen my analysis. I don't leave any point unexplained. If you explain the cause it is well and good. Otherwise, I will be forced to analyze the cause also." Shastri said, gazing firmly at Mr.Vardhan.

But Mr.Vardhan said in a consoling tone, "Now, I have already got my daughter. I will give the full reward money to you. I will also give you some additional money and additional reward for the police station. But I don't think any further investigation is required." Mr.Vardhan's voice had a threatening tone in it.

Shastri laughed." This is a missing case, not a drama and you are not a director of it so that if you say to stop we will stop it. I have come here to assist Praveen and Praveen works for the country. There are also many questions I have left unanswered. As you are not willing, I will answer them. But first I will have my tea. In the meantime, if Mr.Vardhan has any explanation to make, please feel free to do so."

Shastri then began to drink his tea. There was a tense atmosphere in the room. Mr.Vardhan looked at Shastri uncertainly but did not say anything. Even Niriksh, Nikhita, and Usha were looking at Shastri with disbelief. This was the first time they saw Mr.Vardhan intimidated.

After Shastri drank his tea he looked around once again before beginning to speak," I gave you enough time to speak. As you have chosen not to speak it means I have to explain the case from the beginning. Now I don't want any interruption. If you have any questions wait till my explanation is over."

Then without waiting for any response, Shastri began to speak," You see, I had already concluded that because of a fight Nikhita had left her house. But was it a lover's fight? The police failed in determining this. There were many misleads in the case which would have confused many police officers. One lead said that Nikhita was having a love affair. But there was no evidence for this. They had only concluded this based on their conjectures when they saw Nikhita going outside and talking on the phone."

"But humans are creatures which are prone to change. After some time, a person will get tired of doing something again and again, however entertaining. But Vimala said affirmatively that Nikhita had been going to talk to her so-called lover for over 2 hours. And another thing is that no one had ever seen her. Why? This supported my conjecture that she was not missing but was deliberately working on a plan."

"Who was assisting her? Her friends who she was deliberately misleading? Her father was supposed to have fought with? Or her brother? I had an obvious answer there but I still needed more evidence in support of my theory. So, I asked Mr.Vardhan regarding the call details claiming the rewards. Now, Praveen I believe you were surprised when I asked him the call details. But see this sheet here. Does this location makes any sense?" Shastri asked, pointing at the sheet.

"I am confused. I can't think of any connection of the sheet with the case.", Praveen said.

"Well, I thought you had already deduced something with your observation and deduction." Shastri said mockingly," but now if you open the Google for Varthur- Pune highway you can see that there are the majority of callers from the locations between these highways. Mrs.Nikhita even though you think you have disguised yourself enough there is something called resemblance. And some of the callers made a connection right through that. But it is a pity that the callers were ignored."

"Good sir, very good! Your brain is faster than the speed of light! You have been called Garuda sir. And after seeing your analytical power I see you are fully deserving of the name! But further investigation is not required. I will personally educate my son and daughter. I know that they have done the mistake and I will guarantee that it will not be done again" Mr.Vardhan said in a flattering tone.

"Well, there is only one guarantee I require here! That is from you Mr.Vardhan" Shastri said in an authoritative voice.

"What do you mean Sir?" Mr.Vardhan asked angrily, but a tone of panic was mixed in it.

"You know what I mean Mr.Vardhan. For the sake of your company, you wanted to trade the future of your daughter. Luckily her brother came to the rescue. He had made a good plan but failed because of the investigator like me. But this time, I don't support you trampling your daughter's future to save the company. Wait for your son to complete M.B.A and save your company. Even if you manage to save the company in exchange for your daughter's dreams you will not be happy. Your daughter will not be happy. Heck, your whole family will not be happy."

"Did you know? There are a concept called case studies which deal with the different type of problems faced by the companies. Just discuss the problems that you are facing with your son and daughter. Till what age are you are going to carry the Burden yourself? Share the burden with your son and daughter. What do you know? They may help you to carry your company to new heights" Shastri said.

Mr.Vardhan was silent for a long time. Then he looked at his son and daughter and sighed," Well it is natural for the old leaves to fall as the new leaves come by. I did not understand your dreams and tried to trample your dreams. Sorry, Nikhita. Sorry, Niriksh."

Seeing their father apologizing to them, both Nikhita and Niriksh were overwhelmed. They held their father's hands saying "Sorry father. Sorry for opposing you without understanding your situation. We will try to understand what is going with the company and help you to manage its affairs"

"Ok, I think the case is closed. But Mr.Vardhan be careful. I don't believe anybody. If I find that missing case happens once again in your family, the previous missing case results investigation will be found published on the first page of the newspaper. I hope it never happens," Shastri said smiling.

But Mr.Vardhan was sweating more and more.