HALF WAY IN LOVE (CHAPTER 9)

Chapter 9

Life slowly found its rhythm.

Factory picked up operations quick enough. It was running to full capacity now. Day and night. It ran in two shifts to meet demand.

Fulchand & Sons, a big exporting company, gave him most of the orders.

Soon after opening of the factory, he had visited many exporting companies, scouting for orders.

And he visited Fulchand & Sons too.

Keval Chand Bafna. A Jain. Owner of Fulchand & Sons.

Dev could speak Hindi well, owing to his education in a central school. And that worked for him.

He conversed with Keval in Hindi. And Keval Chand instantly liked the boy.

"I will give you orders Dev. But be prompt. You know why small companies keep failing in Tirupur? After few initial orders, they start failing on deadlines. They do the work, but not within the delivery deadline. And thus they lose the trust and orders. Any help, you please call me. But never fail to meet deadlines. Important for you and important for me as well."

That was a great lesson for Dev. Never fail to meet deadlines.

Fulchand kept pumping in orders. And Dev kept supplying in time.

Slowly, he became their largest vendor.

And in two years, he went on to become an exporter himself.

That brought in larger margins to the company, with the same overhead. Compared to sub contract jobs.

Dev was able to move his factory to own building, in almost a year time. Better ventilated and ergonomically designed to smoothen the process flow.

More than two hundred employees now worked for the company. Dev got immensely busy. He rarely had time for rest.

But he continued to stay in that old rented house. That one room house.

No one is not judged by the size of their house. That is the beauty of Tamil nadu. So he could, while making all these money, continue his stay in that room.

He was happy there. Father still worked with Ramalingam. He came in the mornings, slept till afternoon. He will then come to factory with Dev's lunch. Sometimes Sarada, too will come with him. They were hardly getting to see him at home.

Some evenings, he still took that evening walk with Venkat Annan. Venkat Annan was the son of his land lord. It was the case ever since he was a boy. Venkat Annan, as Dev called him, used to take him for walks in the evenings. Mostly their walks took them to the New Bus stand. And they usually wound off their walks with one plate each of 'Kaalaan', a kind of mushroom based dish, from a street vendor, famous for that.

"You have grown too big Dev. No longer my little Dev, who waited for me to come back from work."

Venkat Annan said, looking both happy and concerned at the same time.

Dev looked up from his plate of Kaalaan.

Venkat Annan's eyes were moist.

"You came to stay in my house as a young boy. You were studying in sixth, if I remember correctly. From then, till now, You are with us. Don't know how long you will continue staying with us. When you are gone, I will miss you Dev."

Dev held Venkat Annan' arm.

But Dev didn't say anything. He knew his concerns were true.

Sukanya, was in her third year now. She called him once in a while, as she knew Dev was busy. Sometimes, she dropped into his office, to know how he was progressing.

"You are doing well, hero."

She said, one day, sipping on coffee. She was on a visit to his office.

Dev knew Sitaram Iyer, the aged accountant, was monitoring them from the corner seat.

He called in Karthik. Dev' s trusted man.

"Karthi, take care of production. No lags. And speed up the packing section. We need to be ready for cargo in few days. I will be back in one hour".

And they dashed out in his Volkswagen Jetta.

" You have time Sukanya?"

"Depends where actually you are thinking of going.”

Sukanya laughed.

Dev realised how rare they met these days. He was busy in the company. And she was busy with her studies. Today she was having exam break. And Dev was the first thing that came to her mind.

"Your car is impressive." She remarked, after watching Dev drive, for some time.

"Can I drive"? She asked cutely.

"Of course Princess." Dev said smilingly, and stopped the car on the side of the road.

From there, Sukanya drove the car.

And she was driving pretty well. She grew up among flashy cars. A real princess.

They went to Marudamalai, a temple situated around sixty kilometers from Tirupur.

He wanted some time with Sukanya.

Car climbed up the hill with ease, and stopped just outside the old and majestic temple.

Lord Muruga. The deity.

It was almost three in the afternoon, and also a weekday. It accounted for fewer crowd.

After darshan, they sat on one of the steps.

A light breeze was teasing her hairs, and she kept pulling them back.

"What is it Dev? You look little dull. What happened?"

She asked him looking at his face. He was looking at his feet.

Dev, after a second of thought, looked up to face her.

"What did you get out of this Sukanya? You came; you helped me to start my own, and I am making money. Am not even thanking you enough. I am not even calling you often. "

Sukanya, smiled.

"I just showed you a way Dev. Rest everything, you did. I have enough money at home. You don't worry about that" she started laughing.

After a little pause, she asked.

"There is something else"

Sukanya teased him with a piercing look through the corner of her eyes.

" Am moving to Kerala, dear."

Dev said slowly.

Sukanya, just sat there in silence. Clearly shaken. Unable to speak.

" Too much of Sukanya"

Gayathri complained, handing me a cup of tea.

I smiled.

"Sukanya is the reason Dev reached where he is now. Can't ignore her Gachu"

"Still, am waiting for our sweet Revathy."

She said now, surprisingly blushing.

Girls and romance!

"They will meet Gachu, when they are destined to meet."

“I hate writers, especially you”

She stormed into the kitchen, with a smirk.

CONT ....