Extremely sorry for the late update.. Was very very busy… 🙁
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Anyways, here is a wonderful toast by a wonderful person! Hope you all enjoy…
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THEME 1: A highly ambitious Rudra, returns from London, after 7 long years. lakshya wishes to become a C. E. O. of a top notched multinational company, ASPIRE. It is his prime goal in life. He returns to his ancestral home with plans of selling the property to earn millions, so that he can invest into his career, where in he meets up his childhood crush, Ragini Kapoor. Ragini is street smart, beautiful and extremely talented. But she is an extreme family person, and hence never left her family to settle elsewhere. She visions her village to be a heaven on earth and she feels that all the educated individuals in the village should come back to the village and work for its development. lakshya was never able to confess his love for Arohi. Ragini was also his senior by 2 years. Ragini did like lakshya secretly but never told him as she felt it would be embarrassing to propose a guy who was younger to her. Meanwhile, during his trip around his village, he lands up in front of a huge palatial mansion. Upon enquiring, he realises that this was a property of his school crush, Swara Arya. He had loved both Ragini and Swara equally, until he left for London after his higher secondary. Swara was a girl of extreme confidence. She was independent, elegant, graceful and the sole owner of DESIRE. Both ASPIRE and DESIRE worked hand in hand owned by the Arya siblings. Swara never liked Ragini’s concern for Rudra. And she used to be extremely jealous when lakshya spoke to Arohi, the reason being Ragini being more loved by everyone. lakshya was UNAWARE of both of them liking him.
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“Do we have a deal Mr. lakshya?”
“We sure do, Mr. Arya .”
“Welcome aboard,the new CEO of ASPIRE and welcome to the family, my dear BROTHER-IN-LAW.”
lakshya’s POV
I never knew that something as simple as this would help me achieve my dream. My sole aim in life, for the past 2 years.
It all started,when I was London and I had just started working in ASPIRE, I had vowed to myself that one day I will climb the corporate ladder and lead this company myself. What came as a big shock to me, was the fact that the home base of this company was in my own village. Ofcourse, I knew that it was an Indian company, which was running in perfect coordination with DESIRE, but it was indeed a huge surprise that the company was owned by residents of my hometown. I had always wanted to go back home, but now I had made up my mind. Originally, my intention was to sell my ancestral home, and use the proceeds from the sale as an investment in my career. It would just help me advance and help me achieve my goal. It was settled. I would go back to India and that would just help me speed up the process of achieving my dream. And that’s what I did. I came back home, after 7 years.
The village had changed, a lot. Though there had been a lot of development in the infrastructure, the greenery, the natural beauty remained the same. It enhanced the scenery. I met Arohi, my crush, my senior, someone that I really loved. Time had just made her more beautiful, more charming, a much more amazing person than she already was. Seeing her reignited old sparks, forgotten feelings. And when I met Swadheenta, all my feelings suddenly intensified. Swara carries herself with such elegance and grace that it just made me admire her as a person.The love that I had felt for both of them, the love that had been buried for the sake of my future, had come rushing back up to the surface. For 7 years I had been away from my family, my home and from the people that were really important to me, because my education and to be more specific my dreams were, well they still are and always will be my topmost priority. And just one simple decision that I made, helped me achieve those dreams.
lakshya’s POV ends
Flashback
Ragini was on her way to a workshop that she had organised to let more people know about how the village can be developed further. This wasn’t her first rodeo. She had been conducting such workshops for a really long time. She left her house with a smile on her face and called her friend who had volunteered to help her out with the workshop.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. You know the drill. Just-”
“Ragini Kapoor ?”- she looked at the source of the voice and frowned at first, unable to recognise the person who spoke. Then,she saw the smile on his face and an even broader smile made its way on her own. She could never forget that smile. It belonged to someone she cherished, someone she loved.
“lakshyaSinghania ?”
lakshya nodded and chuckled slightly. Ragini immediately told her friend to manage the workshop, because she was going to be late as she had met an old friend. A friend who meant a lot to her.
To say the Ragini was ecstatic to see Rudra, would be an understatement. They walked around the village and ended up sitting in front of a tree and spoke about their lives, their hobbies, their interests in general, in an attempt to get to know each other again. They realised that they had contrasting ideologies, different thoughts about everything. Ragini smiled to herself as she looked at the surroundings, because it was on a day like this one, that she had realised that she liked Rudra. She giggled, not because she was shy, but because she thought that she was being stupid. People would realise their feelings when something huge happened, but her realisation took place when they were merely sitting and talking, she had been enlightened about her feelings just in front of a tree. She snapped out of it when lakshya asked her if she could give him a tour of the village.
“Wow !”
Ragini just giggled looking at his reaction and said-“Wow indeed. This mansion, well it belongs to the owner of the company DESIRE. She was your friend. Swara Arya. Remember her ?”
lakshya’s heart began fluttering at the mention of her name. And the fact that Swara was the owner of DESIRE, just made him ecstatic. Because, she could provide solid recommendation, and help him become the CEO of ASPIRE, which runs hand in hand with her company. He apologised to Ragini and ran off to make arrangements in order to meet Swadheenta. Ragini was disheartened, and just thought to herself, that even after all this years, his friend, the person who was his age will always be his priority, but she just smiled and waved him goodbye. lakshya promised that he would meet her the next day.
Swara was shocked to see the man she loved right in front of her. She postponed all her meetings and tweaked her schedule, ofcourse it meant that she may have to work a little late that day, but it didn’t matter, as long as she got to spend time with the man she loved. They were quite similar,to be honest. Both of them had aspired to do great things in life and Swara had been able to achieve them, while lakshya was very close to doing so as well. They spent the rest of the day together, catching up, sharing old stories, laughing, feeling nostalgic. Swara’s feelings for lakshya had never faded. She smiled to herself when she realised that he aspired to be the CEO of ASPIRE, the company which was run by her brother- Sanskar Arya. It was perfect. They could spend more time together, work hand in hand. And considering the fact that her brother was planning to start a new company and had planned to hand ASPIRE over to her, the odds were in her favour. Swara told lakshya that she would speak to her brother and try to get lakshya on the board, get him to the top level of management. lakshya’s happiness obviously knew no bounds.
They stood there while the darkness of the night sky surrounded them and the light coming from the single street light beside them shone on Swara’s face, making her look as beautiful as ever. lakshya has always loved both Ragini and Swara equally. But, standing there and staring at Swara’s beautiful face, and reminiscing Ragini’s pretty smile at the same time, he got flustered. He excused himself and bid Swara farewell, leaving her confused as she stood there beside the streetlight just staring at his shadow slowly pacing away from her. Her insecurities got to her and she couldn’t help but think that he was going to meet Arohi. She always felt jealous when it came to Arohi. Ragini was loved by everyone, and Swara had immense respect for her thoughts and ideals, but since she knew about Ragini’s feelings for Rudra, she couldn’t help but get ticked off by the simplest of care and interactions that the two shared. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking that given the choice, lakshya would choose Ragini and not her, because Ragini was perfect in her eyes. And that mere thought, made her dislike Ragini for talking to Rudra. And she hated herself, because disliking someone as caring and as kind as Arohi, was not in her nature. But love, it does that to people. Doesn’t it ?
Ragini on the other hand, was considered this role model. This ideal wife, who was a family person, who lets others depend on her. It was in her nature, to be kind to the people she loved, to her family and let them lean on her. But, Ragini would be lying if she said that she didn’t feel a pang of jealousy in her chest whenever she saw Swara and lakshya exchanging glances, smiling and having the time of their lives. As she walked back home after she saw lakshya and Swara smile and laugh, she said the same old thing to herself–“Give up on him. He will never love you.”
lakshya sat on his bed and just kept thinking about Ragini and Swadheenta. Ragini was the first one he had fallen for and at first he was convinced that it was just childish infatuation, but later he realised that though he was more mature when he started to have feelings for Swadheenta, his feelings for Ragini remained the same. He loved both of them. But,he was unaware of their feelings. What if neither of them loved him ? He decided to take a walk and clear his mind. He saw Ragini who was walking lost in her thoughts and just when he was about to call out to her, he saw Swara approach her. He decided to hide behind the tree and listen to their conversation. He knew it was wrong, but he really wanted to try and distract himself and this might do the trick.
Swara gave Ragini a bitter smile and just said- “I never wanted to confront you, until today. I’m sorry, but I’ve always disliked how close lakshya and you have been. And knowing that we both have feelings for him, it’s really hard for me. I want to know, do you still have feelings for him ? Because, I do. And I do not want to back off, but if he chooses you, I….. I am ready to sacrifice my love for him, for his happiness.”
Ragini just stared at the ground, like it was the most interesting artwork she had ever seen and bit her lip as she said-“Yes, I do have feelings for him. But, don’t worry, I won’t get in your way. He will never choose me. I am two years elder than him, and it will never work out between us. I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”
Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Ragini who was weeping and walking in the opposite direction.
lakshya ran home, unable to believe what he had just heard. He didn’t know if he should feel ecstatic because both the girls he loved, loved him back, or if he should be scared because he had to make a decision soon. He fell asleep because of how tired he was. He woke up with a jolt when he remembered the dream he had. Swara and Ragini were standing in front of him, and they had extended their hands out to him, while a voice said –“If you love two people at the same time, choose the second. Because if you really loved the first one, you wouldn’t have fallen for the second.”
He started walking towards Swara and was about to hold her hand, but stopped when he saw that Ragini was fading away. He ran to her and held her in his arms, and Swara ran away with tears in his eyes. But, it didn’t seem to bother him. That’s when he realised. That his first love, was the person he truly loved. Ragini Kapoor was the one in his heart, all along.
He smiled and when he realised that he was supposed to meet Ragini in a while, he bolted up and ran like the wind. He smiled when he saw Ragini waiting for him and engulfed her in his arms. She was taken aback, but couldn’t resist herself from embracing the one she loved. He confessed his feelings and stopped her from saying anything against it. She was ecstatic, but didn’t know that there was a huge storm that was awaiting her. lakshya’s phone rang and he just left Ragini there without saying a single word, which left her baffled.
Sanskar Arya, who knew about his sister’s feelings, decided to make an offer that lakshya couldn’t refuse. He called lakshya and told him to meet him at his place, immediately. He told Rudra, that he only wanted his sister’s happiness. But, he was lying to lakshya and himself. He just wanted to start his own company and not a company which was associated to his sibling, and he would do anything to hand ASPIRE over. He told Rudra, that if he married his sister, he would end up becoming the CEO of ASPIRE. He knew that lakshya had chosen Ragini because his secretary had followed him, so he expected lakshya to deny his offer. And that was something he could not afford, but he was willing to take the risk. What shocked him, was the fact that lakshya agreed in a heartbeat.
Flashback ends
Ragini’s phone buzzed and she smiled when she realised that lakshya was calling her. She answered it immediately, but their conversation broke 2 hearts. Ragini’s and Swara’s. lakshya had broken the hearts of the two people he claimed he loved, all because of his dream, his ambition. He didn’t wait for any response from Arohi, as he just spoke- “Look Arohi, I have very little time to explain this, because I don’t ever want to talk to you again. You haven’t done anything wrong. But practically speaking, I am an ambitious man and you are just this person whose heart lies in a village. I don’t see a proper future with you, but I know that if I marry Swadheenta, that I will be able to achieve my dream. I will become the CEO of ASPIRE. I may have loved you more, but I loved Swara as well. It may be difficult at first, but the deal has been made. I’m going to settle for her. I’ll adjust. Forget about me. Goodbye.”
Swara had overheard this conversation and she locked herself in her room and cried for a really long time. No girl wanted the man she loved to just settle for her. She realised that it was really dark and that she had just locked herself in her room for almost the whole day. She weakly stood up and walked out of the room, having lost all her energy. But, when she saw lakshya talking to her brother, right in front of her, she regained all her energy and ran as far as she could, as fast as she could. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Ragini sitting all alone on a bench. She looked vulnerable. The girl who always let others lean on her, needed someone to lean on and Swara could clearly see through her ‘strong woman’ act. As much as she wanted to tell Ragini that she could rely on her, she couldn’t because her jealousy got in the way. She was about to walk away, when both of them made eye contact and no words had to be spoken because both of them knew each other’s pain.
They sat there in silence, on the roadside bench, while their hearts spoke and they found solace in the most unexpected place. Ragini was the first one to break the silence-“ I’m sorry. When he said that he loved me, I wasn’t able to sacrifice my feelings like I had promised. This is why all of this happened.” Swara gave her a weak smile as she held her hand hesitantly and said-“It’s neither of our faults. We both loved him. But, his love for his dream is greater than anything else. It just hurts because he said that he would settle for me. I didn’t want to be his second choice. I wanted to be his priority. But, in the end, that’s how things turned out.”
Ragini sighed in annoyance and just said-“I wish he would realise that you can’t build relationships on the basis of a business deal. It’s a relationship, it requires trust and love. He cannot just take a shortcut to achieve his goal. He needs to realise that.” Swara smiled in agreement as she just rested her head on Ragini’s shoulder, not realising that this was the person whom she claimed to dislike and said -“I agree, di.” Swara was about to move away, embarrassed, because she realised what she had done. A part of why she disliked Ragini was because she was envious that she didn’t have a sister like her. She would never admit it, but she looked up to Arohi. Ragini’s heart swelled up at those words. She had a family, but never had a younger sister. She just gently brought Swara’s head back to her shoulder. The two girls smiled to themselves as they had just found a sister, in the weirdest of places. A bench, a mere roadside bench.
The next day, Swara smiled at everyone in the conference room. She told everyone that she held this meeting to announce the new CEO of the company. lakshya smirked at those words and was about to stand up from his chair, when he heard Swara say-“Please welcome Ms. Ragini Kapoor everyone. She is the new CEO.” Before lakshya could question her decision, she just smiled and said-“This decision was left in my hands by my brother, who is handing over the company to me. He made some bad choices and decided to make my life a business deal, but I corrected it all, by choosing someone who is talented, smart and kind and will definitely help us succeed. And by that I mean, that I am merging the companies ASPIRE and DESIRE, into WINGS. Because our aim, is to fly high, and our motto being that we will never walk alone. Good decisions come from the mind but also from the heart. Due to the merger, there may be layoffs, but I assure you that talented employees will be put in other companies that we have joint ventures with. Thank you for being here. Meeting dismissed.”
lakshya left from there without a word, and he had been told that he was laid off. He received a letter which was signed from Ragini and Swadheenta, and upon reading it, he realised that though his dream was his priority, he didn’t have any right to play with either of their feelings. Swara apologised for what she had done but just said, that it was better for him to find a new dream.
Before Swara made this announcement, she made sure that she told Ragini about it, because she didn’t want to catch her off guard. They sat in the cafeteria, sipping on their hot coffee, while it started pouring. They smiled and enjoyed the rain. Ragini joked said-“ Look, it’s raining on lakshya’s hopes and dreams.” Swara smirked at her and said-“It’s also raining on our feelings for him, because they are now going to be washed away.”
Ragini gave Swara a look and said-“We’re not gonna get over him this soon, are we ?” Swara just smiled and said-“Maybe, but he just might get over what we are going to do to him.”
The scene shifts to lakshya standing in front of his new company-BUTTERFLY. He walked in with confidence and ended up colliding with his coworker, -Susheel Sharma, who was in a different department. As time passes by, both of them gradually fell in love and confessed. He worked hard and because of his talent and hard work, he was rewarded well and he became the new CEO of BUTTERFLY and proposed to her and she gladly accepted it. That day, he went back home and read the letter that Ragini and Swara had written to him again.
“We hope you fall in love with someone who would be a combination of both of our best qualities.”
He smiled when he realised that Susheel Was infact a combination of both of their best qualities. An independent individual, who was willing to do anything for her family. A graceful and kind human.
Meanwhile Ragini and Swara moved on with their lives as well. Ragini mostly worked from home base, that is their hometown, because she didn’t want to leave her family, while Swara had to shift and shunt, but got to travel, which she loved. They would often set each other up on blind dates or drag the other along when someone else set them up and tease each other and laugh about it the next day. They didn’t need a man, not now. Not if he didn’t love them. That’s all the wanted.
One chapter of their story ended and they don’t need a happy ending, but a happy beginning to a new chapter of their lives.