When confidence met arrogance!
Sarika was very excited. She had got a new govt. job. She was appointed as a Site officer. Her prime function was to give approvals to builders for building constructions sites. Sarika was a very strict officer. She would check all the papers herself and would visit the site as well. She hated the word bribe and was totally against it.
So many people tried to lure her by giving gifts directly and indirectly, but she would accept none. She came to office with a straight head, would do her work sincerely and leave the office. Other junior employees in her office would not dare to gossip in front of her but as soon as she left, they would all take a long breath and start speaking out. Some would say her rude, some arrogant and what not but nothing seemed to bother her. She would just not adjust to wrong things.
One day, son of a famous business tycoon ‘Amit’ came to visit her. Amit was in true sense an arrogant fellow. He desperately wanted approval for building a mall. Many times, the manager working under Amit had come to Sarika, but she rejected the site proposal every time because it did not have any plan for sewage disposal system.
As soon as Sarika’s secretary talked about Amit. She told her mind to kept calm. Amit entered into Sarika’s office. She was sitting on her chair. She did not bother to look up to him. Sarika was a dusky beauty, she had beautiful features from which her eyes were the most beautiful eyes anyone would have ever seen. Amit had a great personality as well. He was white as milk and his features were no less than a celebrity which had made him very arrogant.
‘Hi Miss… Sarika?’ Amit spoke. For once in his lifetime, he felt difficulty in speaking out in front of a lady. Otherwise, he would speak, and the girls would just gather around him. Though he was not playboy types.
Sarika looked above from the file she was studying and said ‘Yes, how can I help you?’
‘Can I sit, Madam?’ Amit calmed his voice in the best manner he could.
Sarika nodded. Amit put his file in front of Sarika. She read the first page of the file, turned all the pages, read them and said ‘I am sorry, I can’t help you with this. I see no improvement in the building plan. I have already told your manager that it does not meet all the requirements which a building should have.’
Amit was taken aback. Never a female had spoken so blunt to him. His ego was hurt. He stood up and said ‘You will pay for this’ and left.
Sarika did not respond. So many people would come in her office and would give her warnings. She knew what worse could happen. At maximum, she would lose her life, but she will not lose her dignity to corrupted people.
At Amit’s office, his father was patiently listening to Amit about what had happened in the site officer’s office. No doubt, Mr. Nakul, Amit’s father was quite impressed with the lady guts. He advised Amit to make improvement in the building plans.
‘But dad it would take us more money and more time. We already have the target to start it by the last week of this month’ Amit blurted.
‘See son, I would support the site officer in this. I know you will lose money if you don’t start constructing the building by your required time but remember sooner or later you will have to deal with the problem as well what is being pointed out now’ Mr. Nakul replied.
Amit left the office in anger while Mr. Nakul asked her secretary to make an appointment with Sarika. Mr. Nakul knew the habit of his son to take shortcuts. Despite of repeatedly telling him that shortcuts will only land him into trouble in the future, none of it fell into Amit’s deaf ears.
Mr. Nakul was a well-known renowned real estate person. When he met Sarika, he praised her for her work functioning. Sarika said, ‘Thank you Sir, I am honored to hear such words from such a renowned personality. However, there are people who just take everything on their ego. I wish they all were sorted like you.’
Sarika didn’t know that Amit was his son. Sarika’s personality deeply affected Mr. Nakul and in his heart, he wished if he could make Sarika his daughter in law. Suddenly, he heard the voices of Amit outside the office. He was fighting with Sarika’s secretary for the appointment. Sarika stood up from her seat. ‘Sir if you could excuse me. I think it’s time for me to burst the bubble of someone’s ego’.
Sarika came out of her office while Mr. Nakul followed her behind. When Amit looked at Sarika, he immediately wanted to shout at her but seeing his father behind Sarika made him shocked. What was his father doing here? Did he come to help him?
‘What is it you want Mr.? Have you got your building plan improvised?’ Sarika said to Amit in a stern voice. Amit wanted to throw the building plan paper on her face but was just controlling because of his father.
He wished he could just get this site officer transferred to such a far place that she would always remember what she was doing with him?
‘No, however I have an offer to make to you’ said Amit to Sarika with a smile. ‘You tell me the amount you will take to approve this building plan. I will pay you in cash’.
Meanwhile Sarika had called the police, the moment she had heard loud voices outside her room as she had recognized it was the rude Amit. The moment he said those words, police entered the premises.
‘Inspector, this guy is trying to bribe a government officer, can you please take care of him?’, said Sarika looking directly in the eyes of Amit.
Amit hadn’t expected this. He turned to his father and said, ‘Dad, why don’t you say something?’
Mr. Nakul replied, ‘I tried teaching you the lesson in a soft manner; however I guess you needed a hard way’ and he left.
