Free The Nidhi Kapoor Story by Saurabh Garg

to see their tower soar the highest. And if there was one place where all this could happen, that place was Mumbai, home to about two crore lives. Or two crore dreams.
    In Rujuta’s opinion, this chase for immortality, the wild chase for dreams and the ecosystem that Mumbai provided made for a brilliant mix. A mix further accentuated by desire, longing, confidence, despair and the never-say-die attitude. Someone had even coined a single term to capture this madness and the method. The spirit of Mumbai. And it was so true. Rujuta herself had had an option to live anywhere in the world but she chose to live in Mumbai primarily becauseof this spirit. And partially because of her aunt, Tarana.
    Rujuta liked Vie because its deck opened to the Arabian Sea and gave her a generous view of the sky she loved so dearly. This was one of the few complaints that Rujuta had with Mumbai. The absence of a clear view of the sky. In fact, if Rujuta wanted, she could complain about a lot. Life hadn’t been easy on her. She could start by complaining about her parents who had deserted her when she was an infant. She could then complain about her upbringing in poverty. She could further complain about not having a steady man in her life. She could also complain about Tarana’s insistence on staying away from her. She had so many more things to complain about. But Rujuta took all of them in stride and tried to make the most of what she had. Her favorite movie of all time, The Shawshank Redemption, had a dialogue that read, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Rujuta chose the former.
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    She went to the maître-d’ at Vie and before she could put in a request, the tall, impeccably dressed man said, “So sorry ma’am, we are closed to guests for the entire week.”
    Rujuta could see frantic activity behind the reception desk. She was surprised at this because she’d been a regular at Vie and she had never seen it booked like that during late afternoon. The cheery, irreverent young woman in Rujuta was back. “What? For an entire week? Did the Ambanis book you or what?”
    The man smiled apologetically and with a hint of pridein his voice, said, “Not the Ambanis ma’am. We have been booked by Mr. Taluja’s film company. In fact tonight, they are starting the shoot for their new film with Nidhi Kapoor and Kabeer Khan. Vie is central to the story!”
    “What? Nidhi Kapoor! No way!” Rujuta exclaimed.
    “Excuse me?”
    “Nothing. And I see you are not being very discreet about your patrons. I’d keep that in mind next time I want to make a reservation. Vikas is still around here?”
    Vikas was the head chef at Vie and Rujuta knew him well. The young steward realized his mistake and looked at Rujuta quizzically. “Ma’am, you should have said that you know Vikas Sir. If you want, I can speak to these film guys and can try to find a table for you.”
    Rujuta smiled and said, “Nah, it’s OK. I will figure out something else. Oh, and say hello to Vikas.”
    Rujuta gave her best smile to the young man and left. She then went to Aurus, walking distance from Vie, to make her reservation. Rujuta was old fashioned like that. Rather than booking over the phone or the Internet, she liked to visit these places and choose the tables that she would want her friends to sit on.
    After she was done with the arrangements, she called Prakash.
    “What?” He did not believe in greetings.
    “Guess where Nidhi Kapoor’s going tonight,” Rujuta said, with a triumphant note in her voice.
    “Where?” She could picture Prakash drowned in some files in his boring office.
    “Prakash! Dude! You are so boring! Tonight, your Nidhi madam…” she stressed on the word ‘your’ and continued, “is starting the shoot for her new film with Kabeer Khan. And from what I have heard, she would be busy after dinner till early next morning. I am sure you would want to see her while she is shooting, no?”
    “And why is this important for me to