Beautiful Soul - Episode 1-5

Episode 1

With her unkempt hair, large specs, and oversized salwar kameez, she looked anything but beautiful. Her lovely sisters mocked her regularly. The little confidence she had was destroyed by her classmates who too reminded her of her unusual ugly self. Her low grades added fuel to fire. During her growing years, she would often hear her parents discuss who would marry her. She silently cried at night to vent out the hard days that she lived through. Something inside her kept her going.. Something called 'hope'…that there would be happiness coming soon…Let's sail through the journey of Somya's life…. A journey is full of hope, betrayal, success, failure…

Somya was arranging her cupboard when she heard her two sisters discuss excitedly on the latest crush of her elder sister Kanika, "oh! He is so handsome and rich, Alisha, I'm planning to accept his proposal' she heard, Kanika, say to Alisha, her younger sister whom she doted on..' i will introduce him to Somya. But not you.. What if he falls for you', she added, 'Hahaha ' Alisha laughed blushingly. Somya always wished to be a part of such conversations but her low self confidence had made her an introvert, though by heart Somya was full of life and dreams.

She intentionally took longer to arrange her cupboard to hear more, 'Kanika, hope you are serious about this guy?,' Alisha concernedly asked, 'yes , dear this guy seems to be different,' Kanika replied with a twinkle in her eyes, turning to Somya, she added, 'Somya please dust the drawing-room and arrange the sofa covers well, Raj would be here tomorrow morning', Somya nodded her head with a slight smile, she too was excited. Kanika would entrust most of the household chores to Somya.

Somya woke up to a lot of hustle-bustle that morning. Kanika had invited Raj home. Mom and Dad had readily agreed to meet Kanika's prospective groom. She was well over marriageable age and had refused tons of marriage proposals, they hoped Raj to be the lucky one. Mom was happy that finally their highly pampered daughter had shortlisted Raj. Somya could not take her eyes off Kanika that morning, she looked like an angel dressed in a blue sari. Her slender figure, flawless skin, curly hair complemented the sari so well, she stared as Kanika carefully painted her long nails. Alisha looked lovely in an orange suit, she hardly needed any accessories and makeup to look beautiful, she was gifted. It was hard to compare the two. Somya picked up a pastel suit for the event, she pinned her dupatta using large safety pins. 'For god's sake. Brush your hair neatly', Somya heard her mom tell her angrily. She brushed her hair and fixed two large hair clips, each supporting handful of hair on either side of the hair parting . She stared at Kanika`s collection of nail polish lying at the edge of the dressing table, she hesitantly picked up a red coloured one and started applying, 'my god, its so tough', she thought to herself as she tried hard to manage the brush, 'stupid girl why did you touch my nail polish, and you have no sense, on a pastel coloured suit you are applying a red coloured nail polish!' Kanika screamed and snatched the bottle from her hand, 'I'm sorry, I was just…..', Somya silently said, 'just shut up', Kanika interrupted and left the room in a rage. Somya stared at her nails, only 4 of her fingers were polished, the nail polish had almost reached beyond the edges of the nails, she quickly wiped off the polish using the edge of her dupatta and joined her sisters to greet Raj.

Raj was tall, handsome and rich as Kanika often certified. He had finished his MBA and was to appear for GRE entrance tests. Kanika was looking forward to settle with him in the states. He arrived with his parents wearing a black shirt with denims.

He looked through Somya and exclaimed staring at Alisha… 'wow!.. Your sisters are Lovely' .' Thanks ', Kanika smiled and helped him take a seat. Mom gestured Somya to serve tea to the guests. Within minutes she appeared with the tea cups and served them. Somya stared at Raj through the corner of her eyes and thought, 'Wow, he is so good looking, just like a Prince'. She observed him keenly talking to Alisha and Kanika, as though she never existed, she was used to this kind of treatment . The engagement date was finalized. Everyone was thrilled.

After the guests left, Kanika and Alisha started their discussions again, Kanika dreamily said, 'Wow, he is so classy, you saw his shirt, his watch, his shoes..', Alisha interrupted her, 'he seems to be a nice guy, and he does love you', Alisha thoughtfully said. Somya was quietly listening to their conversation, she was happy for Kanika.

That night, suddenly Somya saw shadows behind her bedroom curtains, she peeped in and saw Raj and Kanika passionately kissing. Raj's hands were exploring every curve of Kanika's slender figure. Somya froze as she watched without blinking. She had seen only in movies, she felt a strange emptiness in her stomach. She could hear her heart beat fast under her fast paced breath, her face filled with sweat.

Once Raj left, Somya quickly raced towards her bed. That night she did not sleep, the scenes kept on rewinding in her mind. She longed for that touch. With the hope, that someday she would experience the same she finally slept like a baby.

She would soon experience it.

Episode 2

Kanika was a very bright student but she was least interested in studies. She had completed her graduation in Commerce and would usually hang out with friends. Her aim was to find a rich guy and settle down. Raj fitted the bill perfectly. He was her senior in college and was known to be from a wealthy business family. They had met in one of her friends party and had been inseparable since then. They often met for late night movies and drives. Raj would treat her like a queen and pamper her with expensive gifts. Both families were eagerly looking forward to their engagement.

Somya had completed her graduation in Arts. 'She should find a job soon, maybe that would help us in finding a match for her', she would often hear her worried mom say. She had applied in several companies for a job but all the interviews had been a disaster.

One morning she saw a walk-in interview at a famous Fashion House, Showbiz Enterprises. Showbiz was famous for nurturing the careers of talented fashion designers. Somya kept gazing at the ad wondering whether it was even worth trying.

Finally she dressed for the interview. She wore a white shirt with black pants, she carefully tucked her shirt in , the pants reached well above her waist. She tied her hair into two pony tails and fixed two hair clips, one on either side.

She was tempted to apply Kanika's nail polish, 'No, she will scream', she thought to herself and picked up Alisha`s red lipstick, 'Let me try this', she thought . She applied the lipstick , carried a large black purse along with her file and walked towards her scooty,

'Somya!, where are you going?', she heard Alisha calling, 'I'm going for an interview , Alisha, ' she replied, Alisha stared at her and exclaimed with her mouth wide open, 'My god!, why did you rub so much of that lipstick, it seems as if you have eaten beetroot,

 'oh, Sorry, I`ll wipe it off ', Somya said and vanished on her scooty.

'Let me wipe off the lipstick', she thought to herself as she reached close to the parking lot of Showbiz.  She slightly braked and lifted her right hand to wipe off the lipstick, she suddenly lost balance and tripped , the scooty fell on her, she looked around and could see everything hazy,

'guess I dropped my specs somewhere', she thought . She tried hard but could not lift the scooty,

'May I help you?', he stretched his hands towards her and asked.

'I was trying to wipe off my lipstick and lost balance', she said and held his hand as he lifted her and the scooty,

'I can't see anything, don't know where my specs is', she said in a broken voice, he picked up her files and purse , 'Thanks', she silently said, 'my specs?', she asked again, 'I have to go for an interview, if I don't get my specs I will not be able to go, I can't see anything', she said holding back her tears,

'Don't worry ', he said, finally he found her specs under a car and said, 'Here it is', she quickly grabbed it and instantly wore it, 'Thanks', she opened her eyes and looked towards him, it took a while for her eye vision to clear, ' That's ok',  he said and walked away with a smile, ' 'Wish I could see him', she murmured and walked towards the escalator. 'My god my shirt is all dirty, hope I get this job', all kinds of thoughts were running through her mind.

She submitted her resume at the reception and waited patiently for her turn.

'Ms Somya, your first round would be conducted by Rosy, you can meet her now in the visitors cabin', the receptionist instructed her.

Somya instantly stood and walked towards the cabin, 'Hello Madam, I'm Somya', she introduced herself and stretched her hand for a handshake',

Rosy`s eyes popped out on seeing her, seeing her astonished look, Somya silently said, 'Actually Madam, I slipped in the parking lot, even my specs fell.' Rosy stared at her from top to bottom and tried hard to control her laughter, glancing at her resume she said, 'I see that you do not have any work experience, we need someone who has some sort of experience in the Fashion industry, our designers need someone who can work on their designs',

'Madam I can stitch very well, I can also fix buttons, hooks….', Somya quickly said, 'but….'Rosy started to say but was interrupted by a phone call.

She answered the phone call, 'hire her', she heard her boss saying from the other end, ' but sir..',  she tried to explain, 'hire her, Rosy', he instructed her,

'Fine sir', she murmured, he was watching them through his glass cabin. He was the one who had helped Somya find her specs just a few minutes back.

'You can report tomorrow for work', Rosy said to a thrilled Somya.' Thank you Madam, Somya excitedly replied and left.

'Wow I can't believe it', she thought as she happily rode away back home.

Next morning, Somya leapt out of bed as the alarm rang at 7 am. It was her first reporting day at Showbiz Enterprises.

She reached office wearing a white shirt and grey trousers which Alisha had forced her into buying for her induction.

Nervous ,Somya swiped her attendance card, filled the necessary forms and entered the training room. She saw everyone stare at her and whisper.

All the glares reminded her of painful memories of the college farewell party. She had won her first ever title of  'Miss Carrom Board' thanks to her small breasts.

'Good morning'… said Mr Kaushik interrupting Somya's flow of thoughts. She fought back her tears, the art which she had gradually learnt. 'I would be carrying out your induction program', he said to all the 4 new entrants in the room.

After the first phase of the induction program, she quietly sat at the edge of  her work desk and had lunch. A lot was in store for her at Showbiz….

Episode 3

'Kanika, I could not clear the GRE test', Raj confessed to her after a late night movie, 'What!', Kanika exclaimed sarcastically, 'you should have worked more hard, shit!, now we will not go to USA?' , she was trying hard to control her anger', 'I will try again, why are you worried?, even in India there are so many opportunities, USA is not the final destination', Raj tried to explain her, 'just shut up!, you had told me that you would clear the test and we would settle abroad', she screamed hysterically', Raj was stunned, 'you shut up!, are you hooked up with me only to settle in USA?', he shot back', 'YES', Kanika instantly replied, 'shame on you, Kanika', he lamented,' shame on you Mr Loser', she firmly said and alighted from his car.

Somya was late to office, she rushed towards the elevator just as it was about to take off. Panting, she pushed button 3 realizing that it was already pushed. As she settled, her eyes met the eyes of a man standing besides her. He was tall, and good looking with well placed features, wearing a cream shirt, brown tie and a black suit. 'hello', he said to her , Somya was too captivated by his good looks to reply. As she stared he left the elevator and entered Showbiz Enterprises. Somya followed and settled on her seat still spell bound. She heard Kaushik say, 'Somya, Sameer Mathur wants to meet you and close on your first assignment '. This was her first meeting with the MD of Showbiz, Sameer Mathur. She knocked and entered his cabin. She froze when she saw that Sameer Mathur was none other than the man in the elevator she met a few moments back! 'Hello' he said.. she was too stunned to respond, after a long pause she replied, 'Hello Sir',

'oh! You can talk too.. I thought you only spoke through your eyes, hope you did not loose your specs again', Sameer smilingly said.' 'Oh he is the same guy who helped in finding my specs',  she thought to herself.  She kept looking at him, his smile was the best thing she had ever seen. 'Let me explain to you your first assignment, you need to help Kaushik in organizing the Fashion show to be held next week , he will introduce you to our designers….', he explained. She was given her first assignment to manage the invitations and schedule of the fashion show along with Kaushik. She was glad with her new assignment.

It was lunch time, she opened her lunch box, 'Why don't you join us for lunch?', she heard Rosy calling out to her just as she was about to start eating', 'Sure ', she said gladly and joined the gang. 'Do you eat non veg?, Rosy asked her, 'No', Somya replied and watched as Rosy bit on a chicken piece. 'You know Kaushik , when I first saw Somya I felt as if she had escaped from a mental asylum or a zoo', Rosy said and burst out laughing. The others joined in mocking her. Somya tried hard to fight back tears, she continued eating, 'I hope you are not angry Somya, its all in good humour', Rosy held her shoulder and said, Somya slightly nodded her head without looking up. After a few minutes she stooped down to collect her water bottle which Rosy had intentionally dropped, she picked up her bottle and resumed eating, she suddenly stopped , pulled out a chicken piece from her month and stared at it. Rosy had slipped the piece into her tiffin. Somya instantly stood up and walked towards her work desk, the gang burst out laughing. She sat at her desk and silently sobbed. She looked up and found Sameer staring at her through his glass cabin which stood right opposite her desk, she quickly wiped her tears and resumed her work.

It was evening,  Somya returned home to a mini volcano. Kanika was at it again, 'mom, please cancel the engagement dates，I'm dropping Raj.. He is no good', trying to keep her calm, mom replied 'whats with you now! ? all the invitations have gone, what do we tell our freinds and relatives'. Ignoring her mom's concerns Kanika cooly replied.. 'He failed his GRE test.. I hate failures'… 'How does that matter!? He has inherited a large business' said mom trying her best to explain. Realizing, It was difficult to reason with Kanika mom left the sisters to their discussions. 'But u love him right? and you'll have made out so many times!' .. Alisha innocently tried to convince and play her part. Kanika winked and replied 'Big deal.. He is out.. ' she got back to filing her long nails.. Somya silently witnessed the unfortunate turn of events and wondered how could Kanika refuse someone like Raj…

Raj tried his level best to explain Kanika. One night he sneaked into Kanika`s room and pleaded, 'Kanika, please don't break the engagement, all my relatives, friends, all have been invited. 'Oh!, come on Raj, I don't have to live with your friends and relatives, I was not marrying you to please them, I have certain dreams, I don't think you can fulfil them, please leave and don't waste my time', she firmly said without pausing, Raj held her hand tightly and screamed, 'you can't just walk away from my life like this , this now concerns my family's honour', 'How dare you hold my hand', Kanika harshly said and slapped him hard, 'You will pay a heavy price for this, Kanika', Raj said and walked away in a rage.

Raj would soon strike back

Episode 4

Alisha was studying Architecture. She was in her final year.
She had just won the 'Ms Rose' title at Valentines Day, this was nothing new for her, she was winning this title consecutively since the last 3 years.
'Kanika, I got 85 roses today, that is approximately 17 more than the last year', she happily said to Kanika and arranged the roses in a large vase,
'Big deal, when I was in college there would be guys waiting in a long queue to gift me large bouquet of roses, I would never accept them, it's not easy to get my attention', Kanika sarcastically said,
'that's so typical of you', Alisha murmured.
Somya stared at the roses,' Wow! they look so beautiful' she thought to herself. Valentines day was just another day for her, she would quietly observe the exchange of roses between her classmates and would wonder what it felt like to actually receive one. 'Somya, load these clothes in the washing machine', Kanika interrupted her thoughts and handed her a large bunch of dirty clothes.

Next morning, Somya was engrossed in work  at office when she got a call at her desk , 'Somya ,come in,' she heard Sameer on the other end,
'Yes sir', she promptly said and walked towards his cabin.
When she entered his cabin he was busy on another call.
She looked around and saw a pretty rose lying on his desk,
'Who would have given him?, Rosy?', she started guessing.
She was aware that Rosy was trying hard to seek Sameer`s attention , that was the latest hot gossip running in the office.
Sameer was still on the call, he gestured her to read some papers kept on his table under a paper weight.
Somya instantly pushed aside the paperweight, with the breeze blowing through the table fan the papers violently scattered all over the floor.
She watched in horror and hastily stooped down to collect the papers, just as she picked up the first paper her 'salwaar` got entangled under her feet , she lost balance .
She saw her specs being thrown out as she tripped and landed on the floor.
Hearing the loud thud, Sameer quickly disconnected the call and watched her ,
'my specs', she screamed, he kept staring at her . She was lying on the floor with loads of papers scattered around her, she tried to stand but her feet was badly sprained.
'my specs', she again said in a broken voice, 'yes I know you can't see anything', he finally said',
He walked towards her and stretched his hands , she grabbed his hand but lost balance again and fell in his arms. She stood still, her heartbeat was racing very fast.
She could feel his strong grip on her shoulders. She looked up and stared at him, but her vision was blurred.
Sameer too did not move, he started at her eyes, 'I'm sorry Sir, I have sprained my leg' , she gathered herself and said',
'don't worry , you sit here for a while', he silently said and helped her take the nearest seat, he saw her desperately flattering her eyelashes and looking around',
'Ill search for it', he said . He found her specs under the table. She wore her specs , her heart was still beating very fast, she pushed aside strands of hair from her face and looked down.
She could feel him still staring at her. 'Actually, when I pushed aside the paperweight, all the papers blew away, and then I fell along with my specs', she explained.
He attentively listened to her with a smile. After a few minutes he called for Rosy and instructed her to call the nearest doctor to check on her feet.
Somya left home early that day, she could still feel his grip on her shoulders, she closed her eyes and rewinded the scenes again and again. She had never felt like this ever.

The following evening Somya and Kaushik were given the task to roll out invitations for the upcoming fashion show in a Page 3 party. They arrived at the party.
Kaushik did a good job of convincing quite a few celebrities and sealed their attendance for the Fashion Show. Somya took down some notes, specifying who wore what in the party. She had to pass on these details to the designers. Kaushik handed a glass of wine to Somya. She gulped it down, it was her first encounter with drinks. After gulping a few more glasses of wine, Kaushik dropped her home.

Somya straight dropped to her bed.
Suddenly, she felt two hands grab her breasts, another hand gagged her mouth, she felt too weak to resist . She could feel gruesome pain between her thighs . She tried to get up but was punched on her face. She lay still.
Hours passed by, as the first ray of sunlight entered the room, Somya saw herself staring at her two rapists.

'oh! No.. She is not Kanika! .. Raj will kill us'! said one of the men lying over Somya .
As mom entered the room, they escaped in a car. Mom was stunned to find Somya naked.. Her body filled with bite marks.. She listened as Somya narrated the entire ordeal. Destiny had once again played cruel.. Kanika was on a night out and Somya had to pay the price of her deeds. She had lost her virginity.
'Thank god mom I didn't marry Raj.. See what he did to Somya' exclaimed Kanika. Somya first time felt a pang of hatred.. Yes.. She hated Kanika.
Next day, Alisha quickly popped an I-pill into Somya's mouth as instructed by mom. 'mom said, going to the police would only spoil the name of our family and would not get your honour back as well.' Somya heard Alisha saying as she gulped the pill and cried aloud the entire night…
This was a turning point in Somya's life

Episode 5

There was absolutely no remorse in Kanika, she went on with her life as though nothing had happened,

' Kanika, why did you irate Raj to this level?, though I know his actions can never be justified, but it is only because of you that Somya had to face this', Alisha firmly said to her,

Kanika lost her temper, 'oh really, so you are unhappy that Somya got raped instead of me…,'

' I did not mean to say that', Alisha interrupted her,

Kanika shot back, 'also, mom said that Somya was smelling of alcohol, she could have fought the rapists if she hadn`t been drunk, I do feel bad for her, but..',

Alisha again interrupted her , 'I pity you Kanika', she said and left the room in a rage. Kanika felt a pang of guilt, but she was too arrogant to accept.

The next few days were very difficult for Somya, there was a lot of anger within her, Alisha tried her best to console her, 'Somya, you need to be strong, try to divert your mind, go to office'.

She had gone into a shell, 'I anyways did not have anything, God, why did to take away the only thing I had', she stared at a Ganesh idol in her hand and thought sadly.

The Ganesh idol would always be by her side. Even during tough times she never lost faith in God. She could feel a certain strength within her that helped her sail through every situation. She sat by her window for hours staring at the still sky and hoping for a better tomorrow.

She gathered herself after the unfortunate incident and reached office early after a two week break.

She saw Jaya polishing her nails with her legs stretched over her desk. Jaya was Sameer's personal secretary. Like Rosy, she too always managed to upset Somya and get away.

'How dare you! Leave my space alone! 'Somya shouted.

Jaya was taken aback with the sudden change is her behaviour,

'Hey! beautiful angel' , Jaya replied sarcastically ,' You should be happy that I'm beautifying your dark rat hole! '.

'Get lost! You fat potato!' Somya screamed.

Surprised, Kaushik quickly escorted Jaya back to her cubical,

' she seems to have lost it completely', Jaya murmured to herself.

Somya felt a little better after venting out some of her frustration and anger.

Sameer was glad to see her in office, he instantly called for her.

She walked towards his cabin. Still deep in thoughts she waited patiently, Sameer was busy signing some documents.

After a while he looked up , stared at her for a moment and asked,

"You look lost today, what's the matter, Somya?',

'I'm fine Sir, just a little tired', she replied trying hard to fight back tears .

He walked towards her , his eyes were fixed on her face.

Somya could feel his breath . She stood unmoved.

Sameer gently touched her shoulders and made her sit on the chair.

He looked straight into her eyes and quickly placed a finger below her right eye as a tear drop escaped her eyes,

He whispered, 'you must take care of yourself. You are a Beautiful Soul'.

Hearing these words Somya's eyes were filled with tears , she ran out of his cabin.

No one had ever spoken to her so kindly. She cried bitterly, clutching her small Ganesh idol in hand .

Engrossed in her thoughts she looked up and found Sameer still staring at her through his glass cabin. Her heart skipped a beat. No one had ever given her a second look. She could not take her eyes off him, they kept staring at each other. She could see admiration in his eyes.

Somya was the last one to leave office that day.

She rushed towards the elevator just in time.

She looked up and found Sameer standing next to her. All the floors were empty. Suddenly, Sameer pushed the top floor button and stopped the elevator mid way..

Somya was too stunned to react. He held her waist and pulled her very close to him.

He gently pushed aside a streak of hair from her face and whispered, 'there is something about you which has captured my heart from the moment I saw you'..

He wiped the sweat off her face with his trembling fingers and continued …

'You are my ONLY choice… I want to breathe every moment of my life with you. I want to feel your Beautiful Soul'.

Somya tried to free herself from his arms.. But he was too strong for her.

He looked deep into her eyes and said.. 'I love you Somya'….

Finally Somya found her voice and said.. 'Sir.. But… ' Sameer placed a finger on her lips and whispered.. 'Shhhh.. it's 'Sam' for you'.

He finally released her, went down on his knees, held her hand and said…

'I mean every word of what I said.. My happiness is in your hands now.. I need you, to survive..I want to rise each day with you.. I …love you.. '

Somya experienced the same emptiness in her stomach . Her face turned red . Her hands were trembling as he softly held them.

Keeping his eyes on Somya he started the elevator again and watched as she left.. Somya was trembling..
She reached home and rushed inside as Alisha and mom looked on.

That night Sameer's words, smile , touch captured her thoughts as she slept with a slight ray of happiness on her face and the Ganesh idol clutched in her hand.

Lord Ganesha had always been her best friend.

Was Sameer the one? Somya had longed for someone to love her.. What would be her next move?..