Setting It Right! (A Batuk-Anirudh-Bondita-Kaka Story)

Chapter 20 - Career ki Kashmakash

A/N: 

Hello lovely readers! Happy Holi to all of you!

Thank you for all the praises that you showered on the last chapter. 

The outpour of your love was overwhelming and all your comments and votes truly touched our hearts. 

Now, we are going to take a leap here.

This Chapter begins one month after the last one, and yes, the title does come from the Poem (if you know you know 😛). We wanted to touch on a topic that was only hinted at in the show but that both of us felt needed addressing (there were many such topics in the Batuk track, but Rangu 😒). 

We hope you like this chapter, please do let us know through your votes and comments.

Love

Ashley and Ayesha
ashley_m_1993
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4th January 1943, Roy Chaudhary Haveli

Batuk slumped dejectedly on his bed, staring at the latest rejection letter that he had received.

So Calcutta is out… Delhi se abhi bhi aik dou responses baaki hai, but that too seems difficult. Useless BRC! Can't even land an internship on his own! 

It had been an exhausting day, both physically and emotionally. He had been out and about all day, surveying the zamindari lands and verifying and updating all the account books. 

He had been working on this project for the past week. Ever since Kaka had suddenly left on his tirth, the zamindari work had been lying mostly unattended. Anirudh had tried his best, but added to all his other responsibilities, it had become a bit too much. Bondita too had tried to help, at least with all the paperwork, but she too was limited due to the unpredictable schedules of Rudhir and Aaradhya. As Batuk recovered, he had gradually started taking over these duties, but by then the books had become a mishmash due to too many people handling them. Hence, the moment Tapur and Dr. Sen had allowed it, Batuk had taken it upon himself to personally check and update each of the books and the paperwork, and to assess the working of the zamindari as well. He had aimed to have the zamindari in perfect working order by the time Kaka returned, and Batuk started his internship. 

Internship! He thought with a sarcastic snort, What good, respectable barrister will accept an LLP advocate like me? That’s why Batuk Roy Chaudhary, while the zamindari is set, and Kaka has been requested to return, you still are lying jobless!

This feeling of utter uselessness had only been increasing day by day with each rejection letter or phone call that he had received in the past week. But today it had amplified a thousandfold. 

After finally completing his update project, Batuk had returned home to an extremely pleasant surprise! 

He had come to an abrupt stop as he met with an unexpected, but extremely 'wanted' sight. 

Entering the living room to find his father sitting on the sofa, with Shashwati perched on his lap, surrounded by the rest of the family- was definitely very pleasing. However, what was the most pleasant sight for his sore eyes was that  this wasn't the injured, ill, dishevelled Baba of the past nine years. It was Binoy Roy Chaudhary, with his crisp suits and perfectly groomed hair, as he was attempting to catch up with his daughter. 

Batuk could only stand there and stare with an open mouth, wondering if he was dreaming.

Sampoorna had later filled him in about how Binoy had gotten short flashes of lucidity, but today had been monumental because he had been lucid and present for the entire day! Batuk had found it immensely difficult to not start bawling when Binoy had hugged him and remarked on how he had grown up. What had however pinched him was Binoy enquiring what Batuk was upto these days. He was saved from telling Binoy about his current jobless state by Bondita who told him about Batuk’s work with the zamindari.