The Promise (SAMPLE ONLY)

Chapter 4

 "You think you know everything about a person because you've known and loved them for so long... and yet... someday you realize there's so much more that you don't know about them."

Vinita Saaho's statement resonated with her husband and sons.

After spending the last couple of hours with Vishwanath Saaho, they all had more questions than answers. Vishwanath Saaho had asked Vikram and Vishal to help him fulfill a promise. Along with it, he had written the name of a man who lives in a village called Srirampur. And the most shocking part was when he had also written that the man was his childhood friend who now hated Vishwanath Sahoo.

"Are you both sure you want to go?" Rajesh asked his sons. "Maybe I should just go and speak to that person instead."

"No, Dad," said Vikram. "Grandfather wants Vishal and me to do it, and we'll do this for him."

"But if that man hates your grandfather, how will you both convince him to see your grandfather?"

"We don't know that yet, but we are determined to do this for Grandfather."

Rajesh felt uncertain, but he nodded. "I'll manage things over here while you both are gone," he said. His eyes fell on his smiling wife. "What?"

"I'm excited that Vikram and Vishal will be going to India for the first time and that too to a village." She looked at her sons. "You know you both will have to take a break from work."

"We're quite aware, Mum," Vikram said drily. "But however remote the village is, our satellite phones and internet should still be able to work."

Vinita shook her head before looking at her younger son. Her smile widened. "And you, my love, however brief the stay is, I'm hoping that you see and appreciate what a laid-back life looks like, unlike your too-fast one."

Vishal was amused. "Our visit would probably only last a couple of days or a week maximum, Mum," he said confidently. "How hard can it be to impress someone and then convince them to meet an old childhood friend?"

***

"It's not going to be easy at all. Suryaprakash Gulati is known for holding long grudges as much as he's known for his charitable ways."

Vikram's assistant, Pooja, was updating the Saaho family with the information the investigative team had gathered so far in the last two days. "Suryaprakash Gulati is extremely involved in the development schemes of his village. But he still hasn't touched or used any money that came from outside India. He hates what he terms as NRI money."

"Does it have anything to do with Vishwanath Saaho?" Vinita asked.

"I'm not sure, madam. We weren't able to gather that piece of information yet."

"We'll probably have to wait until Papa can speak," Rajesh Saaho added. "Until then, we need to go with whatever we have."

Vikram picked up the file on Suryaprakash. "What do you mean by charitable ways?" he asked Pooja.

"Suryaprakash Gulati has donated more than fifty percent of his ancestral lands and money to the villagers and also used it for various development schemes. Apparently, if you impress him enough, he would be willing to help or do anything you want. People line up to work for him, so that they can get a piece of land or a chunk of money or ask for huge favors when they please him enough."

There was silence.

"Pooja, excuse us for a while," said Vikram.

As soon as Pooja left, Vinita was the one to speak. "I know what you are all thinking. I'm not sure if we should take advantage of a generous, unsuspecting man."

"At the end of it, they'll be helping two good friends get together," Rajesh Saaho tried to reason with his wife.

"Maybe so. But it's definitely a grey area."

"What other choice do we have, Mum?" Vishal asked. "If the man is the type to hold grudges, he isn't going to relent if we go and talk to him as Vishwanath Saaho's grandsons."

Vikram was silent. He was reading the rest of the information on the file.

"If not as Vishwanath Saaho's grandsons, how else are you both planning to impress Suryaprakash?"

Vikram was the one toanswer his mother. "As his accountant and driver."