Part 4 Donnybrook Start

Arnav saw the same girl whom he met on the dark street. She planted a tree and Shyam said they were useless! he gritted his teeth.

"Stop the car..." Arnav ordered.

"What happened, sir?" Shyam looked at him turning his head behind.

"Who assigned you as a collector's PA? Do you know what it means to plant trees? Trees contribute to the environment by providing oxygen and taking away carbon dioxide. They are improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. Where will you stand if the hot sunlight hits your head? Won't you search for shadows to save you from the sunlight? Without trees how do you breathe? They are providing their valuable time to this society by doing a great job...planting trees...! In your point, is it a useless thing? Don't say you are Collector's PA...! Get out of my car" he yelled.

Shyam looked at him shockingly. To date, no one insulted him like that. He looked at the Davali and the driver who were also equally shocked. They bowed down, seeing Shyam's eyes on them.

"Sir..." Shyam tried to say something,

"I said get out" Arnav stressed again.

Without thinking, Shyam got out of the car.

"Whatever happened here..." Arnav said looking at the Davali who was in the back seat.

"We won't tell anyone about it sir..." he completed.

"You have to tell everyone about it" Arnav stressed.

The Davali looked at the driver through the rearview mirror stunningly.

"Understand?"

"Yes, sir," they said in the same tone.

"Start the car"

The driver drove the car towards the Taluk Office.

Shyam waited for an auto to go back to the collector's office again. Khushi and her friends saw him standing on the road. They looked at each other not understanding anything.

"What is the CC (corruption Crocodile) doing here?" NK asked.

"He got down from the collector's car," Payal said.

"Is it?" Asked Khushi who didn't notice it.

"Yes... I saw him getting down" Akash said.

"Let me inquire" Khushi came to him and others followed her.

"Hi, bhai"

Shyam smiled not showing his anxiety.

"What are you doing at this hour? You are supposed to be in the office now..."

"I went to Taluk office on Collector's order. Completing it, I'm going back..."

Even though the story didn't match they didn't nag him more.

"By the way, how is your father? Still talking like a saint?" Shaym mocked Khushi.

Khushi became irritated. She never liked to hear mockery about her father's loyalty.

"Yeah... he is still talking like a saint... poor him, he didn't know how to tackle people and became rich like you" She snapped.

Shyam's facial expression said he was angry. he stopped talking to them and stopped the auto that came there. He left the place taking the auto.

"Idiot... how dare he talk about my father...!"

"He could not live like him... that's why he is mocking him... leave him" Payal consoled her.

Taluk Office

The office became feverish, seeing the collector's car entering. The employees didn't know what to do. They didn't expect the collector at their place without announcement.

Arnav was highly disappointed, seeing the office. He checked everything thoroughly, from the broken cupboards to the unmaintained washroom with no water facility. It was an old building with no proper facilities. No drinking water facilities or sanitation. The Tahsildar rushed to him.

"What are you doing with the FUNDS given by the government? You would go to the roadside in case of urgency... what the lady's staff would do if there is no washroom facility in the office? How would they manage for the whole day? What kind of administration is this? If you don't keep your place neat, how will you provide needed facilities to people?" Arnav lashed him. That gave the public hope. They were happy to see the collector being strict.

There was no reply from the Tahsildar.

"I will give you one week... if you don't neaten everything, you will receive charges... understand?"

"Yes, sir..." he said looking down.

Arnav was in the Taluk office for fifteen minutes. In that gap, Davali and the driver spread the hot news of how the collector shouted at Shyam and dropped him at the midway. That horrified the employees. Shyam was the most powerful person in the district. Everyone knew that. If Shyam's condition was like that, then what about them? They shivered. Somewhat they understood the new collector's stand. Of course, Arnav wanted them to know his stand. That was why he asked them to tell everyone about it.

There were four Taluks in the district. Arnav was fed up seeing the same condition in the next two Taluk. He lost interest in visiting the final Taluk but he had to do that to warn the Tahsildar. So, he visited the fourth one. At the same time, the Davali and the driver did their job perfectly. The last Taluk didn't need them to tell Shyam's news because it reached the staff before they reached there. Yes, the matter spread all over the district like a forest fire. There was nothing to wonder. This was how it worked.

Arnav got down from the last Taluk. He raised his brows, seeing the white-washed office with neatly maintained record shelves RO system, and washroom. He was highly impressed with the Tahsildar. He smiled at him.

"I'm impressed, Mr. Gupta" Arnav shook hands with Shashi.

"Thank you, sir"

"You don't have pending certificates too... right?"

"Yes, sir..."

"So, if the Tahsildar can do this much..."

"The credit goes to the AT (Additional Tahsildar) also sir. He brings my orders into action..."

"Where is he?"

"Aman..." Shashi called.

Aman came forward.

"He is Aman Mathur, AT"

"Good job..."

"Thank you, sir"

Arnav left the Taluk office with satisfaction, thinking something deeply.

He came to the Camp office at 9 pm and sat on his seat. He didn't even have lunch as his Taluk Office visit was unplanned. He was hungry like hell. Taking a bath he had dinner.

He checked his phone and saw the email notification. It was from REJOICE. He opened it smilingly. It must be an appreciation mail for inspecting Taluk offices. He thought.

{Congratulations Sir... you have started your journey on the right path. This district has very few LOYAL government employees. Your PC is the most important man to watch out for. He has very big and powerful contacts in this district. He won't respect anyone and he won't mind ruining anyone's name to gain benefit. His only motto is money. He has been the collector's PC for the last eight years. He knew every person in this district. Please be careful with him, Sir. Once again, congratulations on the Donnybrook start}

Arnav became thoughtful. Who was she? How did she know about Shyam? Why did she particularly speak about Shyam? Did she get to know about his action against Shyam? But how? Of course, government employees would have known about it, but how could a commoner know? If Rejoice knew so much about Shyam, then she must be related to someone related to the revenue department, he supposed.

Arnav decided to check it. So, he sent a reply.

{Thank you, for telling me about Shyam, Rejoice. I will be careful. As I'm new to this district, I need your help. I want to know about Aman Mathur. what about him?}

He didn't get the reply the whole night. He thought she might be sleeping.

The next morning

Arnav got ready for the office and got into the car. He checked his mobile expecting a particular mail and there was one from the expected person... Rejoice. He opened it and smiled, seeing her suggestion,

{He is a sincere and loyal employee of this district sir. Building a house getting a bank loan. paying EMI for his two-wheeler. living a simple life. he is a nice person totally opposite to Shyam}

Arnav smiled. He got what he wanted. About Aman and Rejoice. she must be a well-known person in the department. or else, she would not have known about everyone to this extent.

His car came out of the Camp Office and took a turn. He saw the same gang planting trees at the roadside. The dark street girl was also there with them. He didn't know why he thought she might be REJOICE.

"Stop the car" he ordered.

The driver pressed the brake. Arnav got down from the car and advanced them. Khushi saw him and said,

"Collector is coming"

They stood straight, seeing the collector coming towards them. Khushi looked down feeling nervous. She didn't know why he was coming to them.

"Good morning, sir" they wished.

"I see you planting trees... What are you guys doing?"

"Sir, we are running a foundation named REVIVAL. We do social work... planting trees is one among them" Akash said.

"Good job..."

He looked at Khushi and asked,

"How are you?"

"Fine, Sir"

"I hope you are crossing the dark street without blocking anyone's way..." he smiled.

"Thank you so much, sir... we just can't believe it all happens in our district"

"You are welcome... I'm glad about your work... planting trees is something this world wants the most but no one minds it. I welcome you to plant trees in the government offices and schools too"

"Sure, Sir," They said gladly.

"And, I want you to conduct awareness programs about the needs of trees"

"Sure, sir"

"Come to the collector's office... we will discuss it"

"Sure sir," they said gladly.

"By the way, who is the founder of your foundation?"

Before anyone answered, Payal did, pointing at Khushi.

"She is the one..."

"Oh..." Arnav raised his brows.

"You good name?"

"Khushi..." she said politely.

Arnav shrank his eyes. KHUSHI? Something clicked in his mind.

"Ok, guys, meet me in the office..."

"Ok sir"

"REJOICE..." he said and stopped noticing Khushi's expression. Unfortunately, the spade NK had in his hand slipped down. Khushi bent down to take that. Her hand stopped for a second hearing the name REJOICE. Arnav would have seen her shocking face if she had not bent down. He missed to see her facial expression. That disappointed him. Khushi composed herself and straightened herself.

"Rejoice you day..."

"Thank you, sir" she smiled.

Arnav walked off. Yet, he had a strong doubt that she must be the one.

To be continued...

Part 5 The name 

"Why did you tell him I'm the founder of the Revival?' Khushi asked.

"The idea is yours only Khushi.. " said Payal

"But you are the one who is investing in its programs"

"So what??? Don't you know why I am spending money on this?"

"Payal is right Khushi... Payal has the intention to spend money. I and Akash also have intentions. Though I and Akash are spending our time with you we are doing that for you. We don't want to let you and Payal do it alone. You are not like us Khushi. You are doing this purely for the society" NK said.

"He is right Khushi. I'm doing this as redemption and the idea about the foundation was yours... So, you are the founder of Revival. More than that, I don't want my father to take it in his favor. He will try to get benefits through our activities" Payal said.

Khushi was silent. Payal was right. Her father was opposite to Payal. She was a social activist and her father was an anti-social activist. He was the biggest thief of river sand. He was running a sand quarry without government permission. On the other side, running a liquor factory. He never minded about government officers because they were under his control. Shyam was the main culprit. Payal didn't like her father. She even stopped talking to him. She was guilty about being the daughter of an anti-socialist. So, she decided to do redemption to his deeds. When Khushi spoke about serving society once, she caught the point and started doing it with the help of her friends.

"We should appreciate the new collector. See, how simply he got down from the car and spoke to us without having ego" Payal said.

"Yeah, he looks simple. It seems our district reached the right hands" Akash said.

"We should do our best to help him," NK said.

"Yeah, we will give our contribution to our district to improve it," Akash said.

"He called us to the collector's office to meet him. I think he is the first collector easy to approach" NK said.

"We will meet him..." Payal said.

"But we should go to CC (Shyam) to get his appointment. I don't think we will get it" Akash said.

"You are right. He already doesn't like us" Said Payal.

"He would be angry with the collector for insulting him. So, we will not get an appointment" NK said.

Khushi didn't interact with them. That wondered her friends.

"What happened, Khushi, you are unusually silent...? You are the one who gives ideas with excitement..!"

"I'm thinking how to get his appointment" Khushi lied.

She was thinking about Arnav and the way he said REJOICE YOUR DAY. Usually, anyone would say HAVE A NICE DAY. Or, ENJOY YOUR DAY. Then why did he say Rejoice your day? Did he get to know she was Rejoice? But how? No... There was no chance for him to know she was Rejoice. Didn't he know no one could get his e-mail ID? He might have used to say Rejoice your day...! She thought.

On the other side, Arnav was also thinking about Khushi...and Rejoice. He didn't know why he thought both were the same. Now, after knowing her social interest, his doubt became strong. He didn't know why she was hesitating to reveal herself. If she wanted this district to get developed, she could have done that in the open. Or, did she think she would get problems from the local people for helping him? To avoid such a problem, she might not be revealing herself. He concluded right.

His car entered the collector's office premise and the office became pin-drop silent. He walked to his chamber, galloping the stairs and avoiding the elevator. He saw a deputy collector waiting for him. He stopped not entering his cabin and said,

"I want the SR(Service Record) of Aman Mathur on my table" he went to his room after ordering.

The DC passed the order to the related authority. Aman Mathur's SR came to Arnav's table within half an hour. Arnav checked it. He was highly satisfied with a clear record. What Rejoice told him was right. Everything had been mentioned in his service record. Yes, he was building a house getting a bank loan, and still paying EMI for his bike. Arnav checked it not only to know about Aman but also to know about Rejoice.

So, whatever Rejoice told him about Aman was true. Her information was trustworthy.

He called the authorized Tahsildar who was in charge of posting orders. He attended the call.

"Good morning sir"

"Good morning, HS. Come to my cabin"

"Yes sir"

Arnav disconnected the call. In a few minutes, he came to the collector's chamber.

"Yes, sir..."

"I want Aman Mathur as my PC," Arnav said.

HS got stuck for a second and said,

"Yes, sir"

"Send the order right away. I want him to take charge tomorrow"

"Ok sir"

"When is Shashi Gupta's Tahsildar tenure gets over?"

"In a month sir"

"I want him to be the next Election Tahsildar"

HS got stuck again.

"Ok sir," he said as it was collector's order.

"I want Shyam to be in disaster management"

HS gulped down hard.

"What?"

"As you said, sir "

He came out of his cabin. Shyam who came to Arnav's cabin smiled at HS.

"Good morning, sir"

"Bad morning..."

"What happened, sir?"

"You are transferred to DM"

"What?"

"Yeah... Collector's order"

Shyam was shocked. There would not be any chance to get SIDE income in the Disaster Management Department until the district was affected by cyclones, drought, floods, or, heavy rain. He would not be needed in the district. He would be with no work...simply USELESS.

By uttering the word useless on those who worked genuinely for society, he became useless.

The department was shocked to hear about the change in the collector's PC. Their shock was not estimated when all the government offices were subjected to the vigilance raids on the same day, at the same time, including the collector office. Everyone knew a vigilance raid could not take place without the collector's consent. Yes, it was Arnav who ordered the vigilante department to raid all the offices. He wanted to know how many loyal workers were there in the district. The vigilance officers prepared the report of who had how much money in their hands and sent it to Arnav.

Arnav was disappointed as only two employees had no money in their pockets. He was glad as they were Shashi and Aman. Shyam was the one who had a huge amount among all. He had eighteen thousand in his pocket but he managed by telling them it was for his daughter's school fees.

Even though it was a WARNING raid, Arnav issued the memos. The whole department was fed up.

Arnav expected another appreciation from Rejoice.

But, he got a WARNING mail from her.

( Please, hold on, sir. Your speed makes us scared and the whole department fed up. You will be targeted by big shots of the district. Be careful sir. Lessen your speed...! It will save you from the danger, sir...! Please sir)

Arnav was stuck. Why was she scared? Was there something to concentrate on? He composed a reply.

(If we decide to be shown as God in the eyes of people, we should not think twice about destroying EVILS. I'm fully set to feed the hungry...! So, not looking back anymore. Once again thanks for your kind help, Rejoice. By the way, may I know who are you?)

He sent and guessed that he wouldn't get an immediate reply from her.

That was when Arnav received a call from his friend.

"Hi, Arnie"

"Hi, Prince... How are you, man?"

"Super cool... Got posted as a cybercrime AC"

"Consultations..."

"Thank you. The first job I did after joining was searching for you"

"About me? What did you search about me?"

"It seems you created a big wave in your district..."

"Means?"

"In the last two days, you are the most searched person on the Internet in your district"

"Oh..."

"It seems the public is interested to know about you"

Something clicked in Arnav's mind. Didn't Rejoice say, she got to know about him that he was the batch topper? Did she search for him on the Internet?

"Prince, could you send me the name list that searched for me?"

"Curious, human?"

"Yup..."

"Ok, will send you"

Prince disconnected the call. Arnav was curious to see the name Rejoice on the list.

He received an email from Prince. He checked the names of the first day's search. There was no Rejoice but Khushi Gupta.

To be continued...