Rani Maa was all ready for her sermon when Sukhmani barged in with the morning papers. Sukhmani wanted to throw up as soon as she had read the fine print. She had seen the picture, the pose, the get-up. She prayed with all her heart to the almighty that Durga should be a miserable failure. She had woken up at the crack of dawn, taken a bath and sat with a prayer book. Convinced in her plea to God that a vicious woman like Durga was never going to succeed.

She threw the paper on the table in front of Rani Ma. She spewed venom, a woman so beautiful with flawless skin and angelic eyes could scare a demon with her spite.

‘You made her Chhoti Maa Durga, now meet Guru Maa Durga. Your nemesis!’

Sukhmani’s defeat was bearable as it was manifold on Rani Ma. Rani Maa simply stared at the picture as her eyes read every word written in black print.

‘Your tutelage! I should be the one if at all to be there!’

Sukhmani stormed out. Rani Maa stood unmoving, not breathing, just taking in the papery image of Durga. Like the newspaper had brought Durga and her audacity in front of her and she wanted to stare it down, make it dissappear, and crush it under her feet.

The paper created a ripple in the compound. Even God was forgotten by his devotees for a minute as Kuljeet, Gurbaksha, Arjan, Mehtaab all saw the half-page ad on Guru Maa Durga. She wore a black sari with a thick red border. A circle of red vermilion shone on her forehead. She looked older.

She looked divine. Thought Kuljeet.

She looked captivating. Thought Arjan.

She looked determined. Thought Gurbaksha.

What the fuck, she was really something! Thought Mehtaab, as he immediately left the compound to see what this girl had managed to do and how! In her very first congregation!

His heart was beating fast, like he was about to win a jackpot.

The words were etched in his mind.

The small font that announced, ‘Live Telecast on Hari Om cable of Guru Maa Durga’s sermon on public demand!’

She was not just reaching to a few hundreds, she was knocking at doors of thousands and inviting herself into their houses. It was a brilliant stroke to get the local cable TV coverage, but how the heck had she managed that?

Mehtaab had taken her for a driven ambitious girl, but he had not expected at such a scale.

He was salivating at the prospect. Rajjo had opened the floodgates of opportunities in his mind already. But he had to see if she could actually pull it off.