Man Ka Meet

Lala Balwant Rai, affectionately known as Lalaji, is a big business magnate of Calcutta having business establishments at various places, including the picturesque hill station of Darjeeling and its adjoining areas. His grand daughter Aarti, who is an apple of his eye, studies at Darjeeling. Aarti meets a young villager, Somu, in a train while coming home during vacation, when the latter accidentally enters into the compartment occupied by her and her friends. Finding the boy to be a simpleton, Aarti and her friends make fun of him to their hearts content. . Aarti arrives at home accompanied by her friend Sushma and escorted by her relative Pran who had designs to marry her but whom she actually detests. Lalaji proposes two boys of his choice to Aarti for marriage but she declines to arrive at any decision unless she had met and studied them for herself. Lalaji permits her to do so and Aarti meets the two boys with the help of her cousin Murli, in disguise, and comes to the conclusion that both of them were absolutely unsuitable for her . When Aarti arrives back home after testing there boys she is informed that Lalaji had left for Darjeeling and soon after she receives a news that he has had an heart attack. Aarti rushes to Darjeeling accompanied by Pran, Sushma and the family doctor. And on her arrival over there Lalaji informs her that the cause of his ailment was the shock that he had received form his relatives Gyan, Jeevan, Paro and Lajwanti all of whom were mercilessly trying to swindle him. Lalaji tells her that if she wanted to see him cured she should get married without any further delay and suggests that Pran would not be a bad choice for her. Aarti shivers with the thought of Pran, therefore, speaks hurriedly that she had already selected a boy for herself. Lalaji gets relieved to hear is and asks her to bring the boy to him without a moments delay. Aarti and Susma set out in search of the 'boy. As luck would have it, they meet the same boy, Somu, in a street whom they had met in the train. They beg of him to help them by acting as Aarti's lover, and the latter agrees to do so after finding form his mother that there was nothing wrong in speaking a lie if it was for a good cause. . Aarti presents the boy to Lalaji as a modern young man belonging to a very rich family and Lalaji gets fully convinced about him. But Pran with his wicked intelligence finds out the truth about Somu and gets him exposed on the day of the engagement ceremony and gets his mother so much humiliated that she finally dies of the shock. Aarti now becomes sympathetic towards Somu and declares openly that she could not live without him. Lalaji gets infuriated to hear that but gradually realizes that Somu, though poor, was not a bad boy for her. And to remove the gulf of status between Somu and them, he declares that he would give all his wealth and property to some charitable institutions. The declaration causes a stir in the family and they decide to declare Lalaji as a mentally deranged person and consequently hatch a plot for the same.Pran goes to Lalaji with a loaded revolver. Lalaji with his clever gets possession of the revolver and shoots at him. —alex.mjacko@gmail.com