1.
SuryaTech Headquarters Office
Mumbai, India:
".... With that being said, I believe we should forfeit the deal with the Taneja Industrial Corp and modify the terms of our supplies dealing with Devan & Co. Does anyone have any questions?" A tall and eloquent Ram Raghuveer stood in front of the board of directors for their emergency meeting after an unprecedented conflict. Among the board sat his proud brothers and his parents, Dashrath and Kailashi, positively beaming with pride. The other directors and managers too were impressed by the solutions suggested by Ram. If anyone could solve a crisis at the earliest then it was Ram and he kept proving the point by his actions every now and then.
The meeting had elapsed and the Raghuveer family headed out of the room with the other managers, assigning duties and talking about new strategies with one another. "Proud of you Ram! Your wisdom has helped us through a problem once more. In that honour, I shall make your favourite food by my hands and feed it to you tomorrow," said Kailashi with a motherly love and affection. "After all, whose bhaiyya is he?" proclaimed Shatrughan and all of them started laughing. "Maa, maine itna bhi kuchh khaas nahi kiya. It was a small matter only." Ram spoke out of sheer humbleness. "Agar yeh small matter aisi samajhdaari se solve nahi kiya hota, then yeh company bhi big se small se nothing hi ho jaati bhaiyya!" Bharat said to his elder brother with admiration. "Bharat ne yeh baat sach kahi Ram! Tumhaari wajah se humne ek bohot hi badi duvidha ko avoid kiya hai." Ram smiled and said, "Phir thoda credit Lakshman ko bhi milta hai. He stayed up late with me to brainstorm solutions. Maine usse kitni baar kaha ki so jao. Par bhai sahaab ne kaha..." "Sleep is for the common man, jagrata is for the fearless." Lakshman completed what Ram was about to say in a philosophical tone. The very next second, Lakshman yawned loudly. The family burst out laughing again.
They took their cars and went home, Dashrath and Kailashi in one and the four brothers in one. After reaching their grand yet cozy and homely villa, they headed towards their rooms to freshen up. The time went by in a seemingly smooth manner. It was a kind of calm which felt abnormal in the household. Suddenly.... "LAKSHMAN, SHATRUGHAN! WHY DOES MY PINK TSHIRT HAVE A HOLE IN IT?! TUM PAAGALON KO MERI FAVOURITE TSHIRT FAADNE KE LIYE CHHODUNGA NAHI MAI!!" The loud scream came from Bharat and Ram's room. Lakshman and Shatrughan were in the hall and Ram was sitting just across them on the sofa while Dashrath was in his room and Kailashi was in the kitchen. That only meant that it was Bharat who screamed. Lakshman and Shatrughan shared a sly look for a millisecond unnoticed by Dashrath and Kaikeyi who ran to the hall as well but well noticed by Ram.
Bharat came out fuming in rage with the said t-shirt in his hands. That t-shirt had been gifted to him by Ram on his 20th birthday and the fact that it was gifted by his Ram bhaiyya made it even more special. If anything happened to anything that was given to him specially by his Ram bhaiyya, he was bound to get very angry. "Why would you do this!" said Bharat, trying his best to not lash out. "Humne kuchh bhi nahi kiya hai bhaiyya! Seriously, Bharat bhaiyya humein hi kyun always blame karna?" Shatrughan spoke, in a very innocent voice. Bharat now looked like he was bored of their lies. "Tum dono ke alawa iss ghar mein kisi aur ko mujhe pareshaan karne ke liye shararatein karne ka shaukh nahi hai." He looked down at the t-shirt he was clutching tightly with a hurt look.
"Lakshman, Shatrughan... jhooth mat bolo! Do not hurt Bharat's feelings. Agar koi sharaarat ki hai toh admit karo aur khatam karo yeh. Apne pranks ko bohot personal level pe mat le jao." Ram told both of them sternly. "Hmmmm.... baat toh sahi hai aapki, as usual." Lakshman said. Then both of them went to their room and brought something. "Bharat bhaiyya, pehle zaraa apna t-shirt kholke phirse dekhiye..." Shatrughan said. "Kyu?" Bharat asked skeptically. "Aap sawaal bohot kartein hain!" Bharat eyerolled at Lakshman's comment and opened the t-shirt again. "What do you notice?" Shatrughan asked. "That there is a huge chhed in it through which main tum dono ke manhus chehre bhi dikh rahein hain." said a sulking Bharat while Dashrath and Kailashi looked at each other, confused by the whole situation. Ram just nodded his head and gave a slight eyeroll at his brothers' antics. "Humaare pyaare bhaiyya, woh to humein bhi dikh raha hai. Observe it more carefully. Is this really your t-shirt?" asked Lakshman in a mock sweet voice, stressing on the word 'really'.
Now Bharat looked stunned. He looked carefully over the t-shirt for signs of it being his. The colour was a little faded and his initials were not stitched into it with white thread. He then looked up at them in confusion and frustration. "Woh kya hai na bhaiyya, aap yun toh sab observe karte ho lekin bhavnao mein behke aapne yeh toh notice kiya hi nahi ki aapke haath mein jo t-shirt hai woh toh Salil bhai, humaare helper, ki puraani t-shirt hai. Aur aapki waali t-shirt toh yeh hai...." Shatrughan said with a smirk, making a grand revelation. He then proceeded to hi-fi an even devious looking Lakshman. Salil, the mentioned helper, came out from the lounge area he was cleaning and he also hi-fied both Lakshman and Shatrughan. "Sorry baba, aapke yeh dono bhaiyyo ne mujhe unke plan mein fasaa liya." He said sincerely. "Maine.... kaise notice nahi kiya...." said Bharat, confused by his own self. Then, instead of lunging towards his two younger brothers like he would usually do after they prank him, he started to laugh at his own stupidity. Ram smiled a bit at Bharat's innocence and they all joined him in laughing. "Chalo, iss baar maaf kiya. Lekin agli baar aisi kuchh bhi cheez ki toh chhodunga nahi tum dono ko mai. Aur Salil bhai aap bhi jud gaye inn dono ke saath?! Ye dono ne ghar ke sabhi sadasyon ko bigaad ke rakha hai..." Bharat spoke while laughing.
Dashrath and Kailashi shared a happy and prideful look, watching their family so happy and enjoying themselves. "Khana laga diya hai, aap sab aa sakte hain dining room mein." Saachi, the kitchen helper to Kaikeyi who also did odd chores at times, came out and called the happy family, smiling warmly. Everyone went to the dining area and sat down for dinner. They did a small prayer, then they started eating. While eating, Dashrath suddenly realized something and said, "Arre haan! Agle hafte kisi public holiday ke ehlaan ki wajah se office band rahega aur we will have a holiday...." Kailashi looked at him in pleasant surprise and said, "Yeh toh badhiya cheez ho gayi. We can all go out for a short vacation... maybe Lonavala penthouse?" Ram nodded and said, "Haan maa-papa! Bohot samay se hum sab saath mein kahin baahar nahi gaye hain. We should surely go." Lakshman nodded excitedly too. "Lonavala penthouse mera favourite getaway spot hain! Humein zaroor udhar jaana chahiye." Shatrughan and Bharat were going to add their affirmations when
Dashrath interrupted the excitement and said, "Arre, let me complete at least! Toh main keh raha tha ki, hum parso, yaani weekend ko Panvel ke liye nikalna hain. Do any of you know Mithila Interiors?" Kailashi looked at him, trying to predict what he was going to say next and the four brothers looked at each other in mild confusion. "Yes papa, they are a very famous interior designing company, founded by Janak and Kaushal Rajshri. They're work and work ethics are well-known across the nation." Ram replied his father with fascination with what was going to come next. "Good. Actually, Janak aur main college se ek dusre ko jaante hain. Janak, Kaushal, unki patniya aur un dono ki do-do betiya Panvel mein rehti hain. To reconnect and get refreshed, usne humein pure agle hafte ke liye uske ghar invite kiya hai. Mujhe laga ki for a change, iss baar hum uske yahaan ho aate hain." "Arre waah! Toh iss baar hum Panvel jaayenge!" Shatrughan exclaimed excitedly, Bharat rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his childishness and Lakshman hi-fied him. Ram said, "Yeh badhiya plan hai papa. I've heard that the Rajshri family has a very inspirational story. Woh bohot hi acche log hain. Aur Panvel bohot his acchi jagah hai." Bharat added on, "Aur unke artworks.... sundarta ko words mein nahi daal sakte hain!"
Kailashi smiled and said, "Panvel is very nostalgic for me, mai apne bachpan mein chhuttiyaan Panvel mein apne maama ke ghar spend karti thi. Khaas Uttar Pradesh se udhar aati aur phir jab jaane ko hota toh bohot roti. Mere saath Sumi bhi aati. Isse yaad aaya, Sumi kahaan hain?" They all realized that Sumitra was not present there. They looked around in confusion and then Saachi came and informed, "Sumitraji ne kaha hain ki ve kisi important kaam se memorial NGO mein gayi hain. Kisi dastavej se sabandhit tha. Ve bahaar khaana khake aayegi. Koi chinta ki baat nahi hai." She then went away to do her other work. Kailash suddenly remembered and said, "Haan woh kuchh bata rahi thi, government permit related documents the. Isiliye aaj usne chhutti bhi leli thi. No worries." They all sighed in relief and finished eating their dinner.
~~~
I hope you liked this chapter. I know you may think it is a little early to introduce the Rajshri family as well to the Raguveers but trust me, the story isn't as fast-paced as it may seem on the first glance. I just wanted this first chapter to be a sort of foundation stone upon which I can develop the story better. Stay tuned for the next chapter...
Love,
MusicOfGrace
Rihana, yearning to break free from the predetermined fate of being a tawaif's ...
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