Birds of a Feather Completed G

Chapter 29: Price

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The content of this story belongs strictly to the author, -Archi-. Any unwarranted use/copy of it is not encouraged and is strictly prohibited.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Price

Arnav watched his namesake wife retreat out of the bedroom, probably back to her trusted sofa in the living room. And yet, her surrender in their argument was not enough to calm the fire raging inside of him.

Her cutting words opened up so many wounds he thought he had long ago buried.

- April 2009 -

“How many times did I tell you to be careful Chote?!”

“Maa, it’s nothing-”

“Chup! Yes, I can see it’s nothing! You can’t move your leg and you’re saying it’s nothing!”

A fifteen-year-old Arnav groaned in frustration and threw a pleading look at his eldest sister, begging her to put an end to the torture. He had just returned from a football match, having secured first-place for his team, but also incurring a rather severe kick –by accident, of course– to his shin by an opponent player. Although he was confident it wasn’t a fracture, for Arnav had way too much experience with sports injuries, his leg had swollen up to twice the normal size, making it impossible for him to hide it from his ever-panicked mother.

As soon as he limped into the house, proudly carrying the cup he had been awarded by his school, Satya brought the heavens down and dragged him to the hospital, ignoring all of Arnav’s protests. His father was informed immediately, and he had arrived, rather gravely, just a few minutes ago. He was now consulting with the doctors while Arnav waited to be discharged. Sweaty and mud-soaked, he desperately needed a shower.

“I may as well admit myself too,” Satya continued, shaking her head. Her exasperation at her son’s antics was at the breaking point nowadays.

Too bad Lavanya was out of town on a school trip, Arnav mused. She was missing out on a golden opportunity to make fun of their hysterical mother, who had started tidying up the perfectly clean room.

“Maa give it a rest,” Anjali finally said. “It’s not his fault. Injuries happen in sports–”

“So who told him to play so hard?!” Satya fired. “He is going to have to give board exams next year, why is he still running after this stupid football–”

“It’s just a hobby Maa, you can’t expect him to study all day every day! His grades are coming up too–”

“Stop supporting him Anjali, I know perfectly well how his marks are. At this rate, he will have to give all his exams in the hospital! Weren’t we here just last month for a broken arm?!”

“It wasn’t broken!” Arnav cut-in, impatiently. It had been a sprain, thanks to some good-natured wrestling in school. He was yet to hear the end of it.

“Don’t you start Chote–” Satya snapped, but before she could continue, his father appeared.

Arnav thanked his stars. “Can I leave now?” he asked, disgruntled.

Shankar gave him a look of disapproval, before looking at his wife. “It is a fracture, unfortunately–”

“What?!” Arnav fumed. Had the gods taken some kind of oath to ruin his day? He had just won this season’s football tournament, for crying out loud! He should be out celebrating with his team, not stuck in a hospital.

His father ignored him. “It’s minor, just a crack near his ankle. The nurse is coming to put him in a cast–”

“No! I am not getting a cast, because my leg is not broken–”

“Enough.”

The room went dead quiet as Shankar turned the full glare of his eyes on his son. He hadn’t raised his voice even an inch –he didn’t need to– and yet, the fury in his tone could not be mistaken. Arnav had no choice but to shut up, and look at his lap, waiting for the scolding that was surely about to follow.

“Patience is a virtue that will serve you well Chote. Learn to listen before speaking.”

Arnav simply gritted his teeth, his feelings quite evident on his downcast face.

It was Anjali who spoke. “Is it serious Papa? The fracture?”

“He won’t need surgery,” Shankar said, softening at little at his daughter’s voice. “But he will need the cast and lots of bed rest, which all things considered, is probably best. He clearly needs to set his priorities right.”

“Will you talk to his school?” Satya asked.

Shankar sighed. “I suppose, yes. I will ask them to send home all of the assignments and class notes for this week. If the pain subsides, he can resume going to school the week after.”

Arnav snorted. Whether the pain subsided or not, he planned to go anyway.

Satya turned to face her son. “Did you hear that Chote? You need rest. Can you please just listen to the doctors this time around? You can’t afford to miss any more classes with exams so close.”

“I always listen to the doctors,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “Besides, like Di said, I am all caught up with classes. I will be fine.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Shankar said drily. “Because it will help you do well in boarding school next year.”

Arnav felt the ground slip beneath him. “W-what?” he croaked, sure he misheard.

“It’s time that you took your education seriously Chote,” Shankar said. “Clearly mine and your mother’s concern falls on deaf ears. We told you multiple times that as you get older, you need to clearly think what you want to do with your life.”

“I am thinking! You can’t send me away just because I got hurt playing football!” Arnav seethed.

“I have no problem with your leisure activities,” Shankar continued coolly. “So long as you prioritized what’s important. Afterall, your mother and I can only do so much. You are not a toddler anymore, it’s ridiculous that we have to babysit you while studying.”

“You don’t have time to babysit me-”

“It’s for you own good Chote,” Shankar interrupted. “It’s actually quite shocking that you don’t even see a problem with the situation right now… You have your boards coming up in less than a year, not to mention this year’s final exams, and instead of working towards that, you rather spend your time with tournaments and wrestling matches?!”

Anjali, probably catching sight of her brother’s panic, hesitantly stepped forward. “Maybe this is not the place or time to discuss this Papa… why don’t we let him finish this year first and then talk about boarding school?”

Shankar didn’t relent. “I have made my decision Anjali. The sooner Arnav accepts it, the better.”

No one dared argue with that.

In normal households, a fracture warranted a month of bedrest, Arnav thought bitterly. But apparently in his, it warranted a banishment.

- March 2010 -

“You have grown so much!” Satya gushed, tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of her fifteen-year old son, who had just arrived from Dehradun for a week-long study break.

Arnav rolled his eyes but hugged his mother just the same. “You saw me in January Maa…”

“Yes, yes! But you are growing up too fast,” his mother answered, patting his cheek.

He simply smiled. Despite finding Satya overly emotional, Arnav had dearly missed her. There was something about a mother’s embrace that was irreplaceable.

“Back in one piece?” came Lavanya’s sarcastic voice.

Arnav turned to see his favourite sister leaning against the grand staircase, smirking at the whole exchange. On any other day, he would’ve had a witty retort ready, but today, he simply ran forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Lavanya teased, but hugging him back anyway. She had missed him too.

“Come on,” Satya said, wiping her tears. “Dinner is ready. Let’s eat first.”

Arnav obliged at once. He was starving, courtesy of being stranded at the airport due to multiple delayed flights.

“Where is Di?” he asked, once they were all seated on the dining table and the staff laid out dinner.

“With Shyam,” Lavanya replied with a wink.

“So is it official then?” Arnav asked, surprised. “Di is okay with it?”

“Why are you so shocked,” Satya said, narrowing her eyes. “Shyam is a good man, a qualified lawyer, comes from a nice family… why wouldn’t Anjali be okay with it?”

It was Lavanya who answered. “It’s called love, Maa. And you can’t force that.”

Satya shook her head. “I don’t get this nonsense nowadays. What’s wrong with arranged marriages? Your father and I had one and look how happy we are!”

“But look how miserable you made us in the process,” Lavanya muttered under her breath.

Arnav sniggered.

Before his mother could question their impish smiles, however, Shankar arrived and took a seat at the head of the table. Thin lines were beginning to form on his face. Both his age and the years of stress were clearly catching up to him.

Arnav became sullen at once. He knew what his father thought about arranged marriages. Lavanya had faithfully recounted his speech to Anjali when he brought Shyam’s alliance, word for word on the phone to her brother.

“So Chote,” Shankar asked once everyone’s plates were loaded with food. “How is school?”

“Good.”

“You didn’t send me that assignment of yours from last semester,” Shankar said, frowning.

“Erm… I didn’t think you really wanted to read it,” Arnav replied hesitantly. “It’s not very good.”

“That’s not what Professor Das told me on the phone.”

Arnav closed his eyes in mortification. Of course, it wasn’t shocking that his father was keeping tabs on him in Dehradun. That was his whole intent behind shipping him off to boarding school in the first place – to be monitored 24/7, something his mother unfortunately was not able to pull off while he stayed in Shantivaan.

“You underestimate yourself Chote,” Shankar continued. “You are quite talented and intelligent for your age. What you are lacking is a little drive, why don’t you do an internship at the company this summer?”

Arnav looked blankly at his father. Was he truly being asked what he wanted to do? Or was it one of those things where his choice didn’t matter, and his father was asking simply out of politeness?

It was Satya who came to his rescue. “Leave him alone at least during dinner Shankar,” she scolded. “He just came home.”

Shankar smiled weakly. “Yes, yes… my apologies. We will talk later.”

Arnav wished he could prepone his return.

“So how is your friend Ryan doing Chote?” Satya asked, clearly wanting to lighten the mood. “Why didn’t you bring him with you? His parents aren’t in town this week, right?”

“Umm… he wanted to stay back and catch up on some work.”

It was a lie. Although he and Ryan had become very good friends since they joined school, Arnav didn’t have the heart to invite him over and subject him to torture from his father. Now that Arnav’s tenth standard board exams were out of the way, Shankar started pushing relentlessly for him to take a bigger role in the family business. It was frustrating on so many levels. Would it hurt to let him be a child for a little longer? What was he, barely sixteen-years old, supposed to do in a million-dollar company?!

“Are both of you taking the same subjects again?” Satya pressed. She wanted as much detail about his life at school as possible, it seemed.

Arnav nodded. “Mostly yeah… but I am taking a cooking class as an elective this semester, and he opted for French.”

Shankar leaned forward. “I was under the impression that you were continuing business ethics as an elective?”

“I changed my mind,” Arnav replied, shrugging. “Cooking just seemed more interesting and I am not regretting it one bit.”

Lavanya was surprised too. “Really?”

“Yes, really Lavu. Oriental cuisine is the most fascinating… it’s so much like ours, but the flavours are so unique! Last week we were having fun with sushi, and you won’t believe what I came up with–”

“Are you telling me I can take a break from the kitchen Chote?” Satya interrupted with a grin.

Arnav’s eyes lit up at the idea. “Actually, you can! How about I make dinner tomorrow and you can see what a natural I am?”

Shankar cleared his throat. “Maybe it’s best if you concentrate on the rest of your subjects Chote, it is a study break after all.”

“But Papa, I really can–”

“Shankar is right,” Satya replied, her face suddenly serious. “Maybe it’s best not to be distracted. This time is crucial for you.”

Before Arnav could protest, however, he felt Lavanya pat his knee in caution, unseen by his rather anxious parents. And he knew instantly, that there would be no point in arguing.

After all, when had he ever won an argument against the elusive Shankar Singh Raizada?

- July 2012 -

“Can’t you at least consider it?!”

“What’s there to consider Chote? We told you since day one that you will study business management and now, twenty years later, you show up from boarding school, refusing to attend university?! What has gotten into you?!”

“Me?! What has gotten into you?! Do you not understand that I don’t want to do business management?!”

“Chote! Is this how you speak to your father?!”

Arnav glared at his mother. She hadn’t spoken a word in the last hour despite knowing how cornered her son was, and yet, she jumped in as soon as her husband’s position was threatened? It was maddening.

It was an unusual evening in the Raizada Mansion. Arnav completed his boarding school just over a month ago, scoring enough decent marks to get accepted into a medium-tier university for higher education. It was quite an accomplishment considering the boring and tedious courses he was forced to take on his father’s insistence. Arnav had survived it only by telling himself repeatedly that once this was over, he would have his say. He would have earned enough of his father’s respect, to make him listen.

Quite the opposite had happened.

As soon as he returned home, he was informed that he would be starting his undergraduate studies in Delhi at a well enough university, before being shipped off abroad for an MBA. Arnav had tried fruitlessly to talk to his mother about the decision, but she had brushed off his concerns saying he was just nervous about starting at a new school.

Having no other choice, for he was due to start his degree the very next day, Arnav decided to finally confront his father that evening after dinner. He needed time to explore his options, because he deserved to do something he liked, something he was good at. Arnav owed it to himself, whether or not his parents understood.

However, far from even listening to what he was saying, Shankar was stuck on the point that Arnav did not like business management. For some odd reason, that fact seemed to baffle him.

“I just don’t get what your problem is,” Shankar finally murmured, shaking his head. “We have given you everything–”

“Then how did you forget basic human rights?” Arnav retorted. “Do I not get the freedom to do whatever I like with mylife?!”

“And what is that exactly? Taking a year off to travel the world? Is that what you’re missing in your life? A holiday?!”

“I told you Papa! I want to go study different cuisines around the world!”

Shankar rubbed his temples. “We keep going over this in circles Chote! What makes you think that studying world cuisine is going to make you a credible chef? Have you considered whether this is even a worthwhile career?!”

“But that’s why I am asking to take a year off!” Arnav fumed. “Ever since I was born, it’s always do this, do that! You never ever gave me a second to even think about what I like! So how the hell am I supposed to just wake up one day and realize what I want to do?”

“So then how do you know that you don’t want to do business?! In all these years, you haven’t attended a single board meeting, so how did you conclude that taking over the company is not something you’ll like?!”

Arnav felt like screaming.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to survive in the world?” Shankar continued, his chest heaving. “It wasn’t easybuilding up this company from the ground! You cannot even imagine how many sacrifices your mother and I have made just so that all three of you can live a comfortable life… and we would do it all over again, because we would give anything not to see our kids living in a one bedroom apartment without having enough money to pay for electricity!”

“I am not saying you haven’t sacrificed for us Papa–”

“You are!” Shankar snapped. “That’s exactly what you are saying because it is such a disgrace, and not to mention, disrespectful, that you want to throw all of our hard work away and run off somewhere!”

“It’s not my fault that you and Maa had us just to make sure there is someone to take over your wealth once you are gone–”

His mother, always airing on the side of caution, stepped in. “Enough. You have said enough for one-night Chote, go upstairs to your room. This conversation is over!”

“Why? Because you know I am right?” Arnav countered. “You never give any of us any choice, even though you pride yourselves into thinking you brought your kids up with freedom!”

Shankar squared his chest. “And what freedom have we taken away from you and your sisters?”

“Lavu wanted to be a fashion designer, but what did you do? You forced her to do an MBA because it’s good for her! Anjali Di had no interest to marry Jeejaji, but what did you say? This is good for you! I want nothing to do with your godforsaken company, and what are you making me do? Go to university and get a degree in business management! When will you guys get it that, our lives are ours?! You cannot micromanage us just because we had the misfortune to be born to you!”

Shankar stared at him completely dumbfounded, as though seeing him, the real him, for the very first time.

Arnav knew his parents did not deserve so much hate. At the end of the day, they had only meant well. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel that if he didn’t fight now, he would never be able to. He simply wasn’t a hyper teenage anymore, who could be curbed to do their bidding.

His mother was the one who spoke next. “Let’s sit down,” she said gently, patting Shankar’s shoulder.

His father didn’t budge, and unable to tear away from his gaze, Arnav didn’t either.

“Your room Chote,” Satya sternly reminded when the silence became unbearable.

“No,” Shankar croaked, finally looking away. “He clearly is old enough to talk back to us, so who are you trying to fool by sending him off to his room Satya?”

Arnav’s stomach knotted. “Papa, I just want–”

Shankar held up his hand. “I heard what you want. Apparently trying to help you is our biggest fault. So fine, let’s talk like adults. You want to take a year off to study food – then what?”

“Er… I will go to a culinary school,” he answered, albeit uncertainly.

“And then?”

“Work in a restaurant I suppose?”

“How do you know you will be hired?”

“I don’t… but that’s every job isn’t it?”

“How much will you earn?”

Arnav scratched his head. He hadn’t prepared himself to be grilled on the profession of being a chef.

Shankar crossed his arms. “Did you not understand my question or…?”

“I don’t know,” Arnav mumbled.

“Okay, what happens if you are not good at it?”

“What?”

“What happens if you fail Chote? What if you aren’t a great chef? What if no restaurant wants to hire you? What if one day in your middle age, you are unable to keep up with younger chefs, and so don’t have a job to support your family? What then?”

“That’s not fair,” Arnav argued. “Anything can happen tomorrow, so how on earth can anyone be prepared for every possible scenario?!”

“I am not asking you about a one-in-a-million type of scenario Chote, I am asking you about plausible situations. You don’t know the job market for this profession, you don’t know the competition, you don’t know if the earnings will be enough and you don’t even have a back-up plan if all of this fails!”

“How is what you are offering me any different?” Arnav retorted. “What if I fail in business? What if I don’t run your company well and as a result, we are out on the streets? Is there is a back-up plan for that?!”

“Yes, there is,” Shankar replied calmly. “If indeed the company goes bankrupt, you will have your degree, the same one you are adamantly refusing to do, that will make you eligible to get a job anywhere in the world. With your education, you will get a decent position that will provide you with enough money to support your family. That is my back-up plan for you.”

Arnav was stumped.

“As much as you would like to paint me as a villain in your life, the truth is I have thought about you and your sisters and I still stand by everything I have done. Shyam is a good man for Anjali, because he understands her better than she does herself. Lavanya may like being the fashion icon of this family, but she isn’t strong enough to withstand the struggle of this profession. And as for you… well, you are so busy plotting your escape from this family, that you don’t see your potential as my successor. What you are lacking Chote, is drive, not freedom. A drive to prove yourself.”

“No Papa–”

“This is exactly your problem; you never think things through! You just want to do whatever suits you now, but you don’t pause to consider what will happen after. You may be okay throwing your life away like that, but I am not. Shankar Singh Raizada’s son will not be a reckless fool!”

Arnav groaned. “Here we go again–”

His father disagreed. “No, this argument is over. It was over the minute you thought that being born to us was your greatest misfortune. You may have forgotten your responsibilities to this family, but we haven’t. I suggest you get some rest… you have class at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.”

And without waiting for a reply, Shankar departed to his study, stopping only for a minute to say his final words:

“Everything has a price Chote. You need to come to terms with what you are willing to pay before arguing with us about what glorious life you want to lead.”

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