FF - A Twist in Destiny,Ch 48,end - posted - Page 2

Priya drove cursing her decision to come to attend the 'Sangeet' of an unknown rich girl with a snob elder brother….He is scared what the press will say regarding wedding expenditure…grrr as if the rich and the wealthy have ever been ashamed to flaunt their wealth…

Contrary to your belief Mr Kapoor I love the rich, after all they do provide for my children….

Your children…errr Miss…

Priya, Priya Choudhury….Shushila's daughter….

Ah Shushila, I now get it, my mother's childhood friend….Ms Choudhury when you have to depend on others to raise your children then why have them at all? He asked innocently with a poker expression

Priya tried control her blush, well Mr Kapoor as far as I am concerned well I do not have any, I mean it is not something I can hide, we females do not have the same privileges as you men, unlike you our sins get exposed…but then they are beautiful creation of God, I believe in they should also get equal rights as …Priya glanced around….

Miss Choudhury, I appreciate your gesture and to do something different is a fad nowadays with our 'enlightened' women but then it does not give you the right to generalize all men, before I give anything to your charity, do send me your profile,…errr I mean your NGO's profile, I would like to preserve the right to know where my money is going…

Priya clenched her jaws and glanced side ways at her mother, she was sitting with a grumpy face….obviously sensing her daughter's foul mood.

Tell me something as far as I know your friend Deepa could not have been married when your participated in the pageant 35 years ago…

No, I mean she got married after me, you know your father refused to wait anylonger…

She does a much older looking son, if my memory serves me right I think I read somewhere Ram…

You are right Priya, Ram is not her son, I mean Deepa was the 2^nd wife of his father, Ram's mother died young and he married Deepa when Ram was about 9-10 I think..

Oh, must say she does have quite a hold over her son….

It was not easy in the beginning, Deepa made honest efforts eventually he came around, more so when his father died 20 years ago.

My my Ma, you seem to know all history geography, I only thought you met the other day for the first time in 35 years.

Errr Shushila stammered…as..as Deepa said, we old hags end up discussing our husbands and children most of the time…

As they entered the flat, they noticed Deepak and Ayesha were already back, infact in midst of analyzing the show, as soon as they entered Priya thought she noticed her father darting a glance towards her mother, Shushila curled her lips before sitting on at her favourite place…

So beta how did your campaign go?

Well Papa, met the snob son of Ma's friend, some ladies looking like jewelry shops and nothing except a few promises….

Snob son? You mean Ram Kapoor? Deepak exclaimed

You knew her son was Ram Kapoor…Priya glared at her parents….

Again that flustered look came back on her Ma, her father stammered, I mean Deepa said to your mother after her husband's death her elder step son Ram took over the business and saved the family…

Business…you mean the businessman of the year Ram Kapoor…Ayesha suddenly exclaimed…

How do you know about him Ash, I thought you had no interest in the corporate world…

Well Dids, I don't but then when you are travelling in a local train it is great fun to read what your neighbour is reading…I think I was only reading it yesterday or day before ..which one I forget, at 40 is one of the most eligible bachelor's of the country…

Briefly there was a pin drop silence when Priya turned to her parents….'what is going on will some one tell me?'

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Ram stood at his bedroom window, watched the decorators dismantling the tents etc., the wedding will take place in their farm house outside city day after. Infact it was already a page 3 news, Ram was apprehensive, nowadays moral police were very active, media takes a pleasure in pulling down well placed people…just then a sound of a crash brought him back from his thoughts, the catering people were loading the glasses and plates, one of them dropped a tray…the supervisor came running glaring and shouting, a young boy must be in his late teens, the image of Priya Choudhury floated in front of him, sighing Ram stepped back from the window, pulling the curtain shut, he remembered the hardship he faced during that age, his eyes darted to the clock, it was about to be 5 in the morning, he could still catch up on a couple of hours of sleep, throwing his sherwani on the sofa, he sat down to open his shoes when his eyes fell on a file on the table, written Priya Choudhury…..

Priya Choudhury, he did ask for her profile, her NGO's profile to be precise, very prompt eh? But then what is it doing on his bedroom table, he picked it up and opened it…..

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Priya Choudhury, he did ask for her profile, her NGO's profile to be precise, very prompt eh? But then what is it doing on his bedroom table, he picked it up and opened it…..

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Ram Kapoor never missed his Club on Sundays. If in town, precisely at 8.30 in the morning a Mercedes would roll into the high end exclusive sports club which Ram himself would be driving. First after a round of squash, then swimming, he would have a heavy breakfast, followed by a snooker game over light business chat with his friends and business colleagues. Those who know him for years could adjust their watch as soon as Ram's car drove into the club for he followed precise routine.

Deepa was supervising the servants in order to put the house in order after last night's 'Sangeet' when she noticed, Ram carrying is bag, dressed in this sneakers and shorts walking out of the house….

Ram…Club ja rahe hai beta….

Ha Ma…kuch kaam tha….

Err beta, in the afternoon we will have some guests coming over, it will be nice if you join us for lunch..

Ram stopped …guests? Or some more prospective brides for you to do a bit more match making for me….

Matching making and Me….Deepa's eyes nearly touched her brows…beta what are you speaking, mujhe yeh shaadi se phursat toh mile…I don't have time to die even now…..

Priya Choudhury? Ram pointed out…

Ahh Priya! Deepa exclaimed, no no no, she denied hurriedly, you got me wrong, I met her mother after 35 years, baato baato me pata chala Priya wants to expand but having funds crunch as most of the money came from abroad, so I thought let me do something for her since we are not doing that badly, the problem is you were travelling so much last week so I decided to call them over to our house for the sangeet! Achha kiya na Ram? Deepa beamed….

Ram did not respond, giving one more glance at his mother he walked out of the house….

Giving a satisfied glee Deepa looked for her mobile.

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Sunday was a day to relax, Priya took it easy too, the children did not come on Sundays in the morning but they do meet during the afternoon, Priya and her friends took turn in taking them out for lunch in some place, nothing fancy, but it was a great hit with the children, one more reason for them to love their school and to attend it, as most children often left school in the midst mainly due to family pressure to start earning or they could not connect with the place. Priya sat on her bed and did her 'pranayams' yesterday night when she challenged her parents what is cooking when her mother announced she is having a terrible headache, her father jumped to provide her with the pill and take her to their bedroom for her mother's headaches could be real terrible…..

Priya came out of the bedroom which she shared with Ayesha, who was still sleeping to see her father was sitting on the kitchen table with a cup of coffee…

You have risen early, is Ma okay? Priya asked her father…

She is still sleeping, so I guess she should be okay once she gets up…

Hmmm Priya looked for the morning papers, scanned one and then turned it to the next page to see the coverage of Ram Kapoor's sister's Sangeet, the put it down with a disgust, all papers seem to love reporting about page 3 news…anyway she had nothing to do with it and she did not care a damn what he thought about her, she told herself once again….

Priya beta come let me pour a cup of tea for you, her father called out….Priya went and sat down, her father observed her as he poured the tea…

Priya lets have a talk….her father announced….

Priya raised the cup to her lips…

Dekh beta, I know you are a self made girl, whatever you did in life had our full support and whatever you will do in life will have our full support …

Hmmm…..

Beta your mother is apprehensive….I mean she is a bit worried…for you beta and I would hate to blame her….

Priya watched her father as she sipped the tea…

Beta it is like this when your mother was diagnosed of breast cancer 5 years ago, Sudhir your boyfriend from college days decided to move on, he had got an opportunity abroad to do his doctorate, he wanted to take that, sahi bhi hai, only you refused to accompany him, your mother became your priority, Sudhir moved on, though Shush felt guilty, I was happy for some reason I always found him selfish, a pile on….

Priya broke into a smile…aap ne kabhi bataya nehi…

Nehi beta, I thought you are your best judge and Shush thinks I am jealous of my daughters male friends for even I don't like Rishi, Ash's boy friend, he lowered his voice

Priya giggled…what is Rishi's fault…

While Sudhir was too focused Rishi is not at all…

Papa abhi Rishi chhota hai…

But big enough to have a girl friend, nehi beta, at his age you knew what you wanted….anyway we are not discussing them, I want to confess something. Yes were aware the Deepa's son is Ram Kapoor. Infact that day when Deepa and your mother caught up with each other, Deepa did say how she felt guilty that her step son is not married, it is but for him the family survived when Deepa's husband died Ram was barely 20, had to take over the company. Ram does not want to marry for the heck of it and they are looking for a girl who would understand him rather than his money and power…Your mother promised Deepa she would introduce you with Ram but after that it is your call….

So yesterday the drama was staged…..

Well beta, let me be fair, it is not totally drama, we wanted to get introduced with each other yes, beta you know I give a damn to a man and his position, even when your last boss was interested in you, you did not want to marry him because you believed he wants a trophy wife, I was with you, same way I will give two hoots if Ram wants to marry you for your looks and if you want to marry him for his money…..nehi beta that is not the way it should be done. Nevertheless a stage has come where I and your mother believes that you should get married, we have had full life, your mother is now free of cancer, she thinks the time she snatched from you she should do something to give it back to you. Ayesha will have her own life, as far as I see the trend in her Ayesha wants to live like a gypsy, she is just waiting for her exams to get over, studies to finish. Ram seemed to be a nice choice, he loves his step family, he took the responsibility to look after his much younger brother and sister and give them proper education, their rights to the family business etc…isiliye when your mother suggested the plan to me I did not say no and played alongwith her…..Deepak raised his hands…..

Papa nice choice, I know you will never force me anything against my wishes but whatever little I have seen of him, Ram Kapoor looks to be a man from another planet, with a big ego and a lot of money, money I love because it can do wonders to my children but ego I hate, I am past that age where I would like to nurse someone's abhi mera umar coochicoo karne ka nehi hai

As you wish beta but then I would have loved to become a grandfather now….Deepak added as an after thought….

You are papa, to the children of my NGO and when Ayesha marries I am sure she and Rishi would love to leave their children with you as they go about their way….Priya got up to make the breakfast, it was her mother's day off in the kitchen….

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Ram drove his way to the club, somehow or the other the last night's events played around in his mind, the girl with bright eyes, his heart told him 'whoa this is what you have been looking for all these years' he was also amused by her tongue and cheek reply, jumping into the fray like a lioness to protect her children but then her profile, who kept it on his table in his bedroom….yes he has read every word of it, as an employer he would like to hire her but then these girls get so desperate, the greed to get a rich man, in the past he had many such episodes including one girl waiting for him in his bedroom, all done by bribing the household staff…Priya too it seems….suddenly he pressed the break of the car as a reflex action…..the car screeched to a halt….Ram cursed he was lost in his though and was about to overrun someone, he glanced up to look at the girl glaring at him, he gave her a guilty smile and raised hand to acknowledge his mistake, the girl cursed him with the worst possible adjectives and went on her way….he watched her retreating back and broke into a laughter, the girl reminded him about Priya, except if she was Priya maybe would have given him a big lecture or would she? Ram frowned, no most likely she would have raised her brows and asked him how did he find her profile….

Ram started the car, for the first time in his life he was in two minds about someone…Ram shook himself…..

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Deepa disconnected the line, her heart sank, yeh Shushila bhi na, does it mean that since you have got a husband you have to share everything with that man, couldn't keep one word to herself aur woh budda bhi kya akal paya hai, so unromantic could not keep one thing within himself jake bata diya apni ladli ko…she thinks her son Ram has got a big ego too big for her to nurse…

Deepa sat down and asked one of the servants to bring her a cup of tea. When Deepa married her husband, Anil, she came to the house to become a mother of a brat called Ram. They hated each other, while Ram did not like any new woman controlling him, she thought she was too young to be a mother to a 9 year old except Anil made it clear to both of them to accept each other as fast as possible because his patience was running low…Deepa you knew what you were getting into and Ram, your mom is dead, I have got you a new mom, be happy with her otherwise I will send you to hostel. Neither of them were amused but Ram did put up an act to tolerate her in front of his father for he feared the hostel and for peace sake Deepa too put up with Ram. Things were much easier when her children were born. Ram loved his siblings, maybe saw them as new toys in his lonely life, he was partial to his sister though over his brother. Nevertheless they were what could be called as happy family when once again tragedy struck, Anil was killed in a car accident when his car skidded in the rain, Ram was forced to take over the family business which was expanding fast, yes many had advised Deepa that it was a great opportunity to snatch everything from Ram, she was the chairman of the 'AK Group of Companies' but Deepa could not, still two children to manage and untimely widow she was weak emotionally. The tragedy somehow bonded Ram and Deepa, he became her true son, Deepa realized it was Ram who was the most affected, her children were still too young but Ram stood like a rock bringing the family together. With her son Nilesh already settled in holy matrimony to the girl of his choice, Rumna too getting married, Deepa felt guilty, for them Ram has lost out on his own family and youth, she feels it is now her duty too 'settle' Ram, but then Ram was not of that temperament where you go to see a girl and fix a marriage,, she has tried it but failed, Ram was absolutely mad, aap mere pichhe pichhe ladkio lekar math ghumiye, I will get married when I want..so Deepa became discreet but then she got caught everytime….including this time except she managed to cover her tracks only that old hag named Deepak went and told his daughter…bada aya modern baap…

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His friends in the club were surprised to see Ram leaving early today than usual, well ghar me shaadi hai, Ram told his friends, who were surprised to hear it too, they knew Ram seldom changed his routines, specially never missed out on his club, it was his way of relaxing after a hectic week….

His friend Vikram asked Baath kya hai Ram I thought you always avoided these functions for obvious reasons…..

Ateh ateh Ma ne kah diya to be back for lunch…isiliye ja raha hu…

Koi nayi ladki…Vikram aimed at the snooker table..

Hardly, ladki ki bada bhai hu mai….Ram said in turn…the he picked up his bag and waved him as fast as he could, he somehow did not want Vikram to catch him, today was not his day, his mind was elsewhere, he could not concentrate on his game, after many years Vikram defeated him in all the games…he excused he was tired…Vikram had laughed good to see you getting old Ram, it makes you human, like us….

Ram sped out of the club, he knew his mother was not expecting him but then he somehow felt very strange today, not his usual self…maybe he was truly tired, age was catching onto him, once again he halted the car with a screeching sound, grrr what is wrong with me, he raised his hand to apologize when his blinked, is he seeing her again….this cannot be happening to him, is he hallucinating?

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