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Chap 6:
Maan:
He was thinking in all seriousness now. In case Adi or Meera had taken the pen by mistake they would have returned it by this time. He could not ask them without embarrassing them. But he could ask Dev.
Maan "Dev.."
Dev "Yes Bro."
Maan "Did you take my pen?"
Dev did not reply.
Maan went a bit raspy "Dev I asked you a question. Did you take my pen?"
Dev "Yes."
Maan "Why??!"
Dev was not in the mood for conversation it seemed like. Apparently taking his brothers favorite pen and not returning it was no biggie.
Maan was shaking his head "If you wanted one you could have just asked me. Why did you have to…"
Maan went silent for a bit.
Dev was chewing gum "Go ahead. Why don't you just say it. I stole your pen."
Maan "Dev, don't be ridiculous. Just give it back to me."
Maan watched his brothers face absolutely blank. Dev was looking like a sappy mushroom. But that was just not it for Maan. When Maan saw Dev's face several things ran through his mind too.
"Please let me carry him Daadi. Please! I won't break him, I promise!"
Daadi "Be very careful. Make sure his neck has support. It will not be strong enough to support his head yet."
Maan carefully held the baby wrapped tightly in white in his hand. The baby was hardly anything. He kept staring at the little face. Suddenly the baby's eyes sprung open. And its voice cackled. Maan's eyes widened. Oh dear! It was alive. Then he smiled to himself. Of course babies are alive. He was scared to even walk lest the baby slipped out of his hands.
Maan "Daadi, is this my baby?"
Daadi smiled and nodded "Yes Maan beta. He is your baby."
Maan looked at Dev's eyes. May be others saw pride and arrogance there. But Maan only saw in them innocence and fear. Fear of the outside world.
Maan "Why do you always hold my hand? You can walk by yourself you know."
Dev "I am shcarred."
Maan "I know you are scared. But see other kids in the park. They are all walking by themselves."
Dev reluctantly loosened his little fingers. And walked with tiny steps towards other kids his own age.
Maan was now playing cricket. He was batting. But he was also distracted. Dev was trying to eat mud. He dropped his bat and ran. And saw the area around his kid brother's mouth covered with brown soil. Maan did not have a handkerchief or tissue. He just rubbed Dev's mouth with his own T shirt. Daadi would scold him later. But Maan knew how to escape from Daadi's verbal lashings. He would quietly put the shirt for wash when Daadi was looking elsewhere.
Maan jumped back to the present. Dev was not the same little boy he told himself unsuccessfully. Actually he had not been the same little boy for a while now and Maan was just not ready to accept it.
Maan "Dev you are a grown man now. This is unimaginably juvenile. Will I get it back or not?"
The famous silence.
Maan was bugged by now "Fine. I will order another one. May I ask why?"
Dev was not ready to open his mouth.
Maan's voice went up a notch "Dev, what has come over you? Why are you behaving like an ass."
Dev seemed to be matching him decibel-decibel "I suppose it is fun for you to listen to my life story once more. May be I enjoyed ruining it. It is my brothers pen. And so I will just take it. Just get out of my sight. I cannot look at your face."
His little brothers voice sounded like something snapping. As if a third person had taken a pair of sharp scissors and snapped the thread that bound them together. It was probably lame. But that was how exactly Maan felt at that moment.
He could not bring himself to say a word more. He came back into his room. He went online to order another pen. A less expensive one this time. On second thought, he ordered two of them just to be on the safe side. He would hide one of them in his suitcase.
He went to the swimming pool and began admiring the crests and troughs on the water. He had nothing better to do. Music also sounded kind of boring. He wished Annie was here. She would have managed Dev. In her own screechy nagging kind of way. Truth was he did not know how to handle his own brother.
"Why are you so sad?"
Maan looked at Hima and smiled "I am not sad. I am just, not happy."
Hima jumped on to his lap and started to lie down on his chest sucking her thumb.
Hima "Why are you not happy?"
Maan "My brother is angry with me."
Hima "Did you do something bad? Did you mess up his dressing table?"
Maan "Nope. He just hates me now because he has nobody else to hate. He does not want me to be happy. So I am trying not to be."
Hima just cooed and went to sleep.
Maan opened his eyes to find Hima had disappeared. Had he just dreamt she had been present. Of course he had. Hima had left along with Sapna. This was getting kind of creepy now. A good time to check laundry.
He came back to his room again and checked the laundry basket. Oh dear! What had he done. He had put his James Bond coat for wet wash instead of dry cleaning. He fetched the coat and checked the pockets like he usually did. He found an envelope there. Now what was this? Ah the invitation to the party he had been to the previous weekend. It had 'Dev Singh Khurana' typed in ornate letters. Mind you it was not written, it was typed. Such a waste of printing resources. They could have just written the name by hand. More personal. Anyhow he just did not understand a few of the industry etiquettes.
Oh please. Just because the party popped up, why would he think about that Geet lady? Damn her, why could she not have a forgettable face. There was a new sea food place that had opened close to office. With a giant picture of a crab right out front. Just great!
Geet:
"GEETE!"
Geet went to the source of the bellowing noise, her brothers room.
Geet "Ha Veerji."
Brij "Geete, can you get ready?"
Geet "Why Veerji? Are we going out. Dolly is not back from office yet."
Brij "Ha I know. That is why you get ready. We are having someone over. You cannot serve the guest tea in pajamas right?"
Geet frowned. She hated Brij Veerji's 'guests'. Usually they were 'uncle'ish characters with whom Veerji was having a 'deal'. She never had till now fully understood what kind of business her brother was into or why he needed to bring his business home. May be because she was not interested in understanding and neither was he interested in discussing it with her.
All she knew was he was some kind of real estate facilitator. Or broker. Whenever she saw the series of 'Transporter' movies she imagined her brother doing something like that. Only her brother was not as glamorous or handsome. But he had one thing in his favor. He had a head full of thick hair.
Geet "Ok. Just chai and biscuit na?"
Brij nodded "And one thing. Don't add sugar in the tea. Instead of biscuit, make pakoras."
Geet blinked "Veerji. I have internals tomorrow. It is very tough. I have to study all night…"
Brij's face reddened "Are you telling me you don't have time to make a few pakoras?"
Geet "Veer.."
Brij moved forward a couple of steps "Just do as I say. What will you study and become? A big shot business lady? One day you have to marry somebody and get out of this place. Why don't you make it easier on yourself by being nice to people around you. All this behavior will not fly in your future mother in laws house."
Geet "Dolly can make it today right? Let me…"
Brij "Eh! You think everyone is as dumb as you? Dolly goes out and earns good money. If you cannot earn yourself at least help people around you. Our father had not made millions for me to feed you every month. Do you know how much it costs to get a girl married in a decent way nowadays? Aside from you I have a daughter also waiting. Everyone has to contribute to the bread in this house. Is that clear?"
Geet was irritated. Dolly always managed to escape Veerji and his unreasonable demands. So the onus invariably fell upon Geet to make his life the pleasant journey that it was at the moment. As if she had a choice in her life. One did not want to see Brij Veerji angry. He was not a good angry person. His anger was never what one would call constructive. Not that anger is ever constructive, but still.
She had half a mind to splash hot tea on the stupid guest scalding his face. She did not know why she was feeling so angry either. Sometimes she just felt angry at the whole world.
She got ready in a simple salwar kameez. Don't want to scandalize uncles by wearing micro minis now, should we? She even added a couple of tiny round pom poms to her sleeves just for fun. She oiled her hair and braided it. She would play act in front of these people. She felt like a cheerleader Thumbelina. It would be so much fun to watch their reactions about all this, hai na?
She went to the kitchen and started the procedure of making the blasted pakoras. She added a little extra chilli powder just for special effects. Uncles always needed some spice in their life. Their wives usually fed them with bland diets and they would invariably be sick of it. It would be good to make their taste buds sweat for a while.
She heard someone coming in. She started brewing the tea. So what if the guest did not take sugar. She added 4 sugarfree tablets. It was still healthy right? This guest was sure to never visit their home again. And she was not wrong at all. She had followed all the rules here, right?
She came out holding the tray with the hot tea and pakoras. Well well well. This was no 'Unc'. This was a 'Hunc' oh sorry hunk! His reddened eyes were indicating a perpetual sense of hatred for chocolate. What! That did not even make sense. Whatever. Geet could not believe this man was Veerji's friend. And his face also looked vaguely familiar. She could not put her finger on it, but she was sure she had seen this man somewhere before. That kind of thing always irritated her no end.
She placed the tray in front of him and found him shooting daggers at her with his eyes. Whatever! She was not even interested in play acting the coy cheerleader in front of this one.
Geet "Veerji, I will be in my room. Let me know if you need anything."
Brij "Arre! You are going without meeting this fine young man?"
Geet sighed "Sure."
"I am Arnav Singh Raizada."
What the. Same second name as that name liar Dev Singh Khurana. Must be his second cousin or something dammit!
Geet smiled "Hello. I am Geet. Nice meeting you. I have internals tomorrow. So let me just take your leave now."
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