CHAPTER 3
Snob? Genius?
The younger generation of Oberois - Minus Shivaay and Plus Annika gathered in the foyer to go about their dinner plan. The Oberois were waiting for Annika when they all heard noises of booming laughter at the entrance of their home. Looked like Annika had convinced the entire family to join their dinner expedition. What was previously a dinner for 4 was now a dinner for 9. They all went to their respective cars headed for their destination - La Vienna; a new swanky Italian place that everyone was dying to get reservations for, Shivaay was nothing if not a master strings puller; he got them all a table, despite the last minute adult additions.
La Vienna looked nothing like a fine dining restaurant that night, the usually quiet and formal place had a rowdy table. No one would believe it but looks like the Oberois were on a fun night out. There was laughter, sharing of platters, filling and refilling mocktails, a stand up comedy of some sort - headed by the youngest male Oberoi and a girl. The waiters were having a blast! Their unusually quiet and proper service suddenly became a family circus. It was the place to be that night. A short hour and a half later, the place lulled down. They had left.
Back at the parking lot - "Tej I think I'm still hungry, the food was lovely but I'm not full" a sulky Jhanvi said. "I think I agree with you Aunty, when will these fancy places stop serving food the size you need a microscope for?" Anika agreed. "Exactly Didi, microscope wala food and magnifying glass wala bill. What do we do now?" Rudra asked. Tej and Shakti shake their heads looking at each other, when will this family tire of eating food. Their inherent punjabiness meant that they were food lovers naturally, but this family was nuts. Pinky suddenly remarked "Who feels like some spicy chaat and kulfi?" Prinku and Annika screamed in unison. Now plans were being made rapidly for food post dinner. "Alright, alright - Calm down! Stop acting like you have not eaten in decades, ill make some calls for reservations." Tej remarked. He pulled out his phone and was met by the strangest glares from his family.
"Seriously Tej? Reservations for chaat and kulfi? What is wrong with you? I thought it was just my grandchildren, looks like my children are losing their sanity as well. Did you forget those days when you and Shakti used to get sick because you snuck out and ate too much pista kulfi? Stop being weird" Dadi mustered. The gang re directed their plans and went to Purani Chawl for their indulging session.
Couple of hours later with full bellies and happy hearts they retired to their rooms. Jhanvi and Pinky went to Annika first. One day of their favourite girl in the house and she was able to get the whole house together. Pinky did not even remember the last time they had all spent time together eating a meal. Oberoi breakfast was a daily ritual but it was either always missing someone, or had people glancing at their phones or attending calls while grabbing something quick to eat. She had finally seen Tej and Shakti, relax, let out a few jokes and just be themselves for tonight. The night was perfect, if anything it missed her son. Shivaay being there would've just taken the cake. Pinky let out a silent prayer to her Gods above to let Annika have the power to make her stubborn as a bull son to take a much deserved break.
Shivaay had been up closing off the deal he was working on for the past few weeks. He felt that familiar sense of triumph and pride once again, once he closed of the other deal tomorrow, he could proudly announce that their company was richer by roughly 325 crores. He had to draft an investment plan to ensure that the money would at least double by this time next year. He was seriously in need of some food and fresh air, he was headed out to the garden when he saw his entire family stumble in, Khanna had updated with the change in plans and place. He could not believe that his Bade Papa had consented to having food that was anything less than a 5 star fine dining restaurant at the least. He was a great indulger of various cuisines and was often fond of getting world renowned chefs cook his meals when he is on overseas visits. He could not fathom who would so strongly drive him to actually relent to his, then it struck him; his Dadi, not to mention Rudra and looks like Annika might have joined the parade. All three of them coupled with his mother's knowledge of the eateries must have been a ginormous force. Hard to say no indeed! He could comprehend the compulsion now. Chuckling to himself, he went to sit down in his garden with his laptop and material.
Annika had the best time of her life in a very long time. It was nice to see all the men and women forget their formalities and decorum and just have fun, the post dinner chat and kulfi made it even better. Looking a Tej uncle's cringy expression at the guy making the food and the vendor dirty looks back at him were hilarious. That took the cake for her. Everyone headed out to sleep and she planned to go out into the garden to do some reading. She was nowhere near sleepy, her body has not adjusted to the time yet. She went into her room to pick up a book when an unfinished Pillars of the Earth was staring back at her. She started the book months ago, never finished it. She had read it in bits and pieces. She thought she might as well finish it tonight. Grabbing the book and a throw, she headed out to the garden and Voila! Who does she see? She must've wished for something else at that time rather than wanting to be friends with SSO, because the universe seemed to listen to that request. Two encounters with just themselves in one day? That was more than what she had in an entire decade!
Shivaay was engrossed in reading a proposal set up his banking team when he saw a hand thrust out a box of chocolates, the hand belonged to Annika. "Want one?" she asked. Just as Shivaay reached out for a dark chocolate one, his stomach grumbled. He looked sheepishly at her, "Looks like someone needs more than a dark chocolate truffle, let's go get you fed! I feel guilty, we all literally just overate ourselves into a food coma and you haven't even had a regular meal. ' Annika said and literally dragged Shivaay into the kitchen. She asked him to sit down at the breakfast bar and looked in the fridge. Looks like the staff didn't make dinner as everyone headed out. Shivaay stopped her when she looked like she was about to make him something. "Annika, its ok! Go to sleep, you must have had a long day. I can make myself some pasta." he assured her. "Sleep? trust me that won't be happening anytime soon, I'm not adjusted to the times yet, Sit for a while a experience my culinary creativity." Shivaay was surprised, "you cook?" Annika laughed, "I lived by myself at Cambridge, I had to fend for myself somehow, eating out stops being exciting when you have to do it every day." "Oooh!" She exclaimed! "Since you are already hungry, let me make you my Annika Special two minute noodles." Shivaay perked up at that, "two minute noodles are special?". Annika faked a hurt expression "What an insult my friend? You obviously haven't had this awesomeness in your life." He was curiously quiet after that, he heard a rustle here and there and cooking sounds and not long after, he had a bowl of what was apparently; 'special two minute noodles". Though apprehensive about the amount of sodium and processed crap that might've been in there, he was appreciative of her effort. He dug in. Two forkfuls, later he had to admit, it was truly special. This is probably what people called comfort food. Few moments and a semi full stomach later; he decided to enquire. What was the recipe of this special noodles indeed. She cheekily refused, "saying it wouldn't be special anymore, if she told him the recipe"
He enquired about their night out, even though he knew everything from Khanna. He must admit, he preferred the animated and excited version she presented. Her dismissal of the small portions and dainty presentations slighted him a little bit, he had been to the restaurant and thought everything was exceptional, which is why he had gotten Mishra to book his family a table. Was she one of those rich snobs that dismissed everything just to make a statement? He finished his meal and they headed back up to the garden, she was going to resume her reading and he his report. She was about to pick her thrown and book from the coffee table where she had left it when she spotted a file. Shivaay had excused himself to attend a call. Putting her novel aside, she skimmed through the proposal, Shivaay ended his call and turned around to see Annika looking at his file. He went up to her when she suddenly sprouted out "This plan is not that great, you will receive interest and increase your investment but the growth will be plateaued, I'll tell you what I mean, look at this, you are investing 1/5th of your money here, with compound interest and market range you get around 87.3 crores as interest. But if you spend 1/3 of your investment and become a stakeholder instead, your finances can not only bring you the interest depending on bank prices and market sustainability, you will also have shares in the company which; looking at their development proposal will definitely rise. If by any chance, the growth rate is not suited to you, you can request a change in their policy. Since you are already a stakeholder, this will not be a problem. I think taking into consideration current interest rates and share prices, your returns should be at least 187 crores, definitely more if their development plan works and their share prices increase."
Shocked was a minor word to describe was Shivaay was feeling right now. Spellbound? Awestruck? Impressed even? Definitely better chances. Gathering his wits, he blurted out "What? How..I mean that's amazing, but how do you know so much about investments? Annika laughed, this is what happened when you could use you hobby and make it useful for your profession. Annika always had an aptitude for Maths, despite children her age generally hating it, she always did extremely well and her grandfather recognised this from a very young age. He enrolled her in all sorts of math related activities and classes, abacus, Sudoku and even Vedic Maths. Annika chose Business Administration with a Mathematics major in Cambridge. Relaying the same to him, she said "think about what I said, you will definitely not regret it. With that she went on to find that cosy spot she spotted earlier and vowed to finish her book. Shivaay was very indulged, there was way way more this girl than a degree at Cambridge and a hippie style. She was practically a genius! He took the proposed made the changes she recommended and emailed it back to his team. It would really be an interesting time while she was here. With that final thought he proceeded to get some rest before the merger in the morning.
Unaware to the Oberoi's and the waiters, there was another pair of eyes watching the entire transaction at La Vienna. Kishore Suryavanshi was at the bar of the fanciest place in town, the owner had owed him a favour for providing the construction materials for this place. At the first glance, he dismissed it as the Oberoi's having a night out; thinking it was someone's birthday. Then he saw her, his own flesh and blood - mingling with them as if they were her own family. He did not even know she was back. Throwing back a single malt, he stared with bloodshot eyes at his offspring. It wasn't that the distance between them was intentional, it was a result of consequences. Madhu did not want a baby really early their marriage, she wanted to enjoy her life with him before they were riddled with the responsibility of a child. He was excited by this as well, but Madhu had fallen pregnant really early in their marriage, she had realized too late. Which had ruled out abortion, she was forced to have the child she did not want. Lucky for them, his parents were more that happy to look after her. It was all well and good, Madhu recuperated and resumed the life that she wanted of exclusive parties, elite social clubs and luxurious holidays. They were in it together in the beginning.
People say that nothing without a strong foundation lasts very long. Madhu had married him to experience the opulence of a rich trophy wife, he had fallen for beauty. Her family, though not as rich as them, was decently well known. His parents were more than happy for their son and the marriage happened. Cracks started appearing a few years later when Madhu was bored by the incessant gossip and the pressure to look good, she took another route - gambling. Coupled with his lack of interest in the family business, their age old money shrunk a considerable size. The only reason they still maintained their financial status was due to his father and mother, his father was still very much involved in handling the affair of his ancestral business. Kishore knew that there was major input from the family of Oberoi's who were the thickest of friends. After both of them passed away, Kishore and Madhu were in no state to handle their own child, let alone a business. His father was a smart investor and had a lot of a shares, patents and royalties that provided an obscene regular income. Kishore was happy, he could still maintain his lifestyle and be the Suryavanshi empire's face without having to put in any actual work. The actual company was being his father's trusted associated. Kishore also knew he could not put up with this charade anymore, one of the main associated wanted to retire this year, and he was sure the others would follow. Kishore was not interested in handling the business, he just wanted to rake in the moolah. He needed to devise a plan ASAP. Something that works in his favor, where he wouldn't need to work but his lifestyle wouldn't be affected; and there was only one way to do so. He needed an heir to inherit and run the business for him.
Udne Ki Aasha
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
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Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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