Chapter 8: Matters of the Heart (Part 1)
"Chotey, where are you? Jun is making me fast unto death and what not. Where is your brotherly concern," Anjali Di said as usual infusing drama into the most mundane of events.
"Di, no need to be so dramatic. You did a one-day fast. And it wasn't even a full twenty-four hours, just a nine to five one. I bet your Karwa Chauth fasts go for longer than that," he said, taking his phone off the charging station as he needed to sit down while talking to his sister. Being brief on the phone was not one of his sister's best qualities. In fact, most of his most vivid memories of Di while he was growing up was how she always was on the phone. Strangely enough, though they lived in a large house, they had only one phone line, but with two handsets. The main phone, which was one of those black wire ones that belonged to his paternal grandfather was on the corridor on the ground floor that led to the living room. His mom was attached to all things that were related to her father and inspite of the fact that dad brought back from one of his overseas trips a fancy phone with caller id, call waiting and the works, mom insisted on using this old one. There was a cordless one that was on the first floor, in his parents bedroom initially, that Di managed to get shifted to her room when she acquired her first boyfriend. His parents both had mobile phones by this time. Most of his New-Ons classmates had mobile phones. Arnav was also bought one, expect that it was clearly told to him that it was technically not his.
Though a lot of people would think of Arnav as a rich and spoilt kid, who pretty much had anything he wanted, his parents were essentially middle-class products and did not want their son to turn into a spoilt child and a mobile phone seemed like a wrong thing to buy a fourteen-year-old. This especially at a time when there were all kinds of MMS scandals involving school-kids in Delhi. So the phone was given to Gullu Bhaiya and was in Arnav's possession when he went out of town for a tournament or sports meet. Basically, the only purpose of the phone was for his mother to keep tabs on him. But the technicality of the possession aside, the phone meant that he never relied on the landline at home and be bothered by Anjali Di's hogging of it. The only person most affected by this was Aakash, who inevitably missed calls from his parents and New-On-Ites who called him for help with schoolwork. All this because the phone remained engaged ninety nine percent of the time thanks to Di. This began a strangely passive-aggressive battle between Di and Aakash, courtesy Lavanya. Aakash was a popular kid in school because he was a friendly and an uncontroversial sort, but more so because he was very bright and tutored a number of his classmates. Arnav had seen on more than one occasion, Aakash staying back after school and helping someone or the other with maths and science. But perhaps because Aakash did not technically live in his own house, people seldom visited him, expect for Lavanya, who was at his home almost every other day. Each time she would come home, she would complain how she was not able to get Aakash on the phone. When she realised that this was because of Anjali Di, she left a note on the phone saying, be brief'. This began an exchange of notes between Anjali Di and Aakash on the subject of chadis that thankfully dad put to an end by buying Aakash a phone. Anjali Di was on an anti-capitalism phase at this point and refused to get herself a mobile phone. Funny thing is, today Di denies this episode entirely. But till date she does love to talk over the phone and thankfully capitalism does not get in the way of owning expensive smartphones today.
He was at Mumbai airport. He had been there for four and a half hours now. There was a fog situation in Delhi and flights were delayed. One would think that science had made enough advances for flights to not get delayed because of the inability of aircrafts to cut through fog, but evidently not. He had come on a three-day work-trip to Mumbai to meet the main sponsor with whom AR Designs were cohosting the Kalpavriksha fashion show. Payal had come along with him too, but after the first day of meeting with suits who only spoke about footfalls and synergies, she decided to head back to Delhi.
"I am a creative person and these idiots are just salesmen, I have nothing to say to them or interested in anything they have to say to me," she had said to him after their first day of meetings. He had protested this, not convinced that one could divorce the creative process from actual selling, but Payal remained stubborn in her dismissal of these people. NK, who had also showed up for the meeting, mostly because it was impossible to let go of an opportunity to visit his former home had said, "Jaa Payal, ji le apni zindagi." And she went away to do just that.
"You know we Bengalis don't fast. Plus, my husband is a feminist, he does not approve of me staying hungry and being at the mercy of the moon. Do you think Payal will fast for you? Raizada women do that, it is a tradition" Anjali Di interrupted his thoughts.
"Mom has been doing that for the last two years, I am unsure if qualifies it enough to be referred to as a Raizada Tradition. And Di, you need to stop giving Payal a hard time," he said, somehow his sister and Payal's relationship reminding him of the one between his mother and Seema Bua. He did not want the same fraught relationship between his sister and his to-be wife.
"That is not fair, she is the first person I invited for my New Year's eve lunch. She even volunteered to bring dessert made by some posh Parisian friend of hers. By the way, you need to bring the alcohol. Jun and I don't have much money and the Raizadas drink more than the Boses," Di said and Arnav would have groaned at that, had he had not been at a very public place which was very crowded.
"I didn't know you were serious about this lunch," he said. Every year the extended family and friends had lunch on New Year day at Raizada House, but Anjali Di emboldened by the success of her Satyanarayan Pooja had decided to host a New Year's Eve lunch at her house.
"Of course, I am serious. It is a tradition," Di said, evidently branding things that were happening for the first time as tradition was her new hobby.
"Fine, Di. I will bring the alcohol, if my flight takes off at all some time before tomorrow afternoon that is. Given the way things are, I might be stuck in Mumbai airport forever," he said, not exaggerating at all, for there had not been one announcement on the status of his flight in the last couple of hours.
"You had better come, Chotey. I can't handle my in-laws, your to-be-in-laws and our parents all of them at the same time. I have also invited Seema Bua and Shivam Uncle. And Aakash, of course. Do you think it is a good idea," Anjali Di wanted to know.
"A bit late to ask this question, don't you think?" he said, but this already was sounding like an uncomfortable group put together.
"I just wish that I had a good excuse to invite Khushi too, but we have already exhausted the motichoor ladoo excuse, plus we are getting Parisian dessert, it probably won't go with jalebis, what say," Di said, somehow the statement sounded a bit loaded to him. And he also congratulated himself for managing to have a conversation with someone where Khushi didn't come up for a good thirty minutes. Must be a new record.
"If there is subtext here, I don't get it. And I can't tell if this whole Khushi thing is you being funny or serious," he said, knowing that his sister had these moments when an idea would completely posses her, until she found her next pet project. He wished that for everyone's sake she would drop the Khushi Project.
"Of course, I am serious. The other day I had gone to Seema Bua's house to invite her for lunch and was asking her about Aakash. She said that since Lavanya was away on her honeymoon and Khushi was in Lucknow, Aakash was bored. So," Anjali Di, concluded, like that was enough evidence for her Aakash-Khushi plan.
"Khushi is in Lucknow," he caught himself saying aloud. He shouldn't have.
"Is that what you got out of it? Anyway, I need to order some food. I have been starving all day," Di said, thankfully that would mean that he was not going to be subjected to a Khushi inquisition by her.
"So why were you fasting unto death," he asked, with a heavy emphasis on death.
"Oh that. To ask for the removal of a professor who is apparently a spokesperson of INP and is indoctrinating our students. But turns out he has too much political clout to be removed," she said.
"Who would have guessed," he said wryly, "How is fasting for a day going to help? Nobody dies if they go without a meal for a couple of days."
"Because New Year's Eve and New Year means everyone is busy, so we will continue our protest after a two day break," Di said.
"How considerate of all you professors to go on a strike just when college reopens," he said to his sister, knowing full well that she would be livid by now.
"You are such a cynic. Having that out of the way, I don't think anything can be achieved by fasting, but Jun persuaded me. I can't say no to him," Di said in what he presumed was a part annoyed and part indulgent tone.
"You can say no to him. I love Jeeju, but sometime it is weird that you mirror everything that he says and does," he said something that he often thought about in the context of his sister and brother-in-law's relationship, but had been hesitant to articulate.
"Of course, you won't understand this because it involves matters of the heart. You need to be in love with someone to understand this." This was somehow Di's most stellar argument in most conversations, giving that blood pumping organ far more credit than necessary.
After Di finally hung-up, he got up and decided to go and check the overpriced stores at the airport. He needed some distraction now with any information on his flight still being elusive. As he played back the conversation with Di, he put down a reminder on his phone about the alcohol. The afternoon was going to require lots of it.
**
"Do din aur reh jaati. Parso toh naya saal bhi hai," Maa said, complaining as Khushi tried to fit in the dabbas of mithai and namkeen for which there was absolutely no place in her bag. You might be a halwai yourself and might have the skills to make every complex mithai that is there, but nobody made mithai better than her Maa and Baba and one did not refuse to carry it just because ones bags were bursting on its seams.
A tentative Khushi and an equally unsure Renu Bhabhi, along with an excited Aarav had got into the Gomti Express. Khushi decided not to tell Maa and Baba about her plan it visit them, for she was pretty certain that Baba would manufacture some reason to stay away from Lucknow for the period that she was visiting. Renu Bhabhi who was for the first time going to be visiting her in-laws place was even more worried about this trip.
"Kam se kam Maaji ko toh bol dete hai ki hum aa rahe hai," she had suggested to Khushi while they were in an auto-rickshaw on the way to New Delhi Railway station. But Khushi decided not to. They had kept this a secret from her parents since three days ago when she had an epiphany that a trip back home was required. They might as well now just take this through to its logical course. When she got back from Lavanya's wedding, Preeto called her to ask her about all the gossip.. sab kuch bol'. Khushi offered Preeto an edited version of the events. She figured that Preeto didn't need to know about Arnav and his birthday gift' to her. She knew that Preeto was no longer able to see anything that Arnav said and did without being coloured by things that had transpired in the past. Preeto was a good friend and Khushi was grateful for having her, and yet at some level she wanted to protect Arnav from Preeto's judgement. Why would she want to do that, she considered this briefly, but set it aside. Once Peeto learnt that nothing remotely noteworthy happened at the wedding, she lost interest in the subject. When Khushi mentioned about going back home, Preeto had vehemently egged her on this subject. Khushi who had suddenly begin to have some doubts about this, began looking for excuses.
"Chuti ka din hai, itne kam samay mein tickets nahin milenge," she had concluded.
But Preeto was ever resourceful and the quintessential daughter of a government officer, albeit a retired, low-ranking one. She managed to arrange for train tickets through "Defence Quota" though nobody in Khushi's family had any connection with serving in the forces. Poor Ginny, Preeto's husband came to Tewaris and handed over the tickets the next morning.
Eight days ago when they came to Gomati Sadan just before midnight as the train was really late, a very sleepy and very annoyed Madhumati Bua had opened the door.
"Khushi Bitiya, Hai Re Nandkishore," Bua had exclaimed, as always calling out her favourite among the pantheon of Hindu Gods.
A worried Maa and Baba had come out of their room on hearing Bua's exclamation. After this there was a lot of commotion. A lot of questions and very few answers. Who? Why? How? Why didn't you tell us? How much did you pay for the auto? Did you manage to get some dinner? Was everything okay? Who is looking after the shop? Are you sure, is everything okay?
Bua and Maa had immediately got on a mission to feed the travellers and a very confused Baba tried to figure the sleeping arrangements. After a heavy meal of puri and aloo-kadu subzi they were almost immediately banished to sleep. Khushi and Bhabhi slept on a razai that Baba had laid out on the drawing-cum-dining hall. Aarav found a space for himself between his grandparents on their bed. Renu Bhabhi almost immediately fell asleep, while Khushi kept tossing and turning through the night, straining her ears to listen to the conversation between Baba and Aarav. Mostly Aarav was asking questions and Baba was grunting, but at some point, Aarav said something that caused Baba to laugh. And somewhat reassured by this, she went off to sleep.
The next day Maa and Bua decided to take them to Ameenabad for some kebabs. Baba was not going as he had a catering order for that night and Khushi cited an upset stomach and excused herself from the trip. But she insisted that Renu Bhabi and Aarav go. After all, this was their first visit to Lucknow. When the others had left, Khushi went to the kitchen to speak with Baba. When they moved to Lucknow, Baba tried his hand at a few odd jobs, but working for someone after years of running his own shop was not something that he was able to enjoy. And after some thought he began a catering business, nothing big, just small orders that he completed out of their home and with one assistant who came to help with some chopping and the tandoor that they had in the backyard.
"Madad chahiye, Baba," she had said on entering the kitchen.
"Champion Ja, sheerman parathe laga de tandoor par," Baba had said. Khushi could not explain the joy she felt in that moment. Until she realised that the Champion in question was not her, but Baba's assistant. Though she felt desolated by this, she also felt an irrational amount of happiness that Baba had kept some part of her in his life after all. Over the next hour, Baba had responded with monosyllabic responses to whatever questions Khushi had. When Maa, Bua, Bhabhi and Aarav returned, Maa threw a questioning look her way. Khushi had nodded to indicate a negative response. Baba was nowhere close to thawing.
The next hour was spent listening to Aarav talk excitedly about food he had eaten and places he had seen. When finally a tired Aarav went off to sleep, Khushi checked her phone. There were missed calls from Faisal Bhaii and Raghu Yadav, the owner of the Pyaaz Kachori shop next door to Tewari & Sons. She also had two text messages from Aakash and Preeto, both of which coincidentally said the same thing, How is it going? Sab theek toh hai? She replied to both of them saying, Theekh hai sab. Baba abhi hi naraaz hai, lekin ek hafta aur hai. She then called Faisal Bhaii, who was in charge of Tewari & Sons in her absence, but the phone rang out. Meanwhile Aakash responded with a Hang in there. Let me know if you wanna talk' message.
That is what she was going to do. Hang in here, sooner than later Baba was going to give in.
"Those whom you love the most, it is they who also hurt you the most," Maa had opined on more than one occasion. But this did not make it feel right. Yes, she had disappointed Baba for a long time now. He had a lot of hopes from her, after Shyam Bhaiya left, the parental expectations were in fact firmly pinned on her. There were a lot of young people who came from families with not enough means who had more talent than her, but far fewer opportunities and much lesser parental support. She had the opportunities, in fact, her parents had created those for her by getting her into New-Ons, even though it required a stretch financially. When she chose sports as her vocation, Baba rooted for her and this was beyond the superficial pet name that he had given her of Champion. He truly believed she would work hard, stay focussed and do well. She would break this cycle and move away from being a halwai. Khushi did not realise how important this was to Baba until it was too late.
But she dropped the ball, lost her focus and the only thing in her opinion that made her special, her ability to run, faster and for longer than anybody else she personally knew, was squandered. Singh Sir had called her into the principal's office the day after she had returned from Ahmedabad, as a participant in a national level sports meet where she had personally done well, but it had ended in a heartbreaking terror episode. But as Khushi walked into the principal's office, she expected many things, but not the one thing that she was told " the family that was responsible for her scholarship had decided to withdraw it. A note was handed to her and Khushi had burst into tears. Singh Sir, the coach of Alchemy College, who had never felt any special affection for Khushi had handed his handkerchief to her. The summer after, Khushi decided not to return to college and began to help Baba full time at Gupta Mithai. The year that followed, she pretty much cut herself off everyone, even Baba. She did not even return Aakash's calls. She was heartbroken and too self-loathing to be of any use in social scenarios. The only person who stayed in touch with her through this and who was impossible to shrug off was Preeto.
Preeto visited her every Saturday, with photocopies of reading lists, photo copies of her class notes and one form that would allow her to appear in the university exam as an Open University student. Khushi could not exhaust Preeto with her demonstrated lack of interest and eventually she gave in and began reading the notes and solving the problems. When she used to be stuck, she would call Aakash to help her with the sums, because Preeto had this fantastic ability to arrive at the right answers but without a clear understanding of the process. But it had been too late for Khushi to transfer as an Open University student and so, a year later Khushi graduated in Mathematics from Delhi University's distant learning programme. Baba and she had gone to check the results and she had scored a high first division. The results came out in December 2009, almost a year and a half after when she should have actually graduated. Alchemy no longer featured on her final degree certificate, a fact that Baba pointed to her.
But getting the degree, somewhat salvaged her relationship with Baba. After this, she took a job with a financial call centre in Karol Bagh, though it had very little to do with mathematics. This was the time when the matrimonial search began, which too ended in failure. Gupta Mithai was now standing on it last leg and Baba was for the first time turning into a somewhat bitter man. Maa and Baba were fighting more often and yelling matches between them had become a norm. Khushi never took sides during such times, instead, she would pick a book and go up to the shared terrace and watch the rest of Chandni Chowk. During these times she was grateful for how noisy this place was and how she was able to shut out her personal troubles while she was amidst this noise and madness. In a few months, Gupta Mithai did shut down. And this somehow brought some peace to the family. Money was of course still scarce, but at least the key contention did not exist. Baba began to do some catering and neighbours were helpful in spreading the word around. Baba and Maa did toy with the idea of going to Lucknow, Madhumati bua had been inviting them. It would be a lesser struggle to live in a city with a lower standard of living, but for Khushi's sake they stayed on in Delhi. It was again, her fault. It was also her fault when she guided a lost attorney to their house who happened to be looking for a Garima Gupta. The visit from this attorney, changed their lives forever. Turns out this attorney had been looking for Maa for two years now, except that he was looking for a Garima Kusum Tewari, which as she learnt was her Maa's name before she remarried Baba. The new shop was like the unwanted cats that hovered around their house. They did not want to keep it, but they could not be unkind to it. So they began feeding it milk, throwing a slice of bread and before they knew it, the cats owned them and they the cats.
Mahesh Tewari must have felt something in his heart for the woman he married and abandoned, for after all these years for him to leave the shop to her. Strangely enough, Baba was not too bothered by this itself. He married Maa after complete knowledge of her past and relationship with Mahesh Tewari. He was, in many ways, a very progressive man. But the shop and Khushi's attempts to salvage it hurt him the most. Khushi was not entirely sure why exactly this troubled him. Did he think that Khushi had chosen another man whom she did not know over her own father? Perhaps, yes. Of course, this was entirely untrue. She had tried to ask Baba this a number of times, but he would clam up. Things got progressively worse after that. The neighbours began talking, Renu Bhabhi and Aarav appeared out of nowhere, they realised that there were debts, some scrutiny by the government because Mahesh Tewari had some shady deals going on and of course the litigation with the other legal heirs. As Baba had pointed out to Khushi, declaring bankruptcy and handing over the mithai shop to the government would end their troubles, but by this time Khushi was too deep into it. She also felt, perhaps a silly notion, but among her many failures as an adult, this could not be added to her list. And there was a passing comment that Maa made about how she felt that she was no longer a woman of honour, had somehow only served to increase her desire to make something out of this. It made her continue with her attempts to turn Tewari & Sons into a profitable venture. She was not doing this because she felt even the remotest affection for Tewari or any of his sons, but she was only doing it for her mother. Baba would see that some day. A week-long trip to Lucknow wouldn't do. Between the first day of arrival to today when she was leaving, Baba had thawed somewhat. He bought her a chikankaari sari, "Birthday ke liye, Champion," he had said to her smiling.
Baby steps, Khushi thought, as she placed the yellow chikan work sari into two plastic bags and inside her bag. Her phone was ringing again, it was probably Faisal Bhaii calling about the big New Year order they had got, which was the reason why she had to return to Delhi today itself. But it was Raghu Yadav again, she had not returned any of his calls. It was probably something about the AnandRams people trying to get them to sell their shop. But Khushi was happy today, after years she felt a slight hope and joy in her heart and she was not going to let any of this get her down and so she cut off his call yet again.
***
Poonam Raizada and Anand Raizada were at Lodi Garden, for their morning run. Normally they would not come this far away from home, but it was New Year's Eve and it was exactly the kind of day one would do something a little off the normal. Of course, Poonam Raizada did not really run, her knees were not so strong anymore. She needed a surgery, but Raizada Enterprises kept her too busy and she had been putting it off. One of these days, she would take it slow, but 2014 was not that year and by all accounts 2015 wouldn't be that either. While she sat on one of the benches, catching her breath after some brisk walking, she watched her husband run, with ease and nothing to suggest that he was over sixty, had a stroke and a major heart attack. He was fit and agile. Touchwood.
"Are you done? Should we get breakfast at Habitat? They are running a New Year's Eve special today," her husband said walking towards her. She was taken aback by this, it was somewhat uncharacteristic of him to make a suggestion like this, but she welcomed it. She had something to discuss with him and this might be the best time and place told it. They drove to the Habitat Centre in silence and once they got there, they met some of their acquaintances. Anand, she noted somewhat amusedly was an expert in dodging these people and they eventually found their way to a quiet corner table. After they both explained how they wanted their eggs, she scrambled and he sunny side up, she broached the subject that had bothered her for a while - their children.
"Anand, have you decided what to do with Arnav and Anjali?"
"I wasn't aware that we still had more work to do on them."
"Don't jest, Anand. Now is the right moment for the next generation to get involved in the business. But Arnav is busy with his Raizada Designs, Anjali is a teacher, the to-be daughter-in-law probably wants to be Prime Minister and the son-in-law is writing op-eds on why she shouldn't be. The future is worrying."
"Let them employ professionals to run the company. That way they accumulate wealth and also follow their heart."
She did not really care for this follow the heart business. Usually that was shorthand for, I am going to do something that I have no training to do when clearly there are others things that I am in fact better at, because one must follow one's heart.'
"You are as always being glib. But I will call a meeting of the family to discuss the future. There are already all kinds of dodgy speculation in the media, we need to fix this. I would have brought this up at lunch at Anjali's place today, but she has invited the world and their uncles."
"Has she, now? She is turning into a good host, don't you think."
She agreed with her husband on this. Anjali was proving to be surprisingly social and likeable, she had even managed to get Seema and Shivam agree to come for the lunch. She would really be an asset to the company. As would Arnav, who was the most goal-oriented person she knew. He and Anjali would be the right foil to each other.
Their eggs finally arrived and they proceeded to eat in silence.
"If you are calling a meeting about the future of the company, make sure to invite Aakash and Seema too, they too own this company," her husband reminded her. Of course, she remembered that. It was not the kind of thing that one forgot.
"I will do that obviously. Don't think Aakash has any interest in the company either," she said. Though she did not have much love for her sister-in-law, she actually liked Aakash. He was a good kid and very cerebral, though not necessarily with a much of a business acumen. But she would rather Aakash ran the company, than some complete outsider.
"You don't approve of Arnav and Anjali's better halves. Perhaps Aakash will marry someone who has business acumen and interest," her husband said as they walked out of the restaurant.
"I suspect she does, I suspect she does," she said as they got into the car.
She could not explain why, but there was this sudden feeling of foreboding and doom as they drove home.
***
"Chotey, you kanjoos, we are already out of alcohol," Anjali Di jabbed on his shoulder and hissed into his ears. The party was underway and by all accounts everyone seemed to be having a politely good time. The Boses and the Malliks had hit off. This was a natural fit. His own parents were bonding with Payal's parents, something that made him feel relieved. Alright, that was a little stretched, his mom and Payal's dad were managing a conversation of sorts. Payal's mother had abandoned them and cornered Aakash about something. Did Payal have any single cousin he wondered. Aakash was increasingly something of the Last Bachelor and everyone wanted a piece of him, as NK had complained sometime back. His dad was in conversation with Shivam Uncle and by the looks of it, seemed like a serious subject.
He went to the kitchen where Di was sitting on top of the counter with a glass of vodka in one hand and a plate with a slice of cake in her other hand.
"I think we may have accounted for the alcohol that is fast depleting after all" he said, pointing his head towards her hand with a glass.
"Rubbish. This is just my second drink. Anyway, don't worry, I found the other carton, you are generous after all," Di said, taking a huge helping of the cake.
"What is going on? Why are you here? You were taking this being a hostess and matchmaker so seriously. What happened now," he asked, only just a little worried for his sister.
"i just needed a break. People are exhausting," Di said, putting the plate of cake into the fridge.
"Welcome to my world," he said wryly.
***
"This is the same Khushi, who went to New-Ons with Arnav and Aakash? The mithai girl," Anand Raizada asked his brother-in-law.
"Yes. She is Aakash's very close friend. She has the support of about half a dozen merchants. Since you have a legal understanding and Samir Singh is family, you could probably speak to him. I just picked up a stray file and saw that there is litigation and a potential demolishment on the cards," Shivam Mallik said. He looked troubled about this. Anand Raizada wondered why? Was this Khushi, the close friend of Aakash whom Poonam was alluding to the other day. He knew that Poonam did not like Khushi, but that was a long time ago. Still how everyone seemed connected to girl was baffling. She who ran a really small sweet shop in Chandni Chowk, had somehow managed to find herself in a position that she was intertwined with all of their lives.
He would speak to Arnav about this and ask him to have a word with his father-in-law. She had after all saved his life at one time, something none of them had properly thanked her for. Arnav who was as elitist and closed as his mother was until a few years ago, was a different man now. He trusted him to do the right thing now. He did not vie all issues only cerebrally now, and did have the ability to listen to his heart.
He would speak to Arnav after the New Year lunch at Raizada House tomorrow. Preferably away from HP's earshot.
***
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Chapter 8: Matters of the Heart (Part 2)
"So I was reading this article in a magazine and it says that the person you see at midnight on New Year's Day, he or she is the person you will be seeing the most of during the next year," NK said, right in the middle of a rather polarised debate about India's chances in the cricket world cup.
"Who even reads magazines," Arnav asked his cousin, but this was ignored.
"Did you read this in a magazine called Forever Sixteen," Payal asked him sweetly.
"Really, NKBhai, you are taking your membership of the lonely hearts club too seriously by finding solace in baloney that magazines publish," Anjali Di too chimed in.
They were at Anjali Di and Jeeju's house to ring in the new year. One would think that after the lunch from earlier in the day, all of them would find new people to hang-out with, but evidently not. Before the guests left Di and Jeeju's house after the luncheon party, each one of them complimented Di on the beautiful garden that she had in her balcony, on how flavourful the biryani was and how charming her husband was. Di thanked all the guests, though honestly none of those things that she was being credited for were her doing. Arnav was one of the last people to leave, but only after Di extracted a promise from him that he would return later. Thankfully, his parents were off to the club and Seema Bua, Shivam Uncle and Aakash excused themselves with some vague responses.
"So, it is just going to be the usual suspects," a rather disappointed NK had said when they drove down to Di's house a hour ago. Yes, the usual suspects it was.
He had to give it to Di, she had managed to make Jeeju and Payal avoid any discussion on politics and thereby kept the mood light. Which was a good thing given that the New Year was but a few hours away. Not that he honestly believed the earth's rotations and revolutions were a cause for celebration, but it didn't warrant him having to sit through a political debate that he did not care for.
After he had left Di's house earlier in the day, he had headed to work, to respond to some emails and on some work-related follow-ups. Among his many work emails, was one from his father, timestamped at 3:26 PM, probably just after they had got back home from Di's place. It said:
Arnav
There has been something that has been brought to my notice and I would like to discuss this with you tomorrow, privately.
AR
Getting an email from his father was not altogether surprising. His father did that routinely, preferring mails over texts. He had always assumed it was because his dad had been trained to be a lawyer, he liked evidence and keeping records of sent items and timestamps. Even the formal tone was not surprising. Though dad had an informal air when he interacted with everyone, his emails, personal or otherwise just had a more formal tone. This was somehow very different from his mother, whose mails and texts sounded breezy, though she was much more formal during actual interactions. No, the mail and tone were not the thing that made him curious. It was the bit that he added about privately'. Which was basically code for, don't let mom know. He had to wonder what possible thing did dad want to discuss with him privately? If it was the oft-discussed subject of taking over the reins of Raizada Enterprises, it was not a discussion that they would have without mom, would they? Normally the one person he could discuss all matters pertaining to the parents was Anjali Di, but this time he couldn't do that either. At least not until he had spoken to dad and figure out what the issue at hand was.
"Oh come on you guys, stop taking NK's trip. I think it is nice that people still read anything at all. He deserves our appreciation, not mockery," Jeeju said, attempting to put an end to the NK baiting. In response NK walked up and hugged Jeeju. NK was always the affectionate and demonstrative sort. But he was more so when he was in the middle of a sugar rush, which he was after having eaten all the leftover cake from lunch, the one that Payals' friend had made specially for Di's party.
"Well, it is no rocket science if you think about it anyway. The odds are that one will spend New Year's eve with your friends and family, so this is hardly a great prediction. It is just about calculating probability, which in this case is really high" he had tried pointing out, but nobody was interested in discussing probability theory with him.
"You are right. It is not for all you smug couples who only spend time with each other. Why can't I hangout with a more fun bunch? I think I am friends with the wrong bunch of cousins. Oh why couldn't I have befriended Aakash, he is the chick-magnet," NK said, even while he noisily went through a packet of nacho chips.
"Speaking of whom, my mom has a rishta for Aakash. Anita Chawla had better buck up," Payal said, while yanking off the chips packet from NK's hands.
"Wait a second. I thought Aakash and Khushi are an item. What am I missing," the resident Khushi champion Jeeju wanted to know.
Great. We are back to discussing Khushi again, he thought. NK was probably right, they really needed to hang-out with other people. He should have taken up Divyesh's offer and gone to his farmhouse instead. Or maybe even gone with his parents to the club. No, that would have been worse, to see his parents and other uncles and aunties get drunk, dance and generally make a fool of themselves was not something anybody should voluntarily have to do. Sometimes it was good to pretend to be a child and be oblivious to what ridiculous things the adults in your life did.
"This is merely speculation by Anjali Di, who has put two and two together and come up with twenty-five," NK said.
"That sounds like my wife alright," Jeeju said, getting a good-natured punch on his shoulder from Di.
Arnav got up and walked to the balcony to get some fresh air. There were already fireworks going off somewhere in the distant sky, though there was still a couple of hours for 2015 to arrive. He leaned his back against the balcony and watched his family on the other side of the glass door. Di, Jeeju and NK were laughing and teasing each other, he presumed. Payal seemed preoccupied with her phone. She had said very little all evening and had seemed just a little distracted. He probably needed to speak with her too, privately to figure out what was wrong. He saw Di get up and let in a few people. He recognised them as Di and Jeeju's other couple friends. He groaned when he saw that one of the guys had a bunch of board-games that he was carrying. God, not this too. Perhaps he can think of some excuse and leave the party. If NK's predictions were to come true, he wasn't sure how he felt about spending the rest of the year hanging out with Di's hipster friends. But he had better go in and say hello to them, else Di would give him an earful about him being "his mother's son", which somehow was the most insulting thing that she could say. Sometimes Di did like to pretend that she dropped from the sky and her parents had nothing to do with her. Right then his phone rang, he fished it out of his pocket and saw the caller id say - Divyesh Thakur. That was surprising, why would Divyesh call him now, he wondered.
"Hey man, whats up?"
"Dude, where are you? I just got a call from Shafee, apparently Baig Sir had a massive heart attack a while ago and is critical. I thought you would want to know."
He could hear loud music in the background. In that moment he was glad that he was at Di and Jeeju's place instead of being in Divyesh's South Delhi party. Shafee was Baig Sir's son, who was probably around nineteen now. He remembered meeting a young Shafee during one of the iftaari parties that Baig Sir invited all his students to. He had not guessed that Divyesh was close enough to Baig Sir's family to get information like this so quickly.
"Oh. That is terrible news. What exactly happened? Do you have any details?"
"I called Lavanya wondering if she would know something more and she said she was on the way to the hospital to meet Baig Sir. I guess she is close to the family."
Which hospital did she say he was in?"
"I didn't ask her, dude. Anyway, I will probably go see him tomorrow or something. Talk later?"
"Sure."
Once he hung up, Arnav couldn't help but feel a little guilty. When Baig Sir had called him after years, he had promised to come and look him up, but he hadn't. As usual there was some work that kept him pre-occupied. He had made a note to go visit Baig Sir in 2015, perhaps he shouldn't have put that off. He checked the contacts list on his phone and realised that he did not have Lavanya's number, so he called Aakash. His cousin did not pick the phone for the longest time and just as he was about to hang up, Aakash picked up the phone.
"Arnav."
"Aakash, can you text me Lavanya's number?"
"Lavanya? Yeah.. sure."
"I got a call from Divyesh, he said that Baig Sir had a heart attack and was hospitalised. I wanted to check with Lavanya which hospital was this," he somehow felt compelled to explain why he wanted Lavanya's phone number.
"Right. Actually Lavanya and I are at the hospital. If you want to come, Max Health Care in Patparganj, the third floor."
"Thanks."
Arnav was not sure if he had wanted to go to the hospital. Not right away that is. He knew that the family would be there and he didn't want to intrude or be in their way. Sometimes when there were moment of crisis, having additional people, no matter how well-meaning they were was counter-productive. He knew from experience, the couple of times that his father was unwell, the constant presence of extended family and friends with their never-ending opinions and advice was the most stressful thing.
He came back inside and said hello to Jeeju and Di's friends. Di of course wanted to know who was on the phone and so he explained to everyone about Baig Sir. Predictably, Anjali Di suggested that he immediately go and see him.
"But Di, now is hardly the time to go. It is not visiting hours or anything. I bet I will be in the way."
"He is your guru. You know gurus trump everyone. If I ever fall ill, I expect all my current and former students to show up."
"I am sure Baig Sir has no such expectations. I will check tomorrow and go."
"But if Aakash is there, you can go too," Jeeju now joined Di's demand. These two really agreed on every little thing. They were exhausting.
"Yeah, I think you should go. In fact, I will come along too," Payal surprised him with this. Clearly she had enough of his family for the day. And even the prospect of a hospital visit was more compelling than for her to hanging with his family. He suppressed a smile, he knew that Di would have noticed this and he would not hear the end of it. After an elaborately long-winded goodbye, which involved much hugging and wishing everyone a happy new year, Payal and he left Di's apartment.
As they were leaving, he heard NK say, "Looks like Arnav is going to spend all of 2015 hanging out with Aakash."
**
"Khushi, tumse ek baat poochoon? Bura toh nahi manogi," Renu Bhabhi asked her. They were home, watching one of those New Year Specials on TV. They had returned from Lucknow this morning and had immediately got busy with a large order that was to be delivered earlier in the evening. Faisal Bhaii who was already at the shop complained about everything that he could complain about. He complained about how the milk was not thick enough. About how it was too cold. About how there were no delivery boys. Basically about everything. Khushi and Renu Bhabhi exchanged a smile, but refrained from commenting. Faisal Bhaii was the pillar on which Tewari & Sons stood, and he was a good and hardworking man, who was very underpaid. Listening to him complaining about things, many of it legitimate was a small price to pay.
Renu Bhabhi had a part-time job, she worked as an assistant with a public notary. With Aarav and no real support other than Khushi, it was not possible for her to take a full-time job. But she did help around at Tewari & Sons if they had a big order, though that did not happen as frequently as Khushi would have wanted to. Renu Bhabhi's strength was not mithai-making, but she helped in everything else - packing, cleaning the utensils, chopping the nuts, grinding etc. The Lucknow trip had helped at least in making her and Renu Bhabhi's relationship a little closer. They after all had a shared fear of rejection by Baba and this was able to facilitate a kinship. Though they lived in the same house and had a shared kitchen and meals, they pretty much stayed out of the other's way. The house was still leased to her father and thankfully the landlord continued to charge them 90s rent, which she took care of. Tewari & Sons, was now officially in her name, her mother completed the legal paperwork before she moved to Lucknow. It was a practical decision and also with the dispute now, it was a good decision. For her mother to be embroiled in a legal battle among other things would have put a further strain in her relationship with Baba.
To celebrate New Year, Renu Bhabhi had insisted on cooking something special. Aarav demanded for pasta and Bhabhi managed to put together something reasonably nice, albeit a bit bland. She and Bhabhi added some gajar and shalgam achaar to it and it improved considerably. Aarav had excitedly said that he wanted to stay up till midnight and Bhabhi agreed to this because he didn't have school tomorrow. But as they sat their watching some elaborately setup jokes on TV, Aarav fell asleep.
"Haan boliye Bhabhi, kya poochna hai."
"Bura mat maan na, theekh hai?"
"Nahin manoongi."
"Tum Aakash ko pasand karti ho?"
"Karti hoon. Lekin woh dost hai. Bas. Achanak kyun pooch rahi ho?"
Did Maa put Bhabhi on this, Khushi wondered. While her parents allowed her to be friends with whomever she wanted, they always found her relationship with Aakash worrisome. They liked him, but at the end of the day, he was the nephew of the woman who had wronged her. He was rich and came from an important family.
"Humaara aur unka koyi mel nahi hai," Maa reminded her each time she felt that Khushi was being too friendly with Aakash. Khushi didn't need these timely reminders to know how different the worlds they belonged to were, but Maa continued to reiterate. And this wouldn't stop no matter how much Khushi tried to convince her that she did not harbour any romantic feelings for Aakash. Or he for her.
"Bas aise hi. Khayal aaya. Woh acha ladka hai waise. Tumhaari care karta hai."
"Haan. Acha dost toh hai woh. Par sirf dost."
"Lekin yeh bhi toh ho sakta hai na ki woh tumhe pasand karta ho?"
"Nahin Bhabhi. Woh kissi aur ko pasand karta hai. Usne khud mujhe bataya hai."
"Acha? Matlab uska girlfriend hai?"
"Nahin. Matlab woh usse pasand karta hai, lekin woh ladki kissi aur ko pasand karti hai."
"Haaw. Aakash kitna acha hai, koyi ladki usse chodh kar kissi aur kyun pasand karegi."
Khushi smiled at this. Renu Bhabhi knew so little of Aakash and yet she felt enough affection for him to feel offended on his behalf.
"Ab koyi kya kar sakta hai? Acha main channel badloon, yeh aur dekha nahi ja raha hai."
Unfortunately all the channels had similar slapstick comedy sketches and people dancing to some Bollywood song. Perhaps they should just go to sleep.
She had been invited for brunch at Baig Sir's house tomorrow. He did that every year, it had now become a New Year tradition of sorts.
"Bhabhi, woh moong daal bhigoya hai ki nahin?"
Baig Sir loved moong dal halwa and she was going to make that and take it when she went there tomorrow. This time she had convinced Renu Bhabhi to come along too. It took a while and after a call from Noor Ma'm, Baig Sir's wife, Bhabhi could not say no. She suddenly remembered that she didn't know the exact time of this brunch, she would send Aakash a text and find out.
"Bhabhi, mera phone pakdana toh," she said. Her phone had been kept for charging and was next to Bhabhi.
When she got the phone she saw that there were six missed calls from Aakash. She immediately called him back.
"Khushi, where are you? I have been trying your number for a while?
"I am sorry, the phone was charging and the TV was so loud, I guess I didn't hear the phone ring. I was just going to text you, what time did Noor Ma'm say that we needed to be there?"
"That is what, I was calling to tell you that Baig Sir had a heart attack around six pm this evening. He is admitted in Max at Patparganj. They will do an angioplasty tomorrow. Lavanya and I are at the hospital."
"Oh! That is terrible news. I must come to the hospital too.. but.."
"You can't come now. It is New Year's Eve and the roads will be in a bad state, there will be all kinds of weirdos. Come tomorrow morning."
"But.."
She could hear Lavanya say something to Aakash in the background. But she couldn't hear what was being said though. She did hear Aakash say, are you sure a couple of times.
"Okay Khushi, Major Anand is coming to pick up Lavanya. So if you want he can come and pick you up. He is in Connaught Place now. It should not be too much of a detour."
"If it is not a problem, then yes that will be nice."
"Sure. I will text you his number just in case."
Once she hung up, she wondered if Renu Bhabhi would be upset that she was leaving her on New Year's Eve. But Bhabhi too had dozed off next to Aarav. She gently woke up Bhabhi and told her about Baig Sir and said she would return as soon as she could.
"Don't come back alone, get Aakash to drop you," she had said before going to sleep again.
Khushi changed into a salwar kameez, out of her night dress and made some chai that she poured into a flask. Maybe somebody would want tea. She also put a few biscuit packets and a bottle of water into a bag and waited for Major Anand.
**
Navigating through the traffic, it took a long while for them to reach Patparganj from Vasant Kunj. They were stopped two times and the first time they had to undergo a breath analyser. Thankfully he had just one drink and the cops let them go. A few kilometres after that, they were stopped yet again. But this time the cop who had stopped them recognised Payal and did a salaam and let them go.
"See, I have power," Payal had said somewhat smugly. He just shook his head at it, because honestly there was no other appropriate response to that.
When they reached the hospital, it was buzzing with activity. New Year Eve seemed to bring with it a peak in heart attack cases. They went to the third floor which was the super speciality ICU floor, so most of it was outside their access.
And then he saw her there, sitting on the floor, her back against a wall, reading what he believed where the hospital pamphlets.
"Khushi."
A startled Khushi looked at them and immediately stood up. She sure was all nerves and jumpy around them, he noticed.
"Khushi, do you recognise us today." Payal asked wryly.
He wanted to tell Payal this was not the time and place for this, but instead he decided to deflect and talk about more relevant things.
"How is Baig Sir now? What are the doctors saying? Where is everyone else?"
Khushi explained that Baig Sir would have a surgery tomorrow. Noor Ma'm and Shafee were sent home to rest as there was nothing to do here. Baig Sir was stable and was in super-ICU where nobody was allowed. The hospital was packed to capacity, so there was no room available for the family and caretaker. They could just sit on the floor where Khushi was, but even that was not allowed according to the rules. Lavanya had to go back home and Aakash had gone to get some blood from a blood-bank, as a backup in case there was some emergency and because Baig Sir had a rare blood type. Once Aakash returned, they would be leaving too.
So the trip was wasted after all, since they couldn't meet the family.
"Will Noor Ma'm need someone to be there at the hospital tomorrow?"
"No.Baig Sir's brothers are in Hyderabad. And they are taking an early morning flight. So they should be here by six am."
"Oh well, looks like a waste of our time to be here," Payal said, she was looking thoughtfully at Khushi, like she wanted to tell her something, but decided not to.
"Yeah, might as well go back home. I don't think there is any point going back to Di's house now. We will just wait for Aakash, because Khushi is alone..." he left mid-sentence because he was not sure how Payal would react to that. Or how Khushi would either.
"Of course, we can't leave Khushi alone. We will wait for Aakash," Payal had agreed. Was that sarcasm? Did she mean this genuinely? She seemed serious enough. Payal surprised him all the time.
"So Khushi, you are the sports coach at St Joseph's, right?"
"Yes. Adhoc."
"What do you mean by adhoc?"
"As in, it is a short-term appointment. I am contracted till April 2015. After that I will need to find a job elsewhere."
"You could go to Alchemy, I am sure they will have you because you are an alumni."
If Payal's motive was to make Khushi feel uncomfortable, she was succeeding, given that Khushi was desperately looking at anywhere else but at them. When five minutes later, which was the longest ever five minutes Aakash appeared Khushi almost ran towards him.
"Sorry, Arnav, I wanted to call you to tell that you needn't come tonight, but I just got caught up. Hi Payal, how are you?" Aakash said, his attention now moving from Arnav to Payal.
"I am good. Have you moved to India for good? How long are you going to be here," Payal asked him. He watched the exchange between his fiance and cousin and marvelled at how polite and friendly they sounded. He was surprised some more when Payal suggested that Aakash give her a ride home instead of Arnav.
"Arnav, Aakash literally lives right next to my house. Honestly I just want to get home quickly. I don't want to ring in the new year being stuck in traffic."
He couldn't help but notice Aakash and Khushi exchange a look and she nodded at him and gave him a half-smile. And that is how he found himself driving Khushi to Chandni Chowk and Aakash drove Payal to her house.
**
"NK was telling me earlier this evening that apparently the person you see at midnight today, that is the person you will be seeing a lot of in 2015," Arnav said to her, as he drove her back home. Khushi's head was still reeling from everything that had happened in the last couple of hours. If she thought that nothing could be more awkward than a car ride with Major Anand, whom she barely knew anything about, this was even more awkward, a ride with someone she knew a little too well.
"I am sorry. Who is NK," she wondered if that was any of her New-Ons classmate whose existence she had forgotten about.
"I am sorry, NK is Nand Kishore, my cousin. He was the one who told me about this prophecy. But don't worry, I am sure it isn't true."
"Well, it does make sense. There must be a handful of people who would actually be spending the night with people whom they didn't care about. I bet we can even calculate the probability of this."
"I know, right? Except for us, maybe. We must be that handful of people."
"All rules must have an exception and factor in the error."
"Hmm. Yeah. I am sorry that I won't be able to get you home by twelve."
"It is not your fault that there is so much traffic and so many diversions."
"Yeah for once something going wrong in your life and it is not my fault. I suppose you could say this is the exception to that rule then."
"Not really. The exception to the rule would be if you fixed some aspect of my life actually.."
"Ah, yes."
"Of course I am not actually saying that you need to do anything for me. Please don't misunderstand me."
"You need to stop apologising to me."
"Okay."
"By the way Khushi, Happy New Year," he said looking at his car clock that said it was 12:00.
"Thank you and happy new year to you too."
When they reached Khushi's house, it was quarter to one. Khushi had forgotten to take the house keys and had to ring the doorbell. Four times before a sleepy Renu Bhabhi opened it.
"Naya saal mubarak, Khushi," Bhabhi said and hugged her. This open display of affection embarrassed Khushi, especially since they had a witness in Arnav. She wondered if she should despatch him from the door. Or should she invite him in and offer him some mithai or something. It was very confusing. On the one hand she wished he would just disappear immediately and not look at her with those big wounded eyes of his, like she had done him some wrong. She was trying to be firm and strong, without turning cynical and bitter. But it wasn't always easy, especially since she kept running into him. It was as if the universe was doing this deliberately, to break her and shred her off the last remnant of self-respect that she had. And yet, she didn't want to wish him away. She didn't want him to be held accountable for things that his mother did. She did not seek his redemption, that was not going to fix her life problems. She did not want to hurt him. Not even a little.
"Andar aayiye na," while she was contemplating things, evidently Renu Bhabhi made the decision for her, "Itni zyada thand hai. Chai bana deti hoon main."
Arnav looked at her then, there were a million and one questions he was asking her. She had to just give him one hint, a slight in the way she looked at him, perhaps a gesture. Something. Anything to tell him that he was unwelcome in her house. One cold response and he would go away she knew that. He was not the type of person to barge in if he was unwelcome.
She willed her heart to send some signal to her brain, to put an end to this.
But it just wouldn't listen to her.
**
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