An OmRu-TejVi-SvetKara OS *Because He Is My Brother*

Om was looking at the pictures that he had clicked during his morning walk while walking back to his room. As he looked up from his camera, he saw his mother Jhanvi descending down the steps. She looked angelic in her white salwar suit. Wanting to capture her beauty in pictures, Om started clicking away pictures of his mother from the sides as she walked down the stairs. "My beautiful goddess," Om whispered with a smile on his face.

Jhanvi finally reached the ground when she saw her eldest son. She broke into a million-dollar smile upon seeing Om, the apple of her eye. Realising no smile can ever be prettier than his mother's, Om took a close-up shot of his mother's smiling face as happiness started seeping into his heart. He made a mental note to frame this picture up later. "What are you doing Om?" Jhanvi questioned lovingly. "Nothing much," he said shrugging his shoulders, "just taking a picture of my beautiful mom."

"What is this O?" just then a voice exclaimed from behind Om's shoulders. Recognising the voice, Om just rolled his eyes while Jhanvi awaited her second son, Rudra's antics to begin. Without a care in the world, Rudra started pulling his O's legs. "How can you Om? How can you be my elder brother?" Rudra burst out holding his heart feigning as if he was in great pain. Unable to bear Rudra's rants, Om slapped Rudra's cheeks in the way that he always does. Gentle yet lovingly.

Holding his cheeks, Rudra pouted and walked away from Om towards his mother. "How is this even possible Mom?" Rudra said as he leaned down on his mother's shoulder. "Me, Rudra, who has reached one million Instagram followers, whose Facebook status explodes like a bomb upon an update, the most sought-after personality on any social networking sites has a brother who is taking pictures with a camera" he whined to his mother, hugging her and wiping away tears from his cheeks that did not even fall from his eyes.

Watching Rudra's playact, only one word escaped from Om's mouth: Dramebaaz. Jhanvi began to laugh hearing the word while Rudra chose to ignore his O. "Mom is O adopted?" he asked Jhanvi with puppy-eyes. "Because this man standing here" he alleged while pointing his finger at Om, "cannot be the brother of me. The most stylish, trendy, socially active male in India currently". He looked back at Jhanvi and said "Do you know mom? Everyone loves Rudra Singh Oberoi," and opened his arms according to Shah Rukh Khan's trademark look, looking up at the sky with a proud smile on his face.

Before Jhanvi could utter any words, Om jumped in saying, "Do you know something Rudra?" to which Rudra just shook his head. "You were picked up from the streets. Don't believe me, just ask mom who is standing here. She will tell you everything" Om said with a smirk on his face. Rudra was shell-shocked for one moment, but recovering immediately, he looked at Jhanvi and whined, "Mooom, look at what Om just accused me of." Stuck between both her sons, Jhanvi just said "Om!" looking at her elder son, while patting the face of her younger son, who was by now hiding his face in his mom's neck.

"What Mom? Mr Dumbbell Singh Oberoi here can accuse me of being adopted but I cannot mention jokingly that he was picked up from the streets" Om told his mother. "Look here Mr Fumble Singh Oberoi, if I am adopted then you were picked up from the streets. Any arguments?" he stated directly looking at Rudra, who was by now looking at Om.

Not wanting to back down from the argument, Rudra continued defending his statement. "You are definitely adopted O. If not, why will you still continue taking pictures nowadays. Selfies are in trend brother. Selfies!" he proclaimed dramatically, "and I am the selfie-master of the country. All my selfies hit a million likes. Just 2 hours ago, I posted a picture of myself doing sit-ups and it reached 67,585 likes with 34,291 re-posts. If you were my brother, you would be taking selfies not pictures" he finished trying to catch a breath.

Rudra did not give a chance to Om as he opened his mouth to retort back. He immediately grabbed his mobile phone from his pocket and pulled his mom towards him. "Come on mom, let's take a selfie. I will prove to you and O that selfies are in trend. When O finally sees the likes skyrocketing, he will finally dispose of his dabba camera and start taking selfies with you like me, his super cool brother," he said happily and started clicking selfies with his mother.

Not wanting to disrupt the joyous moment between his mom and younger brother, Om took his camera and clicked pictures of Om and Jhanvi taking selfies. Another picture that needs to be framed up he thought happily shaking his head.

While all three were indulging in their own small world of joy and peace, none of them seemed to have realised a lone figure had already descended the stairs and was just two steps away from Rudra and Jhanvi until his voice echoed in the nearly empty living room.

"Will you only take pictures with your mom Rudra? You won't ask me to be part of the picture?" Tej questioned Rudra. Rudra who had already jumped a few feet away hearing a voice behind him, started fumbling as he realised his father was speaking to him. Throwing confused looks from Om to Jhanvi, Rudra just said "S-S-Sure" and moved to take a selfie of himself, with his mom and dad, being highly cautious not to anger his dad in any way.

Om who was looking at the scene that was unfolding in front of him felt astonished but there was still an untold amount of peace and satisfaction within his heart. In a parallel paradigm, this would have been an ideal family moment his brain expressed. Absentmindedly nodding his head, Om took a picture of the trio in their blissful world.

As if it just so happens, no amount of happiness can ever last within the Oberoi Mansion, Svetlana entered the Oberoi Mansion. "Tej" she spoke interrupting the family's selfie moment. Om's anger shot up as he looked at Svetlana with displeasure and turned to see his father who was clearly feeling restless due to this sudden turn of events. Tej who was looking at Svetlana was confused as he was not expecting her at all. Throwing a glance at Om, Tej faced Svetlana and enquired her, "What are you doing here Svetlana? Weren't you supposed to be at the office by now?".

"I came here to fetch you for the breakfast meeting that was scheduled with Mr Veer Singhania at Ocean's Clubhouse today" Svetlana answered back sweetly. Composing himself, Tej looked at Jhanvi and told her that he had to go off now and Jhanvi just nodded her head while Svetlana stood sneering at Jhanvi. Om gripped his fingers into a fist trying to control his anger which was ready to explode seeing his mom's crestfallen face. "Oh how absolutely gorgeous she looked just a short while back, smiling away so happily. All just had to get snatched away from her in a jiffy," his heart throbbed. "And all because of this lady standing here," his anger-filled eyes flew towards Svetlana wanting to oust her from the house immediately. Knowing he will never be able to control his anger now, Om started to walk towards his art studio. He needed to escape from this harsh reality of life, and only his Art can save him right now he deduced.

While he started to walk away, Svetlana's words made him stop on his track. Without any further thoughts, Om turned around and walked straight towards Svetlana, grabbing Rudra with him along the way. Her words kept ringing in his head. "How could you take a selfie with Rudra, Tej?"

He stopped right in front of Svetlana, making both her and Tej, turn towards him and Rudra. Tej and Rudra looked confused while Svetlana stood confidently facing Om. Folding his arms around his chest, Om's anger finally exploded.

"Care to explain why Mr Oberoi cannot take a selfie with Rudra?" Om stated staring pointedly at Svetlana. Taken slightly aback, Svetlana quickly regained her composure and defended herself saying sweetly, "You see Omkara, Rudra is still a child. What if he uploads the picture on his social media sites and someone misuses it? We cannot afford to trust any outsiders right now especially after the repeated attacks on the family. It is a security issue. I hope you understand. Nothing personal".

"Listen Miss Svetlana and listen very carefully to what I have to say. The Rudra standing here is Rudra Singh Oberoi. Tej Singh Oberoi and Jhanvi Singh Oberoi's son. Shivaay Singh Oberoi and Omkara Singh Oberoi's brother. The next heir of the entire Oberoi empire. Him uploading a selfie of him and his father on his social media site will never escalate to a security issue. Even if it does, you had better take care of the issue that arises. That is why we pay you a monthly salary as you are an employee of the Oberoi Industries. Do not tell us what we should do or what we should not do. You are an outsider. Always remember that," Om spoke each of his words clearly in a calm but strong manner.

About to walk away, Om again turned to face Svetlana again. "Oh yes! One more thing. If I ever hear you belittle Rudra again, just remember you have to face the wrath of Omkara Singh Oberoi and I am sure you would not want to see that side of me ever. No one has a right to say anything about Rudra as long as I am alive because he is my brother. I hope I make myself clear to you. Now I will give you 5 minutes to get out of my house. I am sure you know the way out by now. Have a good day!" Om declared, seriousness ringing in each words of his. He dragged Rudra along with him out of the living room towards Shivaay's room as he realised he has to calm down his nerves before they burst and the only place where he will be able to remain sane will be at Shivaay's room.

Jhanvi who was watching the entire spectacle never felt so proud of her sons as much as she felt right at that point of time when Om stood up for Rudra. The joy and pride that she was feeling then knew no bounds. "My sons will always remain together. Nothing can separate them" she whispered before looking at Svetlana with a wide grin on her face and left the place. Tej, who looked proud of his sons, hid his emotions and turned to look at Svetlana. "We got to get going. If not, we will be late. Let's go" he motioned to Svetlana to follow him. Svetlana quickly hid her anger that was boiling up due to Om's words. She put on a confident smile and sweetly replied, "Sure Tej" while her mind kept screaming, "You will pay for this insult dearly Omkara. Mark my words!" as she followed behind Tej.