The cowering & the corrupt
Anubha hugged her girls but was not enthusiastic
“I am sorry Ma” Viveka mumbled pushing her glasses upnervously
“baarish ho rahi hai, room ka darwaza khulla chhodkar padhrahi ho?” Anubha enquired grimly
“Just abhi”
“Who kahan hai?” Anubha asked setting her laptop bag on thecoffee table
“Music sun rahi hai shaayad” Viveka lied again, praying
Anubha walked over purposefully
“Kya chal raha hai?”
“Rakhti hoon” Naina whispered and hung up and jumped off thebed
Pulling her air pods out of her ear
“Just music ma” she mumbled offering up an ipod
“Stop it” Anubha warned
Akash appeared in the doorway, “Do baj gaye ab chalo” “Go take a shower and eat” “Sotey hain yaar” he urged
“Nahi ruken ek second” Anubha sat down on the couch in Naina’s room
Viveka was heating dinner/ midnight snack?
“You stayed with him the whole 3 days? And nights?” Anubha was direct
“Hmm.. yes Ma” Naina nodded
“ I don’t enforce any rules, yet you lie to me and took off”
“Umm.. I just wanted to return by night”
“Jhooth nahi Naina” Anubha warned
“Veev kahan hai?” she asked Akash
Viveka ran inside
“Hmm Ma?”
“Yeh bimaar hai karke tum bhaagi, NH8 is horrible what ifsomeone had struck your car?” Anubha challenged
“I thot about that” she nodded
“Phir bhi twins ko akela chhodkar iske peechhe bhaagi ho?”
“Jee Ma”
“WHAT did u eat?”
“Umm.. he made kamal kakri”
“Khaana banata hai who?”
“No the Rajasthani help”
“Hmm”
“This is so bad… I don’t know what I am going to say to Bua andFa” Anubha looked distressed
“Chhodo yaar abhi just sleep off” Akash urged
“Its bad enough your mother thinks I chose my career over CHAAR BETIYAN” Anubha was hurt
“Ma ka kya hai, I don’t care she can think what she wants”Akash was firm
“Dada Dadi SAB taq pahunch gayi hogi ab taq baat”
“I am SO sorry Ma”
Naina sat by her feet and prayed on her mother’s knees
“Ma please I AM SO SORRY”
Akash ek second” she mumbled
He sighed and shut the door and left the room to change and eat
“You spent the night with him?”
Naina nodded reluctantly
Anubha cringed
“I am so sorry Ma… we are in love… Ma… please aap mujhe believe kyon nahi kar rahe?”
“What if u get pregnant Naina?” Anubha whispered
“No… I cant Ma… I cant… I went on my 5th day”
Anubha cringed that her daughter had shared such intimate detail with a man she had met two weeks ago
“Ma he wants me to meet his Mom”
“Kyon?” Anubha was bitter
“You know” Naina blushed
“Tum jaanti ho yeh sab?”
Viveka was reviewing her paper
“Paper rakho Veev…. Tumhare padhai se tang aa chuki hoon main”
“I am sorry” “ma”
“Do u know she was going to go spend the night?”
“Hmm” Viveka hung her head
“Tumhara plan tha?”
“No… no Ma” Viveka was shocked
“Ma… Veev ko MAINE kaha”
“You’ve spent three nights with a man you never know u will see again or not” Anubha got up cringing
“Ma I JUST spoke to him” Naina showed her her call log, and began to cry
“ABHI kya baat kar rahi ho? Raat ke sawa 2 baje?”
“Umm.. just…”
Naina Papa and I worry about your safety, you don’t even know this man…. I am not saying becoz he is an NRI. I am saying… you know… mencan be creeps… what if he recorded you? What if he blackmails you” Anubha was blunt
“MAAA” Naina was horrified
“Tumhe pata kuch nahi hai Naina… you dragged her over there…Veev ki safety ka socha?”
“Nothing happened
“Abhi to teen din huen hain” Anubha left the room
Viveka picked up her sheaf of papers and pulled her pen out ofher joora and started notating
“Veev you think he is a creep?”
“I don’t even know the guy Naina” Viveka was upset
“He is not like that… how can Bua be friends with someone like that?”
“They are knew in town or something… Fa is sourcing sapphires from Gujju businessman based in Mozambique, apparently he knows Inder’s Dad apparently stays in this Gujju businessman’s house in Maputo
“How do you know all this?” Naina was ever confused as always
“Papa told me last night (after Akash spoke with Kamal his BIL the men being more unemotional)” “Papa only remembered vaguely, he hadn’t met Inder that night,…”
“So FA KNOWS THEM” PHEW" Naina was a one trick pony
“THAT’S what you got out of it?”
“I LOVE Inder”
“DON’T say it in front of Ma… PLEEZ Naina not for a couple weeks” Viveka coached
“He cant even come home?”
“NO” Viveka shook her head
“Are you sure it was your 5th day?”
“Pretty sure” Naina said vaguely causing Viveka’s stomach muscles to clench
“So jao ab, kha chuki tum dono?” Anubha peeked showered,fresh, wearing her nightie
“jee Ma” “Main serve karoon?” Naina asked with unusual courtesy
“Nahi.. so jao”
Viveka got up
“Aur tum…”
“Jee Ma… you will NEVER lie to Papa and me again. If you want to continuepursuing Research”
“Got it” Viveka nodded
“You think it’s the guy that we met at the party?” Anubha served herself a roti and nibbled
“Nahi… who koi aur hain shaayad… related”
“Pata nahi kaun log hain Akash”
“Aaj ka Economics Times dekho” He got up from the table and flipped to Page 8, on the upper left box, there was a hand shake photo of Satyen Parashar with Commerce Minister for the bi lateral trade agreement for under sea fiber optic cable in partnership with Singapore… the envoy was also in the picture
“He was a little OK nahi?” Anubha tried to think
“Who knows yaar”
“Naina Viveka ki tarah strong, confident kyon nahi hai Akash?”
“You cant say that”
“Umm.. look at her”
“Did u tell her she can use the grant to study we wont hassle her any more about shaadi?”
“Nahi” Anubha said firmly
“USKI kya galti hai Anu?”
“She is the co conspirator”
Savita and Akash and Anubha spent hours the next morning chatting about everything. Savita appeared like she was agreeing with Anubha when she said these days young people want freedom
“Jeejee… ache log hain, Kamal keh rahe hain unke jo supplierhain, Maputo mein Choksi jee unki jaanpehchan hai 30 saalon se”
“Hmm”
“Jeejee main aapki side hoon” Savita groveled
“Aapko main kya keh rahi hoon, kuch bhi nahi… bus ladkiyon par aa raha hai gussa mujhe” Anubha relaxed a bit
“Jeejee aa jao shaam ko” Savi begged
In order to buy her trust Anubha agreed tho she was greatly jet lagged, Naina wanted to go see Inder Viveka refused to lie for her, Anubhastalked the older girls, to ensure they could not escape
“I would be sleeping off my jet lag… I am going to curry favors so she does not gossip. You two should show up and offer your support tome” Anubha was livid
“I have to finish my paper Ma” “Main abhi aayi hoon JNU se,aaj subah 3 candidates ko interview kiya for Records assistant Ma” Vivekabegged
“Kya kahoon main? If this thing had not happened you could have written it”
“I am sorry Ma”
“… ready ho, and lets go”
“I am ready I will just go in my saree” Viveka mumbled,cowering
Bua was a relentless socializer, she had hosted a business lunch at home for some of Fa’s friends…Mathurs were family so they entered the house and dispersed around.
Viveka hung with her Dad in the library, as they looked the new books that were piled in a corner ready to be displayed… Harsha and Piyushdid not have a reading habit. Most things in elite homes was for show only so was this library
Men from the luncheon were brought in to be introduced toAkash
He was fine with the biological relationship, he did not crave to be seen or heard
He knew he was a small fry
“Bhaisaab hamare walking banking encyclopedia hain” Kamal was very gracious
The men began chatting
Viveka would later be told one of the men Mr Das was theSecretary of some Minister
Satyen and Raanav also came to the room, Satyen gladly beganchatting with Akash and the other men
Viveka was busy having an animated argument with Mr Das on rural unemployment program.
Raanav took in her stunning appearance in lemon yellow Chanderi cotton with a mehandi color border, and the large nose stud, and bindi, and he noticed a pen in her joora
If he was frozen in his track he would not acknowledge it of course
He overheard the conversation she was having with Mr Das
Championing the cause of the poor
“The wealthy are tired of seeing their hard earned money being extracted as more and more taxes on mindless government programs!” he said haughtily
She looked at him coolly with no sign of recognition and said “Taxes are the price of civil society. The game is so fully rigged against the bottom 60% there is no hope of ever achieving equality. Shifting and hoarding obscene amounts of wealth while the bottom 60% people are unable to achieve the basic standard of living is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, corrupt”
Edited by Nisha0604 - 4 years ago
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