Pride & Prej with a twist - Page 12

Raanav's careless comment is like a godsend when you're looking to clobber someone to pieces! 😉

As for Viveka's reply about income inequality in India, I'll take this chance to share something!

Top 10 % of our population owns more than 74% of India's wealth while the bottom 50% get by on less than 3% of the national wealth!!

And the stats regarding women are even worse off..😭

I find it atrocious to see the richest folks in our country, who do zilch to give back to society, be celebrated instead of being shamed for cheating someone out of their 2 square meals! 😡

Awkward , difficult and tough parental conversations but these are real conversations to be had with the children when everyone's living under the same roof. If the roof's different then it's another matter perhaps!

On the economic gulf and the so called democratic processes , my take is divided as in my sympathies differ in terms of how developed or third world economies are. In a developed economy , my sympathies are strongly with the middle 40- 70 percent stuck as they are the ones supplementing the top 30 and the bottom 30 as the laws and amendments get enacted to benefit them. The expectations of basic standards of living in a developed nation like the US only promotes entitlement . Blame the representatives Of aam janata and the the might of the financial institutions who forever keep dipping their hands in to the middle 40- 70 percent's bucket to foster corruption and entitlement . Corruption and Entitlement are identical twins of a parallel economy run nation.

The public distribution system sucks imo

But in a country like India where we were witness to laborers who lost their livelihoods , being left helpless but to walk on road to reach home with no access to basic standard of living and amenities , the economic inequality is very real.

I doubt if Jaya Bachman ever considered making her presence felt to give a shout-out for those labourers!! Mrs. B those that were truly stranded did not have any thaali whatsoever to speak of , forget a morsel of grain on it.

Rich man’s worry

Mr Das evaporated as he got a phone call

Viveka went back to her book

Settling down in the huge cheery leather chair with big arms

“If the corruption enables your life style surely that’s notcorrupt is it?” he pressed

He was wearing really casual navy linen pants and a loosewhite shirt with tiny red sail boats onit untucked

“I am not sure what you mean?” she lowered her book coolly

“I mean… your sister dating a hotelier, and you enjoying hishospitality” he flashed the same devilish smile

“Umm.. actually, its NOT the same… it’s the systematic denialof opportunities by the privileged. Naina pays her taxes in full and so do “I”she tried to go back to her book

Akash was in conversation with a genial Satyen Parashar andtwo other business associates but could not help look at the young man from theother night pulling his nerdy daughter into an argument

“I am sure its totally OK if Naina ends up with Inder andenjoys the fruits of Inder’s labor”

“If this is about Naina you should just get in touch withher, she feels better AND is here today”

“No, actually its not about Naina, its about you accusingthe wealthy of not doing their share”

“It’s the truth, if you like I can share data supporting it”she looked up, grinned and went back to her book with what she thought was ainaudible “ufff”

He heard it though

“The government can raise taxes on the wealthy all it wants,they are going to offshore as much as possible and as soon as possible” henodded and grinned again

“And That’s not corrupt at all” she smiled

“If every rich man worried about socialism there would beZERO job creation” he said smugly “Most jobs… you should look this one up arecreated by the WEALTHY”

She “True” she nodded heroically, and got up to answerAnubha’s call as she was being summoned to the kitchen

Raanav watched her walked away, and bend down to savor hisglass of wine, sipping as his eyes followed her out of the room

Akash was watching it all

“Haan Ma?” Viveka was extra polite

“Bua doesn’t really know Naina only knew Inder in thatJaipur group, I told her one of the people in the group was her client and SHEforced Naina to visit the Parashar family retreat” Anubha looked troubled

“Hmm” Viveka nodded

“Bua Naina ko to kuchh poochhengi nahi… but I have told heralso”

“Ma, why are we so afraid of Bua?” Vievka was irritated atall the coverup this was requiring

WRONG Q

“Bataoon tumhe?”

One look at Anubha’s face, Viveka lowered her gaze

“She is a grown woman Ma, I am 29, she is 27… kuch to azaadimilni chahiye na?” Viveka struggled to let go

“To TUM kyon jhooth bolkar gayi nahi kahin par’

“NOT because I am noble or nicer or following maryada, but because KOI HAI NAHI”

Viveka smiled awkwardly as a couple women that were visitingfor the luncheon were departing and Bua was at the far end, walking towardsthem

“Nahi main nahi maanti is baat ko” Anubha was arguing

“I am serious Ma… you gave us the freedom we should staysafe but shouldn’t it be ON US how we enjoy the freedom? Bua ko koi pareshaaninahi honi chahiye, do you ever go to Harsha Piyush’s Insta and see WHO they arevacationing with? They went to SouthAfrica and Mozambique 3 months ago…. They were on a yacht for a week…”

“Mere bache nahi hain beta who” Anubha countered

“Kya baatein ho rahi hai? Professor sahiba?” Bua huggedViveka

“Bua main abhi hiccups maarke adjunct Lecturer hui hoon….Prof will be when I turn 100” Viveka laughed throatily

Smrita Parashar was close by

“Where do you work?” she turned to ask glancing at Anubhaand Viveka like they were worms

“JNU”

“Which Department?” Smrita rolled her eyes

“School of Social Sciences, Center for Economics Studies& Planning” Viveka muttered casually

“Huh… my husband’s family was very close to Nehruji, notsure if you have heard of the princely estate of Kushalgarh, it’s a Rajputanastate” “My husband’s family has endowed millions to JNU” (without actuallyexplaining HOW a PARASHAR could be aRajput)

“that’s great… I think educational institutions in India don’tget enough generosity of large donors” Viveka was genuine

“Of all the people that love free hand outs, academics areon top of the list” Smrita cracked herself up with that biting insult

“With enough education, there wont be need for anything free”Viveka said calmly

Bua who was chatting with her female friends turned toSmrita

“Yeh hamari sabse hoshiyar bachi hai, isko to gold medal bhimila hua hai Dilli ke Economics school se, batao beta” Bua hugged her

“Bua, how about I go find Karuna, first, aapse ek secondmein baat karti hoon” “usne mujhse subah kuch maanga JNU library se, I have totell her before I forget…” Viveka excused herself politely

“Akash kidhar hain?” Anubha just turned away from Smrita andstarted walking toward the study

I AM LOVING all the comments

THANK YOU ALL for reading

I'm hoping there's a Wikham to make our Darcy jealous and Darcy's sweet sister

Exactly how is a Parashar a Rajput 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Here comes her snootiness again. She can turn her donation to the department to a personal insult to Viveka.

lovely update . Enjoy this story so much.

It's a double edged sword isn't it? The convo between raanav and viveka will remain interesting always till mankind exists. For socialism to survive, you need free markets ebabled by capitalism and to have a check on capitalism , you need redistribution of wealth through socialistic measures so that you can try chipping away at the economic inequality 😊

Say , take these undersea fiber optic cables project right. These are huge expensive projects. You need govts to sanction these projects, then you need private parties like satyen to execute these projects , to create jobs with funds majorly from the buckets contributed by us mango people of multiple countries, in this case , India and Singapore. So all systems can coexist , the goal being development as the big picture.

So what's the problem then?! The problem actually is individuals like Mrs. Parashar who are caustic and predatory like those sharks nibbling those fiber optic cables. Viveka's internal cables are shark proof though😉

Welcoming & Warning

“My daughter just slayed I think” Akash was delirious withjoy as he looked fondly out the door where Karuna and Viveka were talking, inthe front garden

“YOUR daughter huh?”

He narrated the exchange between Raanav and Viveka to his wife

“Hahaha… I think I like the fact that she loves Econ, and loves to read and sits in the arm of the chair every Sunday morning while I read a newspaper” laughed softly

“I am not sure how your sister is friends with all these people”

“Its her choice Anu”

“Oh yeah, but I wish they would stay in their lane” Anubha said cynically

“It takes all kind to make the world” he said calmly

“Veev ko bhi gussa bilkul nahi aata, I don’t know how” Anubha sighed

“Must have gone after me on that one too” he laughed

“I didn’t come here for self praise I came here to run away from Mrs Parashar and for some TLC, I am still jet lagged if u remember” Anu was grumpy

He gently rubbed her back with his finger tips

“I am sorry” “I don’t know how we got into this… not the most pleasant situation”

“I told Savi.. that one of the girls in her insta photo is her interior design client, and SHE knows Inder”

“You are sure she will not run those facts by Inder?” he questioned

“Umm.. I guess… I had to say something… though I claim to be more modern than you, I am still unable to digest she spent 3 night in another’sman’s bed”

She felt Akash’s hand drop and his body stiffen and he hissed

“Yeh to galat kiya hai isne”

“Pata nahi kaha chhupi hui hai, dikhi bhi nahi mujhe”

“I don’t think he is here”

“Aapko kaise pata?”

“Umm.. I don’t know… you are right… I guess its wishful thinking” he sighed

“I cannot look at your BIL without thinking what is going through his mind”

“I agree this was unnecessary”

“This is just so erratic on both their part”

“I guess we haven’t kept up with the times”

“Koi zaroori baat hogi tabhi aap log mooh udhar karke kharehain” Satyen joked

Anubha turned around looking confused

“Do you remember, us din mile hum?” Akash jogged her memory

Anubha pretended not to know

“Satyen Parashar Bhabhiji” Satyen greeted with joined hands

“hello” she nodded

“Arey koi baat nahi thi, bus bachi ko dekh rahe hain”

“Bachiyon ko? You mean?” Anubha winked reminding Akash Karuna was also in the yard

“OH, who AAPKI bitiya hai?”

“jee jee”

“Aajkal saree mein bache kam dikhte hain” Satyen chuckled

“Bhaisaab yeh, DSE se M Phil kar chuki hain Econ mein, JNUmein padhaati hain, inko koi grant mili hai research ke liye UGC se, IITKharagpur jaane ko keh rahin hain” Akash finished in one breath, super proud

Satyen’s eyes glittered with admiration

“Wah” he said breathlessly

Akash talked about how fortunate he was for having 4 daughters, and how they had taught him a million things about life

Anubha spoke about her biz trip loosening up purely because satyen was not a jerk

But Smrita appeared, shattering what could have been a somewhat pleasant friendship devoid of class difference

“Satya… khaakar nikalte hain bhai” she completely ignored the fact that her husband was in conversation with another couple

“Ek second, Smrita, inse milin aap? Oh sorry us din raat ko Kamal Bhaisaab ke anniversary par mile na” Saten laughed

“Hmm… YOU wanted to head home early, aapki exec assistant aur chief of staff ke 3 call aa chukey hain bhai”

“Oh haan… haan.. who… call thi raat ko 11 baje” he turned to the Mathurs

“Its getting late, if lunch guests don’t leave on time how can we have dinner?” while she was at it Smrita decided to take a pot shot at the Shrivastavs

“Achha sunen to, inki bachi… ek dum hoshiyar hai, on her wayto becoming a consequential person in Economics”

“Haan mili main” Smrita mumbled… “Shaayad”

She should not have said Shaayad, bad idea

Because Satyen stopped totally turned around and proceeded to point out Viveka, and spoke at length about her accomplishments

“I heard Satya, she is doing some fund raising” Smrita was derogatory

“No actually, she is not, you mentioned your… his family had endowed a bunch of money to JNU she commented its great that affluent peoplesupport the arts and education” Anubha corrected her coolly

“Ek hi baat hai” Smrita was exasperated

“Arey kahan, Tatas Birlas etc do so much more” Satyen was humble, “Hum to”

Smrita sensed the conversation was veering towards making her out to be middle class, she decided it was time to flee

“Chaliye to” she ordered her husband

“Hamare bade bete ki shaadi hai, ladki chun li unhoney jaisemaine bataya, hum to milte rahenge, shaadi mein aayen zaroor” Satyen requestedwith joined hands, welcoming the new friendship

“Jee Bhaisaab”

“Mujhe Saten kahen” he ordered

The women did not say goodbyes

Both wishing they would not see the other again

But sadly they would ALL congregate in the backyard in 30 minutes for dinner

They would all be seated under the gazebo in farm style low seating, as sitar played in surround sound

“kaise kar leti hain aap?” Anubha mumbled as the help spun from one meal service to another with impeccable precision

“Kabhi kabhi, roz kahan…. Kamal to kehte hain har weekendkuch kar lo” Savita was beaming

“Main Holi Diwali, Raksha bandhan, Sankranti aur Navratri bhimushkil se kar paati hoon” Anubha lamented

“To Jeejee aap job karte ho, main to bekaar hoon” said the woman worth a 1000 crores

Anubha chuckled

“Inse to hum us din bhi mile… “

“Haan jeejee yehi to hain wog fiber waale… jo cell phone kitaar laga rahe hain samandar ke neeche”

“Bataya Akash ne paper mein dekha”

“Inki Mrs bahut achhi hain” Savita claimed

“Of course she is… YOU are in her wealth range” Anubha thoughtto herself

The Mathurs were seated as a group, Naina appeared grumpy,Anubha didn’t care about it. The Parashars were being entertained by twocouples, Harsha and Piyush ate with a couple other friends and Raanav in acorner, standing, laughing joking with each other

Viveka was explaining how to get access to a journal toKaruna, their convo apparently was continuing from the garden

“You have to go put it on a waitlist, main wahan faculty to hoon nahi, mujhe khud coolie ki tarah line mein lagna padta hai” Vivekaexplained with a laugh

“YOU should get hired quick… I am sooo not wanting to do that”

“If you cant click a mouse, go stand in line when it open sat 8 AM” Viveka mocked

Raanav picked up another glass of drink and turned to walk toward his friends

His eye spotted her in the large crowd of people sitting in the low divans

She was not paying him any attention

Just bent over Karuna’s phone to look at somethings he was showing her

Anubha spotted him staring at her daughter

He met her gaze coolly before walking away

“Hes probably dejected she is not close enough for an insult”Anubha laughed

“Viveka ko kaho jaakar sunkar aur sunaakar aayegi” Akash raised a toast

The couple laughed heartily

“Ma, can I take your car and go home? You guys can return in Papa’s?” Naina grumbled

“No you may not” Anubha said with a smile

“I CAME right?”

“Naina… chillaao nahi” Anubha warned

“I am SO bored”

“She had interviews all day yeh aayi hai” Akash began

“SHE is SO specialll” Naina was being a brat

The twins started to giggle

“Shhhhh” Anubha warned as they were attracting attention

“Jeejee aur dein aapko kheer?”

“Nahi” Anubha shook her head cautiously, she didn’t want Savita eavesdropping again

“Bhayya ko aur dein kheer” she ordered her help

“I cant go home… I have nothing going on here, I am being forced” Naina hissed inaudibly

“Nainaaa…” Anubha asked her to stop

“I told ya he is not here, warna yeh itna ghar jaane kolekar utaavli nahi hoti” Akash laughed

The couple laughed at their daughter’s misery

“NOT FUNNY Ma” Naina warned

“Umm.. uh.. OK” Anubha could not contain her amusement

They finished dinner and hung out as a family, Anubha yawning

Akash cleared his throat and took Diya to find her more gulabjamun

Naina started chatting with who else? Inder on her phone

Karuna was dragged away by Harsha to see something on a friend’s phone

Only to be interrupted by Satyen Smrita and Raanav in tow

“INSE milo beta… yeh jo saree mein hain” Satyen reminded hisson

Raanav looked straight into Viveka’s bespectacled eyes

As she looked up from her phone

Anubha shifted uncomfortably wondering WHY such anintroduction was needed when they had apparently argued in the study a couplehours ago

“Raanav hai inka naam beta… aapka naam?” Satyen demanded

“Viveka” she said slowly

“Kya?” he cupped his hear and bend down “sorry, shor bahuthai”

“umm….VIVEKA.. “ she explained

“BADA pyara naam hai bhabhiji” Satyen complimented Anubha in shock

She smiled stiffly

“Were you hoping for a boy?” Smrita asked like a misogynistthat she was

“Thank God……. NO!” Anubha grit her teeth and tried hard to come up with a smile

“hello” Viveka greeted the group in general

“Mera naam Satyen hai beta, yeh hain Smrita, aur yeh Raanav”Satyen repeated "Yeh general counsel hain company mein and he also wears the hat of corporate development, you know mergers acquisitions wagairah dekhte hain," Satyen explained patiently

Viveka nodded politely, Raanav did not extend his hand and neither did she do anything to greet him

“CHALENN Satya pleez” Smrita begged "What Raanav does is too complex, it will take a loong time to explain" smrita insulted her audience by assuming they lacked intelligence

“Chalo chalo” Satyen looked at his phone distractedly not catching the jibe

“Khushi hui beta” Satyen hollered and waved walking away dragged by his impatient wife “Milenge zaroor JALDI” he promised

“thanks for the warning” Anubha muttered