Possibilities
Naina continued her phone liaison, and Diya applied to HugoBoss, and Viveka applied to IIT Kharagpur for the Research Program. Anubha gotready to travel to a management training program in Kent Ireland, at their HQ
Things were tense, but kind of returning to normal at theMathur home.
“Bua brought her entire crazy and I still kept it together”Viveka muttered still smarting from the giant embarrassment of the publicauctioning event
Harsha and her met for lunch and he appeared apologetic soshe did not roast him much
“Maine Ma ko kaha yaar you would not enjoy such an event”
“Its Bua” Its OK” Viveka managed to say politely
Her Papa and Savita were real close. Kamal was an amazingBIL there was little to fault in that relationship despite Dadi’s frequentmischief making.
Dadi and Dadu were coming over, for summer
Anubha didn’t like it much
She was OK with FIL, MIL was… umm.. lets say… MIL
With 4 daughters Anubha didn’t exactly “earn” any badge ofhonor
Dadi reminded her too
At 75, she was able and active and nosy
Anubha tried to get on the September list for the training,but her boss the Director of Prd Engineering at the compressor divisioninsisted that she go now
She wasn’t about to throw a fit and quit over such stupidthings
“It’s a matter of 5 days… you will be back, you can enjoyAmma’s company for 3 more months” Akash joked, as he sprayed water from hisglass on her
“Enjoy it, sure… I wish my parents were mean to you”
“Yeh shaqal dekhi tumne? I am the epitome of good looks,good nature and good husbandry”
She laughed until her belly hurt, when he used “husbandry”deliberately to make her laugh
“Ma… if they call me to do prescreening, can Papa take mesince you wont let me go alone?” Viveka strapped her Titan Raga in bottle greenstrap around her wrist
She had many watches and many more straps, like she hadmany eye glasses with different color frames (all with somewhat loose frames)
She wasn’t jumping on the iWatch bandwagon, despite beingoffered as Bday gifts the last 10 years
All the other kids had everything hi tec
“I love your saree beta”
“I know… I bought from this women’s coop… I ACTUALLY get tolook at it at the loom”
She wore a bottle green Chanderi cotton with a pink blouse
“Glasses nahi pehani?”
“Nahi… mujhe green nahi mili, so I am going to go rebel andwear blue… bag mein hai”
She set out her things the night before on the living roomdivan… in her large leather tote, in winter a gorgeous silk scarf lay knottedon the strap usually
“Ma ne permission de di to zaroor lekar jaayenge aapko”
“This is not Jaipurwith a boy she better give me permission”
“Naina better not be planning anything” Anu threw theserving ladle back in the poha with a bang
“I will attach a radio collar” Viveka promised
“I am happy she stopped talking about him” Anu sighed
Viveka shifted awkwardly
“Kar rahi hai baat?” Akash caught her
“I don’t know actually” Viveka didn’t speak the truthneither did she lie
“dadi will be here, she will nail her head to the wall ifshe doesn’t come home on time… mere se jo nakhre kar lete ho tum log who nahikar paogey”
“Isko kyon kos rahi ho?”
“I am generally exhausted”
“Save some energy Ma, Bua will have daily poojas and sh—” Vivekatwitched her lips
“zaroor beta, aur aapko baithna padega stage mein”
“The next time she pulls that stunt I am going to just getin the car and drive off”
Then they talked about what the plans were if Viveka gotaccepted
“To theek hai na, chali jaayegi, jab Harsha ki shaadi tayho jaayegi she can come back, its not Antarctica”
“Who theek hai… I am not saying that… I am just saying ifshe is serious about Abhishek when your parents are here should we talk tothem?”
“NO… NO WAY…. NO WAY” viveka got up immediately
“Kya matlab?”
“I met him two months ago?” “I cant get married to him,this is insane”
“I am not asking you to”
“Ma…. It looks to me like since she is going to be here forHarsha’s potential ladki dekho, engagement etc… even a Mathur girl has to havesome event”
“No betaaa…. Baitho” Anubha was frustrated
“I seriously don’t get you guys…. Abhi main 10 din se kehrahi hoon, I don’t want to get married I don’t want to be paraded”
“You should have waited until she left for work” Akash wasnot happy
“Haan secretly iski shaadi ki tayyari karte hum?”
“I am not saying that Anu…. Viveka ki shaadi ki baat rehnedete hain”
“I brought him home out of politeness and respect to youguys… not because I want you guys to tell Dadi and start talking about it”
“If you bring him back home Dadi WILL ASK” akash was airritated
“I WONT” Viveka shrugged
“Tum bhi Naina ki tarah karogi?”
“I cannot possibly marry a man I have hardly known for twomonths”
“Tum dhoond lo… no worries tum dhoond lo, 5 saal aur, USBerkeley PhD jaisa jumhe koi milne waala nahi hai”
Anu was certain
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