Chapter 18
Devious Plans for Sinister Ends
(December 31, 1980…)
(Army Cantonement, Rourkee…)
"Maan bhai should
get married now."
"As you wish
O-beautiful-one, point me the damsel you have chosen as the bride and I shall kidnap
her and bind her to my best mate for life."
"Ki bolchi tummi
Teji? [What are you saying Teji?]" Anupama whacked her husband on his arm that
was squeezing her waist playfully in plain sight of the whole club to see. "Be
serious, you are not paying attention to me!"
"Meri laado-rani,"
he twirled her in tune with the music, "oye meri pyaari Pammi, tere te nahi
taan horr kehde te dhyaan hai mera? [If not you, then who else holds my
attention?] " He tugged her closer to emphasize his point.
"Direct some of your
keen attention on your friend too darling hubby."
"Why? What happened
to Maan?" Tejbir turned his attention towards Maan. It was the New Year's bash
at the Officer's Club. The game of tambola had just got over and the officers
and their families were now enjoying their cocktails and dances. Maan was
standing in a corner with few senior and immersed in a serious conversation. "He
looks fine to me."
"It's a club night
and Maan bhai is standing so serious with the seniors. How boring is that? He
should be dancing, mingling with the young crowd…"
"Oh Pammi," Tejbir
interrupted, "you know Maan doesn't dance at all. As for being serious and
boring, Maan respects his seniors a lot and always likes to indulge in
intellectual conversations. The guy seeks knowledge like a moth seeks a flame.
And that is what makes him one of the wittiest people I have ever known. Why
just few minutes ago he was conducting the tambola with his bag full of jokes
and anecdotes. The whole ante-room was in splits. Don't worry so much about
him. He is fine the way he is."
"You men are so
daft!" Anupama gave an exasperated sigh and walked off the floor, followed by a
pouty Tejbir. "Whatever it is, Maan bhai still needs to get married. He can't
spend his life alone."
"He will get married
when the time is right, why are you getting so worked up about it?"
"When?" Anupama
snapped. "If you leave it to him, he will never get married. Darjee would not
pressure him against his wishes and Maan would not marry a girl of Chaiyyiji's
choice. We must do something."
"Alright! Maan needs
to get married and we are the only ones who can do something. So what do you
suggest we do?"
"Tomake onek bhalobasi [Love you so much]!!"
Anupama squealed at Tejbir's acquiescence. "We should find a girl from our Army
circle. Someone educated, sophisticated, graceful in her manners…"
"Ah! A clone of you
my love…"
"Tumi ekdom pagol [You are mad]," she
mock-glared at Tejbir, secretly flattered though. "I was thinking, how about
Rasika?"
"Col. Rathore's
daughter?"
"Yes," Anupama
agreed, "what do you think? The girl is of independent thinking, speaks well,
she is elegant in the way she carries herself. I have never seen her to be
clumsy or careless. But I have seen her having intelligent conversations with
Maan a few times. Infact she is one of the few single girls I have seen Maan
talking to except the wives of his colleagues."
"Well that is
because rest of the single girls are below the age of fourteen," Tejbir
sniggered, "Maan uncle is their favorite though. Rasika is the only 22 year old
single girl in our Regiment."
"Whatever, it still
sounds a good match to me. She sounds perfect for Maan. And the Rathores really
admire him. Col. Rathore always seeks Maan's opinion even though he is a mere
Captain in the unit. And Mrs. Rathore adores him. We should do something. Maybe
bring them closer. Throw them in each other's company more often. And then if
Maan shows any interest in Rasika, we can push the idea further."
"Ok fine, as you wish. But be subtle about it.
And don't expect me to influence him. It should be Maan's decision all the way.
And one more thing…"
"Bolo…"
"Maan would leave
for his RSO course* in the
first week of February. Whatever is your plan put it to execution after he
comes back."
"Aye aye Captain.
Anything else you wish from me?"
"A lot," he leaned
forward and whispered in her ears huskily, "so how about we cut the party short
and welcome the New Year in our way."
As the couple made
their way through the crowd, a female emerged from the shadows. She was full of
glee to find that she would now have accomplices in her mission. Poor things
did not know that she had her eyes on their friend from the very beginning. She
has befriended and tolerated this foolish couple only for the sake of her goal.
No one could stop her now.
Rasika Rathore would
soon be Mrs. Maan Singh Khurana.
**********************************************************************
(January 1, 1981…)
(Ahmedabad…)
"So no loopholes? No
weak links?"
"Nothing!" Harman
Oberoi relaxed on the couch, "why do you think me and Meha have resigned to the
fact. The first part of the will has to be executed. We can't stop Vardaan to
get his share."
"Scones anyone?"
Meha came in with a tray of refreshments. "Its so annoying, isn't it? We are
the Oberois. We can summon the best legal help with a snap of fingers. But we
can't defeat a single clause in the will. Our mother-in-law was one shrewd
lady, right Usneek bhabhi?" Meha took her place next to her husband and snuggled
close to Harman. "Now I know where our husbands get their business acumen from.
I really wish there was something we could do. We can't stop Vardaan anymore I
am afraid."
Sartaaj Oberoi and
his wife Usneek gave each other a knowing look. Sartaaj leaned forward in a
determined stance. "But we can twist our way around the second part of the
clause. All we need, is to ensure that the girl he marries is of our choosing."
"And for that,"
Usneek spoke up, "we would have to be nice to our little devar, take him in our
confidence, show him how much his family loves him," she sneered.
"Aww, do we have
to?" Meha pouted like a brat.
"Consider this as
lesser of the two evils, darling wife."
Meha consider the
idea thoughtfully. "Hmm…"
The Oberois were a
rich Punjabi family settled in Gujarat past two generations. Rich because they
were shrewd businessmen who pursued their profits with a zeal. The riches of Mr.
Oberoi had made the elder two sons so accustomed to their positions that they
eyed their new-born brother, 12 years younger than Sartaaj and 10 years younger
than Harman, as a liability rather than a blessing. It did not help when the
babe became the favorite of their parents, who treated this unplanned pregnancy
as a boon. He was, thus, named Vardaan.
With the passing
away of their father, the running of the business became the responsibility of
a 22 year old Sartaaj and 20 year old Harman. And the ten year Vardaan, simply
grew cocooned in the love and care of their mother. Not used to being
responsible for the money they spent like water, Sartaaj and Harman resented
the fact that the young Vardaan had it easy. For them he was the leech who was
sucking their blood.
And that is how they
treated him when Mrs. Oberoi passed away. The mother knew her sons the best.
And she knew that her little boy would be prey to vultures if left unprotected.
So the will came into being. The business and the house was divided into two
equal parts between Sartaaj and Harman to appease their greed. And Vardaan was
left with two protective clauses.
The first clause
stipulated a trust in his name, to look after his growth and education. A small
amount was released each month to meet any bill and expenses incurred on his
behalf. But the moment he was to reach the age of 25, he would be awarded the
complete trust fund including every profit the trust had earned in his name.
The second clause
went a step ahead. Every propert, every asset, liquid or otherwise, which was
apart from the family business was left in the name of the first child Vardaan
would father.
This was the only
way Mrs. Oberoi could make sure that Vardaan too enjoys the fruits of his
father's success and a position equal to his brothers without being accussed of
snatching the business and its assets from them. By doing this, she could
atleast ensure that Vardaan has a family of his own and would lead a
comfortable life till his child is born. Because the inheritence if not
released in the name of Vardaan's child, would go to charity. And that would
mean a loss as great as loosing the family business. That was how huge the
inheritence was.
Because even if
Sartaaj and Harman did manage to snatch the inheritence from Vardaan's child,
he atleast would have a wife to share his life with, a child to take his name
forward. And her Vardaan would be left alone to wither away in the streets of
Ahmedabad.
But for the
brothers, and their spouses, even this was not acceptable. For them, they had
no younger brother Vardaan. Only a liability left by their mother.
"So this New Year,
we will plot and plan our way to get what should have been rightfully ours,"
Meha chirped.
Yes, we will. The four concurred menatlly.
**********************************************************************
(January 15, 1981…)
(Khalsa College, Amritsar…)
"Hi Geet."
Geet looked up from
her books to find Ruby, one of her classmates standing before her. She had her
hair done up in a bouffant style like the actress Sharmila Tagore but stood
like the vamp Bindu. Wearing a bell-bottoms of indecently tight fitting and a
top with such a low neck that left nothing to imagination. She was one of the
snobs of her class, a late admittance from Bombay. Geet liked to keep away from
her. Firstly, Geet had the company of her sisters and Pari in college. And she
did not like the way Ruby always hung around with boys. Not that Geet judged
her on those grounds. Each to his own. But she liked to keep away. But whenever
Ruby smiled at Geet whenever they passed each other, Geet always responded the
same way. Thus, Geet was one of the few girls Ruby spoke to, that was whenever
she needed notes or get some help during exams.
"Hi Ruby," she
smiled back.
"May I sit with you
today Geet?"
"Umm…sure…" She
moved to make space for Ruby.
"I hope it is fine
with you," Ruby asked smilingly sweetly.
Geet shrugged, "I
thought you liked sitting on the last benches only."
"It gets very lonely
there Geet. And being the only girl who sits do far back, I have started to
feel very odd."
"So why don't you sit
here, in the front?"
"Oh! All the girls
are mostly paired up. Initially when I came, none of them would even talk to me…"
"But Ruby, every
girl of our class is very sweet. I am sure if you spoke to them…"
"I tried Geet," Ruby
spoke sadly, "but you wouldn't have noticed. You always run off to your sisters
the moment you get free. No one likes me. The girls don't understand me. The
find me too forward. But Geet, how is it my fault. In Bombay, everyone is like
this."
"Oh…"
"Geet," Ruby looked
on pleading, "will you please be my friend? Atleast stay with me in the class. Please!"
"Alright," Geet
replied hesitantly. How bad could that
be? As it is, I only have to give her company in the class. Once the class is
over I will run back to my sisters.
The class started
soon after this and came to an end after forty minutes. Geet ran off to meet
her sisters, promising to sit with Ruby in the next class too. And Ruby made
her way to the back of the corridor to meet someone.
"So what did she
say?"
"Nothing much," Ruby
shrugged.
"What? Didn't you
talk to her?"
"Ofcourse I spoke to
her. Spoke sweetly to her. Befriended her."
"Then when can I
talk to her?"
Ruby rolled her eyes
at his impatience, "Hold your horses cousin. Today was the first step. Let me take the
friendship forward. Make her accept me. Take her into my confidence…"
"But…"
"Look," Ruby cut
him, "if we make a wrong move we will never be successful. Your impatience will
cost you your chance."
"Don't worry Rahul.
Soon you will have your Geet with you," she replied with a smirk.
**********************************************************************
*RSO course – a staff course done by junior officers of the Regiment.
Btw...just to make it clear, in the first part its not Teji and Pammi who are plotting but Rasika. Pammi is just keen to see Maan married.
And if you have not caught it, Pammi speaks Bengali.
PMs later and Maaneet moments later😆
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