Chapter 17: Socialism
"11:57,
it's 3 minutes before the date changes, yay, that means the partyyy is still
on, it's still your birthday jiji." cried an effulgent Khushi. Payal
smiled brightly at her, closing her umbrella, "Uh, careful Khushi there is
water on the floor." she cautioned. Too late, "Whoa..." Khushi
yelled as she slipped and fell on the ground on her knees and palms saving her
chin from hitting the muddy floor. A hand much larger than her was extended in
front of her, she looked up to catch Shyam's gaze resting upon her.
"So you are finally back." he said
helping her up. "Khushi are you all right?" said Payal rushing
towards her. "Y..yeah, kind of.", "I didn't see you coming
though." she said turning to Shyam. "Well I have a tendency to escape
eyes." he chuckled. Khushi stared at him blankly. "Don't look at me
like that, I was just kidding." he assured.
Khushi
nodded, "A--TISSHOOO" she sneezed.
"There
comes Sanakadevi announcing her arrival." Madhumati grumbled standing on
the door. "A--TISHHOO" Khushi sneezed on her face, earning herself a
slap on the back. "Ouch, Buaji..."
Madhumati
glared at her, raising both her eye brows and placing her hands on her hips,
"Tell me one thing, when Siyam babua was coming to fetch you, what was the
need to hop into your boss' car?"
"Buaji
that wasn't my boss, that was..."
"Haye re
Nandkissore..." Madhumati whined slapping her forehead, "then who was
that man? Look Khusee, for the time you are living with me, BEHAVE YOUR
SELF!" Khushi made a face ignoring her aunt's remark and ran behind Payal
who took the cake out from refrigerator. "Hurry jiji, 50 seconds to go...
Chocolate!" she exclaimed licking her lips, "thank you so much Shyamji."
"Stop
hanging out your tongue like a puppy, roll it in!" said Madhumati
peevishly. Khushi lit a matchstick that was extinguished the next moment by her
king sized sneeze. "Arree sassuri cannot do one thing properly."
Madhumati complained.
"It's
all right give it to me." said Shyam.
"Haan
babua, you do it."
"A--TISSHOO"
****
"A-TISHOO...
excuse me" Arnav sneezed into the napkin. "God bless you." said
Anjali softly taking a fresh dry towel from the valet, who stood with three
more in his hands. She patted her younger brother's almost-dry-by-now hair
further dry with the towel, while her brother sat in his recliner, sulking.
"May I
know what inspired you to go for a rain dance tonight?" she asked in her
affectionate, mock angry tone. Arnav did not reply, the bickering of two women outside the door
was clearly audible inside the room, it became clearer as Devyani Raizada
entered his room, "I will make hot honey milk for my grandson, to keep cold
away from him." she said clearing her throat.
"At
least you should know that Arnav doesn't like either of milk and honey."
Manorma Raizada remarked sharply from behind her, "I'll make ginger tea
for my nephew, that helps more in cold." Arnav pinched between his
eyebrows, sighing.
"You
Manorma?" Devyani shook her head, "have you stepped in the kitchen
ever since you brought your useless self to this family? Your mother sent her
spoilt girl to my house." Manorma glared at her mother in law, "Hello
hi bye bye! Telling lies Johnny! I mean M-I-L, when I came to this house, you
had only one servant. My mother cried when she saw me cook!" she groaned.
"No, we
cried when we ate the food you cooked." Devyani moaned, "That's why I
tell you to stay out of this, I can take care of my kids, you take care of your
son."
"My son
was not the one to get drenched in rain." Manorma retorted, "It's my
nephew who needs my care right now." Arnav rolled his eyes.
"He's
healthier and happier without your care Manorma! Anjali tell your mami to leave
this room."
"Right"
Manorma scowled, folding her arms, "so that you handle him just as well as
you handled an upset Anjali today?"
Arnav jerked
up from the recliner, concern evident on his face, "What happened to you
Di? Why were you upset?"
"Why
wouldn't she be upset when neither her brothers nor her husband attended the Ratna - Genius Girl Scholarship she
organized today?" Devyani said chidingly. Anjali's face fell.
"Di was
Jijaji supposed to come today?" asked Arnav.
"Yes he
was." Manorma chimed in, "but as usual, an absent was marked for dearesht
son-in-law."
"He says
his stay in Mumbai has been extended by another week." said a disappointed
Anjali.
"Oh
c'mon Di, stop behaving like that, he must be busy and it's not like his
unavailability makes a big difference. He already calls you like what, four
times a day?" Arnav teased. Anjali glowered dropping the towel in her hand
on the recliner.
"You men
are just..." she marched out of the room.
"Arnav,
I'll ask you the last time, my honey milk or your mami's whatever she plans to
make for you." Devyani inquired.
"Nothing,
please..." Arnav protested, "Stop fussing over me, it's not like I'm
catching pneumonia."
****
Khushi
snorted loudly gobbling a huge slice of cake. "Mmm...jiji there is
something for you." she said smacking her lips, picking her tote, she took
out the dopatta Akash had given her, "Surprise, surprise...your
gift."
Payal jumped
in delight grabbing the delicate fabric, "Wow, how did you know that I
loved this dopatta?" she said, her eyes lighting up, "You know this
one is exactly the same as the one I had seen on display that day..."
Khushi hadn't seen her sister so happy in days. "You know Khushi, I didn't
buy it for it was quite expensive, but you got it for me! Thank you so much
little sis."
"Jiji...actually
I didn't find time to get anything for you, this dopatta...well my sir gave me
this for you." Khushi told her honestly. Payal gaped at her and then
stared disbelievingly at the dopatta folding it, "You mean Arnav Singh
Raizada gave this to you?" she gasped.
Khushi
slapped her forehead," Offo jiji, don't take the name of that Laad
Governor. He cannot do such a thing in hundred lives, Akash sir gave me this,
you know the guy who dropped me home. He's a real gem."
Shyam Manoher
Jha's hands fiddled feverishly with the pen he was holding, hearing the name.
Payal
floundered a little and then with a mischievous grin distanced the dopatta from
herself, "Tell me, is this Akash guy as good looking as your boss?"
Khushi
puckered her nose, cringing at the question although it was intended with
humor, "Jiji, he's much better than that Laad Governor in every possible way. Only that I always
have this feeling to take off his specs and run away."
"Only
you can have that feeling Khushi." said Payal blushing all of a sudden. A
vague image of a boyishly charming guy hadn't turned into oblivion yet. Of late
even Madhumati's thick glasses somehow reminded her of a fleeting encounter
with that guy, two days back. Payal was a very reserved person, she barely
spoke and especially with strangers but that particular guy had been different,
she had ended up behaving like Khushi in his presence, speaking whatever came
to her head. She blushed again recalling his words, Please say something...anything, he was so adorable that even she couldn't
be herself and ignore. She walked to her room, avoiding her sister's gaze, if
Khushi caught her cheeks colored, she sure wouldn't let her sleep the entire
night.
Shyam
fidgeted with the doubt nibbling at his mind, "Khushi?" he said in a
low tone.
"Yes?"
"That
man...I mean the man who dropped you home, do you work under him?" he
asked trying to sound normal.
"No
Shyamji." Khushi sighed licking her chocolate smudged finger, "I wish
I did. Unlucky me, I am stuck with that ASR."
"Oh, I
see." he said, an abstruse look befallen over his face. Khushi stifled a
yawn, "I am so sleepy that I can sleep till my death" she said
stretching her arms over her head. Shyam smiled even at her yawning face.
****
The antique
grandfather's clock, formerly owned by Robert Clive struck 12:30 at night in
the Raizada Mansion, but sleep had yet again decided to elude the proud owner.
Arnav Singh Raizada ambulated in his room, holding a cup of whichever of honey
milk or ginger tea it was, regardless of nature, the contents of the cup were
now stone cold. It was a well known and established fact that of all the things
that came easy to Raizada, anger was the easiest. He grabbed his phone, speed
dialing, knowing that the receiver would only be happy to receive his call at
this unholy hour.
"Hello
ASR?" said the husky voice of a woman.
"Lavanya
send me Khushi Kumari Gupta's number and address. Now." he ordered.
"What?
ASR, are you going to call her at this hour of night?" she asked, skeptic
of what she had just heard.
"Do what
you have been told to." he said sharply.
"Don't
you think you are giving too much importance to that frivolous employee?"
"Enough
Lavanya. Number."
He put the
cup down on the table, "Jai Prakash!" he screamed. The sleepy valet
appeared on the door, rubbing his eyes. "Take this away." he said
pointing at the untouched beverage, "and get me some black coffee."
The servant nodded and disappeared with the job. ASR's phone beeped with the
message, his lips pursed in sadistic pleasure, "Do you plan to sleep Ms Gupta?"
he muttered under his breath.
"Chalo Maiyya ke bhawan bhawan bhawan"
blared into his ears making him jerk away the earpiece as soon as he had dialed
the number.
The same song
played the role of the girl's ring tone. Madhumati glowered at the phone and
then at the wall clock with a broken glass. "Nandkissore who calls you
this late at night?"
"Must be
amma babuji" giggled Khushi.
"Hello, I was waiting for your phone, you
aren't asleep yet? I was just going to sleep, I would have missed your phone.
You won't believe I just managed to come on time, my boss is such a rotten
piece of..." she rambled without a pause, without thinking or even caring to
check the number.
"What?"
breathed a flabbergasted ASR.
"Arre
who is it Nandkissore? Your Amma Babuji have already called four times today,
whom are you blabbering with?"
Khushi pulled
the phone away from her ears, realization dawning at the leisurely pace it
assumed often with poor Ms Gupta. "Don't know Buaji, doesn't seem like Babuji."
she said putting it against her ears again.
"Is your
mouth done spewing gibberish?" he barked.
Her
eyeballs bulged, "I...its y...you."
"Make
use of your ears now and listen. You'd be receiving a bunch of reports shortly
that need to be typed by you. I want the work completed by the morning, I don't
care how you do it, and whether you sit typing the entire night is up to you. I
want my work done. Do you understand?"
"But sir
how will I..."
"I'd be
sending my driver with all the requisites. I need the reports at 7:00 am
sharp."
"Ok,
I'll do it, tell your driver to come and take the reports in the
morning..."
"My
driver is not your servant." he snapped, "You will personally deliver the reports at my residence. You get
it?" The line went dead before she could say anything else.
****
The parcel
delivered at 00:50 am, at 'Chandan Kothi', Sector E, Lakshmi Nagar consisted of
two bulky folders- one stuffed with printed pages and other with pages to be
printed and a rather tall briefcase. The briefcase felt too heavy to carry a
laptop, too small to carry a desktop computer; in either case the probability
of a printer inside was nil.
Khushi opened
the latches somewhat thrilled; aghast when the creaky device was revealed to
her. Her first question was, were such things still in existence? They sure
were but where did ASR get this one from. Her generation had seen vintage
mechanical typewriters only in museums, she wasn't sure about ASR's generation
though.
"What's
this?" gasped Payal.
"Adam's
personal computer which Eve brought as dowry." Khushi replied turning to
her sister, "My boss is all set to impress me with his sense of
humor." she said with no humor in her voice.
Next twenty
minutes were spent in figuring out how the typewriter would work by the
sisters. Shyam had gone upstairs to his room before the parcel had arrived and
Madhumati after grumbling what kind of
work was her niece doing and downing one jug of water had retired to bed.
The sisters
soon discovered that F, J, R, C, I, P, S, G, A keys had to be pressed five to
six times to produce the desired effect.
It was an
hour before Payal dozed off, with reasonable might she forced her eyelids to
open and head back on the page she was dictating to her sister, a few words
getting drowned in her yawn. Khushi looked apologetically at her sister,
"You leave it Jiji, go and sleep, I'll do it."
"No
Khushi its okay, umm, where were we?" she said looking confused at the
open page and then at Khushi, "Is it so important to complete this in one
night?"
Khushi
nodded, "If I don't, then tomorrow, that Laad Governor will do a break
dance over my tiny head!"
"Hmm. Sixty percent of the investment in human
resource..."Payal began.
"Jiji,
that was the previous para," Khushi said placing her hand over the file,
"Jiji, It's okay, you can go and sleep, if you end up making sleepy
mistakes, I'll be done. I can do it, it's my headache after all."
"Are you
sure?"
"Yeah,
good night."
"I am
sorry I am unable to help you," said Payal getting up from the chair, she
placed her hand over her sister's shoulder, "please wake me up if you need
any kind of help, okay?"
"Sure."
****
The lawyer
closed the case sheet, his client's case was weak. He had to brace himself for
another loss but that wouldn't mean any loss in his clientele for he was the
only hope of the class of people he dealt with. He glanced across the table to
find the jug of water empty, he got up and headed downstairs to get a refill.
His heart fluttered
the moment he saw her, her tired eyes switching between an open file and
apparently a fifty year old typewriter. "You are still up?" he found
himself asking her.
She looked at him with a start, "Oh
Shyamji, yeah I am. Got work to do."
Shyam pulled
the chair next to her, "What sort of work is this?" he said looking
with disgust at the pile of pages and the creaky machinery. Khushi forced a
weak smile to her lips, "It's like that only. ASR makes me do strange
things and I don't have much of a choice." she said ruefully, "you
see I have signed a contract with him."
"What?
What contract? Khushi is he troubling you?" he asked concerned.
"Not much
that I can't handle. It's okay, really."
Shyam
appeared disconcerted, "I am sorry I got you into all this." he said
finally, "I am ashamed, Khushi I didn't know you were going to..."
"Shyamji?
Why are you saying sorry, you only tried to help me."
"If you
want I can find another job for you..."
"Oh no,
if I have started something I will complete it. And good or bad, work is
work." she said cheering up.
"But
Arnav Singh Raizada...?"
"You
know him?" she asked surprised.
"Unfortunately
yes."
"Of
course, so stupid of me to ask. He is the kind of rich and famous people whom
everybody seems to know." she muttered, "I wonder sometimes what he
has done to deserve all that money."
"Or
wealth accumulated at the cost of somebody else's blood and sweat." said
Shyam bitterly. Khushi looked at him as if waiting for an explanation to what
he had just said, "That's what all capitalists do Khushi, haven't you
heard, behind every big fortune there is
a crime."
"Is
capitalism a crime?"
"Not to
those who reap benefits from it, in fact in today's scenario most support it
for it empowers those who are already in power and weakens those who could be a
possible threat to this power. Look how labor unions are not let to survive,
how the labor class are used and misused against each other. They form a
vicious circle, the plutocracy, the rich and influential business lobbies,
together they make it impossible for workers to have a say or right over what
they produce." he said tearing his gaze away from her at the wall in front
of him, his eyes becoming lifeless for a moment remembering the charred body of
his brother...his mind drifting back to the memories of a night, where for once
he had felt the lust for money and then they had been shown the reality. His
brother was used and thrown away, burned away, a life discarded like bone from
meat...and the one responsible for it remained unscathed. Dheerendra Mallik remained unscathed...
"Are you
all right?" said Khushi placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Huh? Of
course, absolutely." he said recovering fast, "I think I should help
you with this, what about me dictating."
"I don't
think it's a good thing to bother you, you must be tired too and this is
basically..."
"Basically
I am used to stay up till late at night, my senses are more alert during
night." he said chuckling.
Khushi
laughed, "Wow I got company, I can stay up as long as I wish at night, but
getting up in morning is such a pain, by the way Shyamji, suppose you had
Raizada's money, what would you do with it?"
"My
dream come true," Shyam grinned, "I guess I'll donate most of it, but
keep a handsome amount for myself. You see I can't survive all my life on UP
government's scholarship and the people who approach me with their cases are
usually the ones who can't afford a better lawyer. I don't even ask them for
remuneration!"
Khushi looked
at him with new found respect, "I know what you are, you are a
commu...como" she scratched her head for the word.
"Communist?
Not really, I am a socialist; somebody who just wants equality and opportunity
for all."
"What's
the difference anyway...listen I have an idea, let's make a team and rob Arnav
Singh Raizada of all his money. I think he has enough to sustain this city. We
all can then have equality and opportunity, for example I'll open a huge jalebi
production plant and all those who work with me will get equal shares of jalebi
and profit if any. How does that
sound?" she said widely grinning and bouncing her eyebrows at him. To her
surprise he actually heard her with utmost seriousness. Khushi laughed hard
looking at his face, "Oh c'mon I was just joking" she laughed harder
clutching the handle of her chair. Shyam ran a finger through his hair, he
slowly began to smile, resting his elbow on the table, his fingers still in his
hair, he gaped at her. The lawyer had experienced infatuation before,
attraction before but that wasn't comparable to what he felt right now. Her
sonorous laughter had begun to ring in his life, he was gradually feeling her
closer to himself, he needed this 'Khushi' for life...
Khushi
clapped her hands in front of his eyes, "Where are you lost again, Mr.
advocate of the poor?"
"Uh,
no...nowhere." he said abashed.
"You
wanted to help me right?" said Khushi mischievously, "Get me a cup of
tea then."
"Tea at
this time?"
"Yes."
"Sure."
he said getting up from the chair, Khushi grabbed his hand, pulling him back to
his chair, "Wait, you don't have to, why do you take me so
seriously?" she exclaimed laughing again. "Although I love one sugary
chai at night but I am not gonna ask you for it."
"Why
not? Because I am an incompetent lawyer doesn't mean I am an incompetent
cook." he assured.
The tea was
brilliant and to her taste. The three cups that she had of it along with their
nonstop chatter made the night almost bearable. It was mostly her talking and
him listening and dictating from the notes. By 5:30 in the morning her finger
tips were swollen but the job had been completed, she even took a half an hour
nap. She couldn't afford more, she had to deliver the report at 7:00 and Vasant
Vihar was the opposite corner of the city. Shyam had too gone to bed, his
hearing was at twelve noon and the court was barely a two minute walk.
****
Edited by cineraria - 9 years ago
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