No joy in harmony; no harmony in joy
They were home around midnight, she got to swing gently after most guests had returned
Sam took 10s of pictures, she held Lasya too.
She complained she had made "no arrangements" like Amma for Ganesh Chaturthi
Sam called Sitaraman and hired him at whatever price he quoted
Asked him for a Iyer pandit and commissioned him all without II's knowledge
Sam brought rasmalai for her, Ranjan slept in one of the ground floor bedrooms
Sam woke him up when R&B and II set out to leave
II held his hand as he stumbled on Sam's drive way "U should sit here, hum car laayenge" she offered in her own husky sleep drugged voice
"Na bache na" he admonished
"we both are wobbly we should hold hands" she smiled
He held her hand warmly, nodding, still disoriented
They walked together slowly as it began to drizzle
Tan's help brought out umbrellas and a bag of "food to go"
Sam was with Lasya, Shravu was sent home, Nandu was in bed
Her in laws didnt bother wishing them or seeing them off, Ranjan falling from grace 5 years ago
Sam teared up when she noticed such subtle aloofness, intended to hurt, mainly orchestrated by her MIL
Tan and his Dad behaved like Ranjan never did anything wrong
There were too many cars in the slippery drive way to be able to bring R&B's Jaguar in.
Ranjan left his car at Shanti Niketan
He offered to sit in the back since R&B's car was twin door only
II smiled and shoved the seat forward and got in
"SO many books" she complained
He looked at her through the rear view mirror and chuckled
"Veetla oru library porada da? Enge paathalum books" (Isnt a library at home enough for you? There is books every where)
"these are ones Ive read" he muttered looking at her thru the mirror
Ranjan smiled "Usko qitaabon ke bagair neend nahi aati, gaadi bhi nahi chalti shaayad"
He looked at his Dad and chuckled as if he were saying "Very funny!!"
He drove slowly in the rain, getting them home in 20 minutes.
Mahavir was "outside" smoking?
R&B half smiled... he waved for help
II's bags, the books, and the leftover food were all handed to Minion
They went up and II curled up on the couch again... mumbling
Got up stretched and changed, returned to bed
He came in 20 minutes later. Did what he usually did
Finally rolling her over, sideways... these days... on his chest
"I cant believe I am saying this" "Did u have to speak so much??"
He threw back his head and laughed at her cynical cackle
He hugged her tight, she curled up like a kitten, asleep again, forgetting the fact that for the first time in two weeks? she hadnt thrown up her dinner
Thursday, Ganpati dawned bright and clear, she woke at 8 ish, dude still asleep face down when she removed his arm from across her belly
"Watch kazhatta maateya raatri?" she whispered kissing him on his lips (dont u take off ur watch)
"I dont want to be late to where I am heading" he responded
"Toonginde kooda... paduthu nee" (u just torment me even while asleep)
Went down to find the ground floor decked with floral strings and the pandit busy sprinting back and forth from mandir to the kitchen
Sitaraman was busy cooking up a storm... she was almost embarrassed to enter the kitchen
Ranjan did yoga in the backyard waved to her, it still drizzled a bit
It was a gorgeous.. moist day
When she sat down she felt a warm bulge over her thigh under her skinny tee
"Oh! God!!"
REALLY?
I SHOULD GO UP AND LOOK
The gate creaked open, she set the Economics Times down, it was Chachu, walking in hurriedly
She remembered about the strike and quickly shoved the 10s of newspapers in the lounge to see if it had made front page news
"Nope!1"
EVERYONE loves a scandal, crisis, disaster, unrest and discord
Nobody cares for harmony...
"Huh" she chuckled when she read "Excelsior labor strike ends" More on Page 8...
And the "More" was a slim 5.5 inch by 2 inch column between Mulayam and Laloo
The embattled CEO Ranjan reached an agreement with his labor union according to our correspondent
When we went into press, the details were slowly being "leaked", some of which include, better health care for retirees
and higher bonueses for workshop floor workers certified by Maruti, under "Licensed Auto Dealership Employee" or LADE Program.
As if SOMEHOW relevant to the strike, the end para was
"Five years ago Excelsior CEO Ranjan Bhalla was involved in a scandal connected to his assistant Beenu Kumar,
a sting operation found Mr Bhalla in a compromising situation at one of Delhi's leading 5 star hotels"
AYYO!!!! II shed invisible tears
"Aur betaaa kaise ho" Harish walked in asked removing his sun glasses
II was embarrased to be in her navy striped jammies and a tee...she was startled,
she assumed he would just go straight in or go upstairs to the office to find his "bhaisaab"
THANK GOD IT HAS SLEEVES
AYYO!!!
"Hi!" she smiled warmly
Getting up to go get chai for him
"Arey NAMASTE kidhar hai puttar" he demanded
She smiled
"Sorry namaste" she smiled
"Strike khatam hoya. Sam ne Teej manayi... mainu kisi ne vi nahi daseya?" he demanded with a fake smile
Ranjan walked in with a coffee
"Harish, tu kadi aaya" he asked
"PAISAAB... iini vaddi khush khabri... khabar di aadi jimmewari meri haigi... tey feer vee, kisi ne mainnu nahi daseya"
Nobody told me...
IKI squirmed nervously
"Baith baith... beta he helped me figure stuff out with the union" Ranjan informed, II
Ii smiled nodding nervously "Ofcourse"
R&B wandered over with coffee
"Tu vi hai, cholo changa jee... Dada ban ne ki khushi mujhe nahi?" he asked R&B
He sipped slowly
"Na chachi ko invite kiya na bachon nu... na batayi khush khabri" Harish ranted
Ii sat down over the newspapers...
Sitaraman peeked
"Ghar pe mehmaan aaye?"
II shook her head
"Woh aapki side ki kapdon mein kaun hai??" Harish displayed some serious prejudice, as if he had never seen Sitaraman before
comment:
p_commentcount