Chapter 1 :
Watch out
for the O' Bros
As the sun showered its last
sharp hues of vermilion, orange and gold for the day, before immersing itself
into the high sea; the birds flying high up in the sky realised it was time to
go home and cherish the wins of the day. A young man in his late twenties, he
was standing on the porch of a quaint caf by the beach, looking at the sun set;
witnessing how nature was busy calling it a day rejoicing at the daily wins,
moving on from the daily setbacks and just living the moment, without worrying
about tomorrow.
A man like him couldn't do that;
he couldn't just think about himself or just today if he could, life would be
much simpler but he couldn't. He couldn't because, this man with sharp hazel
eyes, a short and slim built, impeccable sense of dressing and a distinct
hairstyle, wasn't an ordinary man. He was Shivaay Singh Oberoi, who had already
made it four times to the coveted front page of Forbes Under 30, felicitated as
the fastest young billionaire of the country, honoured as the Times Businessman
of the year, two times in a row and the youngest member to have ever been
nominated to chair the Trade Guild of the country. Shivaay couldn't ever stop
to enjoy his wins, he couldn't ever take a moment to rejoice, he couldn't ever
not think of tomorrow a lot of lives depended on him. Not only the lives of
his family, but also the lives of all those thousands of families whose
breadwinners were employed by him. Shivaay wasn't burdened by this truth; he
never was in the past either. He was happy to shoulder this responsibility and
run at an impossibly fast pace, but ensuring he maintained transparency on the
way.
Shivaay was waiting to meet
someone at the caf; the purpose of meeting was a blur between personal and
professional. He was meeting Mallika Rana, the only daughter of an
industrialist of great repute Pratap Singh Rana, who had requested for a one on
one meeting. The Oberoi's and Rana's were soon going to announce a collaborated
venture of a few thousand crores in the artificial intelligence and IoT sector,
but as with big business families, to ensure transparency and bury any
sentiments of double crossing in business, the families had decided to seal the
deal with matrimony the marriage alliance of Shivaay Singh Oberoi and Mallika
Pratap Singh Rana.
Shivaay stood there watching the
sunset, as he waited to meet his future wife, the future Mrs. Shivaay Singh
Oberoi. He was neither thrilled nor anxious, but he suddenly smiled a little
remembering an incident from earlier in the day, when he has leaving for work.
He had almost bumped onto his brothers and Daadi, who were sitting in the
living area and chatting. His Daadi and gone on to explain how it feels when
you meet the love of your life for the first time, how intensely unbearable the
anticipation could be, how cheesy and romantic the first glance will be and how
they will then hold hands and happily walk into the sunset like she and
Shivaay's Dadaji did!
His brothers were no less in teasing either
and prepped him in their own strange ways. Omkara, the older amongst the two of
his first cousins, the poet, the artist, the connoisseur of romanticism, had
suggested that Shivaay should recite a couplet to impress Mallika when he met
her,
"Bas ek hi bala hain, mohabbat
kahein jisse; who paaniyo mein aag lagata hain aaj bhi
(Rough translation: There is only one kind of nuance; known as love
even today it is capable of setting fire on water)
Rudra, the younger one had
dismissed Omkara's suggestion on grounds of irrelevance and outdatedness and
advised Shivaay to impress Mallika by showing her that he can do thirty push
ups in three reps, without taking a break!
The ambience at Oberoi mansion
had already turned into that of a wedding, even though he and Mallika hadn't
officially said yes. Shivaay expected, that is what they would mutually decide
today, when to get together and officially say yes' there was no room for
no' of course, the business deal was too big a lot of things depended on it,
plus Shivaay was comfortable in this setup marrying a high born girl of
class, sophistication, high pedigree and social status, for strengthening
business alliances of the Oberoi empire he hadn't imagined himself getting
married any other way.
"Hey Shivaay, it's me, Mallika!
Come, let's go inside and sit he heard her voice and the most unnatural thing
happened, his heart skipped a beat!
***
Omkara was sitting in his den
finishing a sculpture of Venus, and waiting, he had an important meeting with
his lawyer regarding a plot that he had purchased in the outskirts of the city
for his new art studio. He had all the legal papers in his name, and there was
no way he could be harassed, but the deal was stuck due to some Human Rights
issue. He just wanted to ensure he could push the issue through today and start
work for building the studio of his dream.
(knock knock)
Om looked up at the door knock,
and before he could respond, two people rushed into his den, or it could have
been three or even four people, Om couldn't tell, for he couldn't take his eyes
off the first person who walked through the door short, fair, feline,
delicate, doe eyes she was how Om imagined Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love
would look like in human form docile, delicate, soft and pure.
"Omkara ji, we need to talk, my
name is Gauri. Gauri Sharma, I am a human rights activist her voice was soft
yet firm and showed determination and resilience. She wasn't going to budge
from her point, thought Om vaguely. Oh, wasn't victory another charm of Venus?
"Omkara ji, are you following?
I'm saying you cannot take a fertile land from a bunch of farmers for your whim
of making an art studio land is their means of sustenance no amount of money
you pay can equal an appreciating asset such as land they are ignorant, they
didn't know that how did you ignore this? Don't you have any social
responsibility Omkara ji
Omkara smiled, he had no idea
what she was saying, but he loved the chime of her voice.
"Now, now Ms. Sharma, don't you
think it is a bit harsh on your part to put so many allegations on my client
Mr. Oberoi, you know he legally bought this land and we can agree to an out of
cour---
"NO suddenly Om shouted, and
both his lawyer and Gauri jumped in surprise.
"Sorry, sorry, I mean, no Mr.
Dixit, I don't want to listen to you, and Gauri, you can go on Om had no idea
what he was saying, words had absolutely stopped waiting for his brains
permission before flowing out of his mouth!
Gauri stared at this strange man,
half focus, half smiling, not making sense, "Omkara ji, are you on drugs? she
asked with eyes narrowed, but Om could only smile.
"What?! No, no. Of course not! O
is not on drugs. Who are you? everyone turned around to see Rudra entering the
room.
"I am Gauri Shwait a minute, who
are you and what are you doing here?
"Ms. Sharma, this is Rudra
Singh--- began Mr. Dixit, the lawyer, but Om spoke again,
"SSshhh everyone, Gauri you
talk he said faintly and looked at her. Gauri, turned around and looked at Om.
"Omkara ji are you mad? You talk
as in? Am I singing that you are listening so intently? If you're so interested
in my talk then why don't you do what I ask you to? shouted Gauri
"Absolutely. You tell me Gauri,
what you want, I will do it. Smiled back Omkara.
"Seriously O are you on drugs??
blurted out Rudra, but suddenly Gauri smiled a little, and Om felt something
that in spite of being and artist and poet, he had never felt before it was
euphoria.
"Omkara ji, here are the papers
that say, you are happy to return the farmers their land, if they are ready to
repay the principal amount I know Omkara ji, there will be some interest
amount too, but really that would be pressuring these simple folks too much..I
mean---
"I don't want any interest on the
principal Om replied and signed the documents, still with a goofy smile, as
his lawyer stood there dumbfounded. Now Shivaay sir will definitely throw him
out.
"O why will you want the
interest, that will piss of your real interest said Rudra as he cracked up
laughing, while Om saw the smiling retreating figurine of his human Venus
retreating and slowly walking out of the door.
2 minutes later
"Ruddy!! What the hell did I
do!?!? Did I just sign the release deed of my studio plot just now?!?!?!?! Why
didn't you stop me!?!?!? shouted Om as Gauri left and wisdom prevailed.
"O, choti ma is right when she
says Oh my Maata Om, tera kuch nahin honda chuckled Rudra as he left the
den.
"Gauri.. whispered Om.
***
Rudra walked into his room
thinking about the incident with Om and laughing, he will have to tell Shivaay
bhaiya about it. But then he and stopped dead on his track as he saw the broken
remains of his newly purchased German alloyed ten kilo weights.
"What on earth has happened, who
the hell--- he began seething when the other person in the room replied.
"So so sorry Ruddy!!! It's me, I
came to give you my notes, but then I saw them, I thought after I enrolled I
will need them anyway, why don't I try but but it was heavy and slipped and
--- she murmured.
"Bhavya!!! Are you mad?! Did you
not see, this is not a paratha, this is a gym instrument!! And don't tell me
you still haven't gotten over the I wanna be a cop phase! It's been three
months now! Rudra rolled his eyes at his best friend from childhood, Bhavya
Rathore.
They were family friends,
Bhavya's father was a business advisor and lead consultant to Tej Singh Oberoi,
but unfortunately when they were much younger, Bhavya had lost her parents in a
brutal car accident while she stayed with other relatives now, she was a
regular at the Oberoi mansion and Daadi's absolute favourite. Perhaps it is all
that extra love that Daadi put in her parathas for Bhavya that made her such a
cute little football today thought Ruddy as he chuckled.
"Got over it Ruddy? Why will I
get over it? I am ambitious. I have a plan. Unlike you! Hmph. What are your
plans after grads? MBA? Why? Did you ever pass any math related paper without
my help? No! But that's what your brothers did so you will! But not me! I will
be a cop a hot cop! smiled Bhavya in satisfaction.
"Rubbish. All of Daadi's parathas
will go on mutiny if you even think hot' and which criminal will be scared of
a chubby cute paratha eating cop, you tell me Madam Ambitious laughed Ruddy as
a fuming Bhavya left his room shouting "Now you can't use your German alloy
crap. Serves you right you monkey!
.
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