Fab India & Fantasy
The waiter brought bottled and sparkling water
Smrita encouraged her to order from the menu, Viveka ordered a coffee
The waiter brought plates and guided them to the snack buffet, which looked like a wedding spread
âI donât eat sugar. Its so bad for you. If you could stop eating one thing. You should give up sugarâ smriti advised
âUfffâ Viveka sighed audibly
âOh I love sugar, I am going to take my chancesâ she chuckled pushing up her glasses
Viveka helped herself to 3 sweet things and and a couple of savory things
Smrita helped herself to some crackers and cheese
âHave you tried contacts?â âYou donât have to keep pushing your glasses up the bridgeâ
âIs there such an inventionâ Viveka wanted to ask
But kept it polite âI love my glassesâ
âMost people in academic field wear glasses. Itna padh lete hainâ she sounded exhausted
âHahaha U can say thatâ Viveka laughed huskily
âWere you really sick?â
âYeah for almost a weekâ
âRaanav has not been in town soâ
Viveka never expected to be coddled so that comment was unnecessary
âThank u for making timeâ Smrita carefully observed her eat, to her chagrin, Viveka used the fork very deftly to breakup the brownie
âthey make great coffee hereâ Smrita raised her mug
âI like it tooâ Viveka smiled pleasantly
âWhat do you do in your free timeâ Smrita gently swept up the foam from her upper lip
âI donât have much⌠I am waiting to hear or I shud say waitlisted for PhD at IIT Kharagpur, I frequently write in journals that will let me do that (chuckle) I help Ma around the house, I watch movies or read books, or grade testsâ
âYour mother is not able to do muchâ
âOh God!! Pleez pleez pleez, let it be true, let her be handicapped in SOME WAY. I promise you I will dial down my cattinessâ Smrita threw a prayer up in the air
âOh no, she is I mean she works, she is in the running to be a Program Director at an Engg. Companyâ
âOh? Ur Mom works too?â smriti tried to be flippant
âUmm.. yeahâ
âTheyâve been to your home?â Viveka looked confused
âOh yeah⌠Or maybe I cant rememberâ Smrita laughed like champagne glasses again
âAre you going to be leaving Delhi soon?â Smrita asked casually
âI was hoping to, I really really loved the IITâs program structureâ
âOhâ
Viveka began to explain the details, she took a good 20 minutes to talk about what excited her
Smrita could barely manage a âuhâ âummâ âOhhâ âReallyâ âNiceâ
She had no idea about the subject neither did she love reading, nor was she educated
Satyen had paid for grooming schools in Paris and UK so Smrita could fool anyone but when it came to real meaty conversation she had nothing to offer
âIt links directly to the work with crafts peopleâ Viveka finished
âDo you like fashion?â Smrita wanted to change the subject
âOh yeah totally⌠I love handloom and hand spun and hand knit things, I usually buy from art cooperatives and self employed womensâ NGOs
âthere we go again!â Smrita thought âNo match here either
âYou donât care for brand names?â
âUmm.. Fab India?â Viveka nodded proudly
âWHAT did Satya see in her?â Smrita sighed in her head
âDo you want to ask me anything?â Smrita offered like a recruiter
âUmm⌠actually⌠I donât knowâ
âGo ahead donât be shyâ Smrita tried to put on her best condescending face
âUmm.. maybe you can tell me what you do?â
âME?â âU want to know?â
âHmmâ
âUmm.. Oh I do too many thingsâ
Smrita listed 25 things, between charities she was in the committees , to high profile celeb clubs and âyoung women self confidence leaguesâ
âYou know young women these days they donât know how to dress how to talk, how to conduct themselvesâ
âOh?â
âOh yeahâ
âKâŚâ
âI mean the people we know and the people we are friends with are not regular folks. I help their daughters feel good about themselves, you know, raise their self esteemâ
âThatâs wonderfulâ
âYeah⌠the mothers of young men are looking for well groomed, stylish, fashionistas, and connoisseurs of food and travel, be able to speak with the media, give tours of the homes, put events together, going to college and getting an education gives you nothingâ Smrita summarily dismissed ALL of Vivekaâs 13 years of studies
âWowâ Viveka nodded amused
âI mean these young women will eventually bear the children and the names of these scions you knowâ
âI get that⌠oh yeahâ Viveka nodded
âThey cant just be any body⌠right?â Smrita gently inserted her disapproval
FINALLY! âIT CAMEâ Viveka leaned back and exhaled
âI totally agreeâ Viveka sipped her excellent coffee
âthey go out during the day when husbands are at work, they easily end up spending Rs.5 or Rs.10 lakhs you knowâ
âEverything helps the GDPâ Viveka nodded with a poker face
Smrita had no idea what GDP meant, off the bat, she usually got a ârefresherâ just before Power Engineers & Technologyâs earnings release every year (she didnât bother giving statements to the media after quarterly earnings 12)
âItâs a huge responsibilityâ Smritaâs expression was grim she proceeded to explain for the next 20 minutes about the âimportant rolesâ women in high society play
âPlus I bet it helps them manage their own careersâ
âAREY They DONâT need a careerâ âthey study to stay busy, I mean study undergradâ
âOhâ
âWell of course one of our⌠I should say she is MY best friend, Mrs Pooja Rawal, have you heard? They own a chain of hospitals?â
âYeahâ (basically skin lightening and botox and other such cosmetic stuff)
âTheir daughter Annika Rawal is a plastic surgeon, she doesnât need to practiceâ
Viveka sighed
Smrita had no understanding of why women choose to work
âWhat I am trying to say is, you know itâs a different leagueâ Smrita leaned back and smiled
âRaanav is so busy, I was surprised he found time for youâ she smiled and giggled the usual way
âHe drives up to see me at JNU when he is in townâ âhe is is a rare person u know, both my boys are. Too focused too successful no wonder they are stuff fantasies are made offâ She did a demeaning wave toward Viveka
âThat is funnyâ viveka was genuine amused Smrita would speak in such hyperbole
âOh I am not joking, Raanu my younger one used to be a model⌠I mean he gave it up after Satya my husband pulled him into this annoying fiber optic thingâ
âU think modeling was a better career trajectory?â Viveka muttered trying not to smile
âI mean⌠think about it, nobody can give him that much popularity
Viveka was dumbfounded
This woman was choosing a ditzy career for her smart son because he could be a center spread
Holy cow!!
âDo you.. I mean?â âUâ
âYeah Mrs Parashar I am in love with himâ Viveka spoke softly, blushing a deep redâşď¸
Edited by Nisha0604 - 3 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount