Chapter 8

"aur phir bhi dono yeh trip miss karna afford nahin karsakthe" taani replied her voice

smooth

The smoothness sarcasm that the voice conveyed was something that reys mom hadnt

heard from her, the others however looked at her

part 8

" matlab?" mom asked and then replied herself," i guess so, dono miss karna afford

nahin karsakthe kyunki inki team bohot bada hain...'

"maybe aunty but shayad isiliye zyaada kyunki hamara commitment towards d3 badaa

hain" sharon interrupted. Reys mom smiled at her and turned to taani

" thats what i meant mom.." rey began when his mom interrupted him still looking at

taani said," but taani what did you mean?"

"wahin jo sharon bhabhi ne kahaan"

"no im sure you meant something different...aisa laga ki tum yeh kehrahin thi ki even

though dono husband wife proffessionally kaam karthe hain...phir bhi unko aisa

opportunitis miss karne ka luxury nahin hotha...haina? " she smiled more broadly and

shaking her head," you really are stuck on being a housewife arent you? Isiliye jo bhi

mauka aaye usse defend karne lagthi hoon" her smile suggesting that she found it

amusing that taani was so innocent," but dear its not like that..."

Something in mom s smile snapped taani s years of upbringing," i know mom ki aisa

nahin hain...mujhe defend karne ki zaroorat hi nahin hain...its understood ki abhi jo

main kaam karrahin hoon usmein jo mujhe compensation salary jo bhi kaho miltha hain..

.wo tho kuch bhi nahin ...in comparison to what i would have got being a full time

housewife" her tone losing its respectful ness and bordering on rude

Sharon started to enjoy the arguement, rey looked from one to the other wondering

what taani was actually saying while swayam started giving her a badon se aise baat

karthe hain? Look

She ignored all three of them and stared at her mom inlaw...reys mom continued to

smile," haan haan all that satisfaction sacrifice and what not ..." she began sarcasm

dripping reminding taani of rey s sarcasm and she suddenly stood up , mom stopped

," no mom...just a minute tehro" and walked away to the front room

"ummm aunty i guess shes tired , shes not really ..." swayam began while rey ran out

after her

its ok swayam..i know her well enough...shes stressed out. Reys dad was also saying

that though shes picked up quite well , shes getting tired easily...thats the effect of being

at home for a long time " she had stopped eating by then

Sharon frowned," its her choice right aunty...kya farak padtha hain as long as shes happy"

Reys mom shook her head ," no sharon, i didnt expect this from you...you have always

been strong independent girl bachpan se hi , thats how girls should be ...confident and

career oriented ...who know what they want out of life ...but taani s like..."

Sharon smiled ," taani knows what she wants...hum sab se pehel hum sab se zyaada ...she

always wanted to be reys wife. I dont know why its so difficult to accept ki usse aur kuch

chahiye hi nahin"

Swayam now gave her his badon se aise baat karthe hain? Look which sharon ignored

" fine its her life but pata nahin wo accept kyun nahin karlethi ki being at home is not a

good option for women bas...financially or otherwise...respect kaun detha hain? And

khudh ki earning... She needs to ask another person for everything..."

her voice had a disgust in it that she didnt try to hide.

Taani and rey had come back by then and taani heard it but she walked to her mom in

law s side with a long sheet of paper and placed it on the table in front of her

"pehle tho mom aapne rey itni acchi seekh tho di hain ki wo apni wife ka respect

karsakhe , wo kaam karein ya na karein but wo chodo...yeh dekho, this is my paycheck ...

if i had got paid as a housewife till now...yeh ek mahine ka hain...sample "

reys mom stared at the paper , sharon in surprise got up from her seat walked out to

stand behind reys mom to read it, swayam bent over to catch what it was while rey

went feeling slightly funny back to his seat and started eating his dinner- he had run

behind her to console her but here she was ready for a full blown war, he smiled to

himself and thought ki aaj mom ko shock lagnewaala hain

Taani meanwhile continued her explanations ,"... this includes all the household work

like laundry karna cooking etc., yeh dekho list( sharons eyebrows went up) and is column

mein uska individualised cost likha hain...thats what i should get paid for each of the work

...agar koi yeh sab kuch professionally karein tho...by the way ismein sunithi( maid) kaka

maali bhaiyaa and driver uncle ka bhi hain kyunki i outsource my duties unko...

Aur supervisory role hoga mera usmein"

reys mom looked at it intently her face changing ,taani didnt look at anyone except the

paper," now this doesnt include keeping the socks and shoes in place, keeping the towel

back after reys bath, reminding rey of every birthday anniversary of all of his relatives

and cousins and friends ...u know generally appointments jo PA s karthe hain wo sab

kuch maine ismein daala hain...miscellaneous reponsibilities mein...

And phir there will be special responsibilities like the painting ya interiors...unka idea ...

jis time mera ankle sprain hua tha yeh sab move karthe karthe haina rey? " she looked at

him once and without waiting for his answer continued," un sab special responsibilities

ka maine extra daala hain...usually its one per year tho wo annual mein add hojaayega..

like is saal main pregnant hoon...tho pregnancy allowance milni chahiye na...

thats a promotion ...phir baby aajaayega tho mother allowance bhi hoga..."

she stopped to take a breath and then said pointing to another line ," aur ismein mom i

ve included all deductions like my own kharcha ...parlour ka , dresses ka...accessories

medical etc., even khaane peene ka you know ...wo sab deduct karke hi yeh salary hain

meri housewife job ki...matlab agar main ek professionnal housewife hothi tho this s

what my monthly paycheck would be like..."

She pulled the paper towards herself and placing her pen on it continued," abhi hamaari

shaadi ko..kitne saal hue rey?'

"three years five months"

"...haan tho this * 3 years matlab 36 months plus four = 40 months ...ok...lo mom this is

my earning teen saal se..." she stared at the large figure looking impressed , sharon

looked impressed as well while reys mom s face was expressionless...rey looked at his

dinner plate suddenly wanting to laugh swayam looked at the paper, then at all of them

one by one and stopped at taanis face, she again began,

"...and this is actually basic services...ismein jo quality ke liye main add karsakthi hoona

...ummm...like branded stuff zyaada costly hothe hain...us hisaaaf se tho..." she looked

at rey and said regretfully," rey mom sahin kehthi hain, aapki earning bilkul bhi kaafi

nahin...aap as a wife mujhe afford hi nahin karsakthe!" and sighed dramatically ," aap

please ab zyaada earn karna shuru karo or i should be stuck in this low paying office job...

kitna nuksaan horahaan hain mera"

Swayam frowned , rey smiled sharon wanted to laugh loud while mom still looked at the

paper. Taani walked to her seat next to rey and sitting down said," actually is list mein

mom maine ek service include nahin kiya hain...but thats because i get as much pleasure

out of it as rey ...so that comes free perk dono keliye " and picking up a piece of roti put

it into her mouth," itne saare paid services ke saath ek service free free free"

"TAANI" swayam finally snapped

Sharon closed her mouth to stop from laughing , rey looked at taani once and wanting to

laugh at her last sentence but gave her a stop it look and turning to his mom said," mom

leave her...aapka dinner ..."

Reys mom got up and saying ,"im done rey, by this standards" waving the paper," your

dad has to pay me so much more now..." and walked out

Sharon waited for two second and then burst out laughing

"yeh kaisa tareeka hain aunty se baat karne ka? Kya tha wo? Services yeh wo? Aise koi

kehtha hain? " swayam," aur rey tu chup kyun tha? Maine isiliye kahaan tune hi usse

bigaada hain.."

"arre like i had a chance ki main kuch kehsakhoon"

"offo swayam...auntys cool,haan agar meri mother in law se aisi baat karthi tab problem

hojaathi" sharon said making swayam glare at her

"thats not the point sharon...taani .."

"kuch zyaada hi rude tha kya rey?" taani suddenly felt guilty and ignoring swayam looked

at rey

Rey looked at her and realising what he would say now would matter maximum to her

said," haan taani but then...wo tumhaari real feeling thi ...patch up with her later, tumne

unse nahin unki thoughts se fight kiya bas" and squeezed her hand on the table.

She smiled thankful for his understanding.

Swayam who was about to tell taani off, stopped himself as he heard rey say that and

sharon saw him stop his lecturing to taani , smiled.

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Late in the night- kitchen

Rey came in to take water, reys mom came as well looking fresh still

"soye nahin abhi tak beta?" he shook his head and handed her the water bottle, she took

a sip and noticing him staring at her expectantly raised her eyebrows. He shook his head

, bent it and then with a smile said," mom, sorry... i hope you didnt mind what taani said

...i mean i know she sounded rude..par.."

"rey , when you dont think shes wrong dont apologise for her"He stopped," i think wo

bohot upset hogi agar usse yeh pata chalega ki tumne sorry kahaan uski taraf se"

"no mom...wo bhi jaanthi hain ki wo thoda rude aur sarcastic thi..."

"hum dono ko complain karne ka koi haq nahin bantha kisiki sarcastic hone ka...

we deserve it...'' she laughed, he smiled" but on a serious note, i understood what she

meant...shes right in a way and usse zyaada mujhe yeh ehsaas hua ki usse kitna hurt

hua hain.." she looked apologetic," sabki comments ka especially mera..." she shook her

head," so dont insult her by apologising...aur ab apni wife ki tarafdaari karna band karo

and go to sleep"

he smiled and moving forwards gave her a hug. mom was so straightforward

love you mom

She was surprised, he was usually the fathers son...her eyes softening, she hugged him

back, patted his cheek and said," i hope ki tum yeh jaanthe ho ki main uske saath

rehnewaali hoon whether u apologise or not..maska maarne ki zaroorat nahin hain.."

she joked, "waise aaj mujhe realise hua ki tum taani se pyaar kyun karthe ho!

Ki wo tumhe apni little finger pe nachaathi kaise hain"

he grinned though saying embarrassed , "nothing like that(she was grinning) but mom ..

..i think shes missing her mom aur...main bhi nahin hoon..." he fumbled

She understood his worry, hugged him again saying," dont worry about her. Hum dono

uska khayal rakhenge " and pulling out of the hug," you go and earn now..usko afford

karne ke liye" and burst out laughing.

Rey joined her in the laugh as she ruffled his hair affectionately

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