PART I : PAGE 1
PART II (A-C) : PAGE 5
PART II (D-E) : PAGE 7
PART III (A) : PAGE 11
PART III (B) : PAGE 14 - Agra, Ajmer & Rishikesh
PART III (C) : PAGE 17 - Amritsar
PART III (D & E) : PAGE 21 - Haridwar & Delhi
PART III (F) : PAGE 25 - Delhi Concludes
PART IV (A) : PAGE 32 - Past, Present and Everything In Between
PART IV (B) : PAGE 37 - The Dinner Party
Explainatory Note on Page 42
PART IV (C) : PAGE 44 - Elimination and Seduction
PAGE 50 - Note
PART IV (D) - PAGE 52 - Sangeet Ceremony
PART V (A) - PAGE 55 - Hell hath no fury; like a woman scorned!
PART V (B) - PAGE 57 - The War of Words!
PART V (C) - PAGE 59 - The War continues...
PART V (D) - PAGE 62 - All in One Night!
PART VI (A) - PAGE 66 - Way back into Love...
PART VI (B) - PAGE 69 - All is Well; That Ends Well!
Jai sat in his darkened study, not able to sleep, despite the heaviness he felt in his head! He had been jet-setting across the globe for almost a month now, with no respite in his killing work schedule! Yet, the much needed sleep seemed to evade him.
In the 36th year of his life, Jai felt depleted and exhausted most of the time, his business gave him no breathing space to unwind or slow down and then he realized that the lack of time for his personal life was good in a way, since he did not have any personal life to speak of! Yes, he had some very close friends and a few nearby relatives, but Jai was such a recluse and a complete introvert, that other people seldom found it easy to communicate with him, unless deemed necessary! The only person whom he had been close to had died some years ago, leaving him all alone in the world, cushioned by his enormous wealth and power, but orphaned by an unending life of loneliness! The period after his Mother?s untimely demise had weighed the heaviest on young Jai, but his sense of responsibility and duty had overtook everything, even his grief and he had put his heart and soul in his academics and later in his work, and to nobody?s surprise, he excelled in every sphere! Some uncharitable people did remark, that he was all mind and no soul, but Jai did not care for anything, least of people?s opinion! He had only cared about what his Mother had thought of him, but she was long gone and he had no one but himself to answer to!
But there had been someone for whom he had ended up caring, a bit too much infact, someone who had come into his life like a bolt of lightening, upsetting everything that gave him comfort and turning his world, literally upside down!
Jai?s face broke out into one of his rare yet endearing smiles, as her Sunshine face came wafting across his eyes, those pearly white teeth, entrapped in an ugly set of braces, her dazzling eyes hidden appropriately behind the most appalling pair of spectacles, her long black hair, untidily swept behind her back, held together precariously by an age-old scrunchy, her willowy neck adorned with abundant, multicolored beaded necklaces giving her the overall appearance of an derelict gypsy girl! And her dress sense? The Study echoed with Jai?s deep throated laughter as he remembered the first time he had seen her?What was she even wearing? Some atrocious looking candy pink shirt, which had the most ghastly pattern of stars, moons and planets on it!!! And teamed with one of her favorite layered skirt, or whatever she chose to call them! Accompanied by the dirty, mirrored jhola that she slung around her shoulders all the time?..Jai had just stared at her, in astonishment, clearly stumped by the sight of someone so shoddily dressed, as he himself was immaculately turned out anytime of the day, dressed in conservative colors and never experimenting with his clothes as a rule, not even on a Sunday at home! Jai could never forget the evening when despite strict instructions from him, she had turned up in the most awful set of clothes for an ultra-posh affair at the American Embassy! He had kept glaring at her throughout the function, as she happily gulped down Ice-creams after Ice-creams in delightful greed, clearly oblivious to any nasty stares from him or anyone else for that matter! Later after a round of stern lecture from Jai, her eyes had just twinkled in mischief as she explained her choice of evening wear as, ?Very Boho, very Chic. Its in the in-thing in Fashion, you see.? Jai had glared at her for sometime and just stomped off in frustration, followed by her squeals of apology and giggles which clearly indicated that she felt the least bit apologetic!
As Jai kept staring at the piece of paper in his hands, he noticed that her handwriting had improved considerably since the last time he had happened to read her writing! But something had still not changed. Her complete aversion to anything remotely technological! Clearly, she had still not heard or just chose to ignore the emergence of email and had preferred to write a letter and send it by normal mail! Even Jai?s 60 year old Massi who had lived all her life in Chandigarh used email to communicate with Jai now, but this 25 year old, brought up in London, was still plainly, in some other Era.
Jai kept smiling as he re-read the letter for the nth time and buzzed the Intercom to inform his Valet for the Airport pickup the next morning. ?Wonder how much she had changed.? With these thoughts, Jai dozed off to sleep, the letter kept besides his night-stand.
------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Jai stood waiting in the Airport Lounge, his Blackberry on a constant buzz, calls pouring from all over the World! Jai was in no mood to pick up his calls today and would have shut his phone for good, but that would have literally caused his harassed secretary to have a fainting spell, hence he just chose to ignore most of the calls that came in! Jai glanced at his Watch occasionally, smiling, as he thought, how strange the colorful Disney Watch looked in his wrist, which normally only had his custom-designed silver Rolex! Jai was not a man who was fond of change in life, be it his accessories, food, work-schedule or the people whom he knew, but she had been an exception to everything that he had known and this comical looking Mickey Mouse watch had been a gift from her, as unusual as she was, something for which she had to break open her ?Piggy Bank? as she had mournfully informed him later, making him dissolve with laughter at her childishness!
As he purchased a cup of coffee and seated himself in the lounge, awaiting the arrival of the, ?Outsider?, his thoughts drifted to some other time.
8 years back
Jai read and re-read the letter, which was written in a cluttered handwriting, most of it illegible and indecipherable and it had taken him considerable time to read the contents and more time to grasp what he had just read! As he flung the piece of paper on his desk, his intestines seethed in anger and he banged his fist forcefully on the wall.
?Jai?Please calm yourself down. She just wants to come and meet you once, why are you getting so worked about it?? Jai?s cousin Karuna fetched him a Cup of Coffee and placed it on the Coaster on his Study. ?I don?t want to see her. What does she want from me anyway? Its not as if we are related or anything. Oh for God?s sake, Papa didn?t even marry that woman.? Jai was plainly irritated as he kept pacing the length of the room, trying to work out what could be done to avoid this ?Outsider?. Karuna looked at Jai and just shaked her head in disappointment. How Jai had changed in the last few years, preceding his Parent?s death. Karuna, almost the same age as Jai, had always known him as a warm, sensitive and kind-hearted person, who had no hang-ups about his wealth or status and an openness for people and things! But then, this was a different case altogether!
Jai?s Father, the late Industrialist, Uday Walia, had indulged and pampered his only son, Jai since his birth! And Jai had not given a single reason for the Senior Mr. Walia to be disappointed in him. A brilliant student and an all-rounder, Jai had complied to his Parent?s wishes and had followed his Father?s footsteps into his vast business enterprise and within no time, had taken the reins of Walia Industries in his hands, surprising all the cynics, who had predicted that the son would not be a chip of the old block. Jai had worked like any other young Executive in his Father?s team and had never taken the mantle of being the Scion of Walia Industries to his head; he had earned the respect and admiration of even his most severe critics in no time and within a few years, had led Walia Industries to the pinnacle of success! Jai was Uday Walia?s pride & honor and in turn Jai worshipped his Father, all the more because he had been a great husband to his Mother, alongside being a wonderful Father to him.
But one fine day everything had changed! It was almost 1 year after Krishna Walia?s death, that Uday had announced a bewildered and still in mourning Jai, that he planned to remarry. Jai had been aghast and had reacted with extreme anger and hurt and had told his Father in no uncertain terms, that if there was to be another, ?Mrs. Walia?, then Jai would forsake all ties with his Father. Uday had been mortified by Jai?s reaction and even after trying his level best, had failed to convince him. Torn between his own aloneness and the fear of losing his only son forever, Uday had promised Jai that he would never marry again, but at the same time, had told Jai that he required companionship and hence was going to live with the woman he had fallen in love with again.
Jai had not said anything to this, only hating this woman who had tried to upsurp his Mother?s place and of taking his Father away from him. Uday, leaving all his wealth in Jai?s name had taken off to London, along with that woman (as Jai kept referring to her) who he came to know later was a Divorcee with a daughter from her previous marriage.
Jai had ceased all contacts with his Father ever since and despite regular correspondence from Uday?s end, had never bothered to write back or keep in touch. In moments of self-introspection, Jai had realized how selfish and self-seeking and insensitive he had been, but his Ego refused to comply and see reason.
And then one day, the letter stopped coming, Jai did not even bother to check why that had happened and a few days later, he had been informed via Telegram that Uday Walia had died following a massive Cardiac Attack.
A shocked and remorseful Jai had flown immediately to London and had flown back with the body of his Father, still refusing to meet the woman and her daughter with whom his Father had spent his last moments! Despite innumerous requests and pleading, Jai had refused to bow down and allow them to even have a last look at his now dead Father. The guilt of doing so did weight in Jai?s mind, but now that he was one of the most well-known names in India, the last thing he wanted to do, was allow any sort of scandal to erupt, which might malign or dishonor his late Father?s name.
Jai had never bothered to keep contact with his Father?s family in London, surprised by the fact, that even they never contacted him for any sort of monetary settlement or a share in Uday Walia?s property! Jai mused that his Father might have left them very comfortably off and hence there would have been no need to get in touch with him, and even if they did, he would have been the last person on Earth to help such people! Jai had been deeply prejudiced against those two ?Outsiders?, one who had taken his Mother?s place in his Father?s heart and life and the other who had taken his place as Uday?s child!
While going through his Father?s letter later on, Jai had realized how much Uday had loved that woman, Kiran and how he had grown to adore his adopted daughter?Bani. His letters had been full of his praise and anecdotes about Bani, how she smiled, how she laughed, how she howled, how she was always into some or the other sort of mischief. It almost seemed to Jai that Uday had somewhere regretted not having Bani as his own flesh and blood.
Somehow, the thought of Kiran did not fill Jai with any sort of repulsion, as Jai realized that his Father, like any other human being, had sort refuge in a relationship to break out of his loneliness. But the thought of someone else taking his place had filled Jai?s heart with a murderous rage and loathing. He never wanted to see the Mother and Daughter duo in his life, definitely not the girl who had become the Apple of his Father?s Eyes.
And now, this letter. Jai had been very surprised to having received a mail from London and for an instance had thought that one of his Father?s solicitors from London would have sent him some correspondence. It was almost 7 years since his Father?s death and Jai had not traveled to London ever since, not even for Business, deliberately avoiding the place which had taken away his Parent.
At first, Jai had just squinted his eyes as he tried to make sense of the letter, which had been written, using at least, 5 different colors of pen?s and dotted with silly looking smiles throughout, the handwriting was so indecipherable, that Jai had to actually read out the words loud, so he could make sense of what had been scribbled.
Hi Mr. Walia (Or should I call you Jai? Or JW as the newspapers call you, though admittedly that makes you sound like an Underworld Guy! Ha Ha!)
Hmm, I don?t think you would know me, but I do. I mean, I don?t know you, but I know who you are. I hope you get it :) Ha Ha!
I was writing to let you know that I plan to visit India sometime this summer, wanna see my land of birth, ect, ect! Though Mum says that we have plenty of relatives in India, no one seems to welcome us to happily, hence, I thought why not write to my half-brother. Ha Ha!
Now you must be wondering, how come you have a half-sister and you don?t know about it? Well, firstly, we are not siblings, just so that you don?t get confused and stuff. Dad must have told you about me, Mum and he used to live together in London and then later he adopted me! And since you are Dad?s real son, as in the biological one, and I am his adopted one (Daughter, not Son) so we are kind of siblings, aren?t we?
So anyway, coming back to the point, I am planning to come down to India very soon and since I don?t want to upset you in anyway, I will gladly spent my hols with you, at your place :) Happy? I mean, Mum was aghast when I told her my plan, but then, I said, how bad you might feel, if I chose to live in some impersonal Hotel instead of my Dad?s Son?s place. Right?
So anyway, I have written my flight details in Pink (That?s my fav color!) and I won?t be the least bit hassled if you didn?t turn up to pick me at the Airport. So what if I lose my way, I am a grown up girl, I can find myself around an unsafe, new city. Right? But I am fine, if you do send your Cadillac to pick me up! Ha Ha! Just joking. But Dad had told me that you have this real time sexy Cad, which you had purchased on your Birthday. What fun! All I get to buy is a new beaded necklace (I love beaded necklaces and have like some 100 of them! Will show it to you once we meet!) Mum is pretty stingy about money, you see!
Ok, see you then! I will sleep in the upstairs room, the one which overlooks the Swimming Pool (See, I already know everything about Walia Mansion, Dad has shown me the pics! You looked so funny in one of them, in your Red Swimming Trunks!) and do tell Tony that I am a strict Vegetarian :)
Keep counting the days, here I come?😃😃😃
Ta Da?
Lots of Love,
Yours,
BANI
Jai had just stared at the piece of paper, too stunned to react and dreading the prospect of meeting a girl who could write such an appalling & outrageous letter!
------------------------------------------------------------ ------
Author's Note :
Hope you liked this part, will be awaiting the feedback! Have been trying to pen a FF for somedays now, but just haven't been able to write anything due to lack of time and ideas. Struck something yesteray, and began to write, hopefully, this won't take too long, because the story is formed in my head, only have to pen it down!
Will continue if you like it till now...
Cheers,
MT😊
PS: Btw, my Jai and Bani have nothing in common with the Jai and Bani shown in KS, except their names!
Cryptocurrency
