Dreams on hold
“Aap shop khol rahe ho puttar?”
“Umm.. I am thinking about it, aaj second time aayi main”
“Videsh nahi ja rahe? Daddy to vadde khush the”
“Uh… hmmm” she hesitated trying to hide her disappointment
She had tried not to think about it
She would have been in Ann Arbor now hanging with friends and grabbing Starbucks
Here she was in her Dad’s bookstore trying to make sense of this whole thing
“Vaqeel hai puttar?” Harkeerat asked gently
“Jee”
“Dukaan kiske naam kar gaye Papa?”
“Abhi pata nahi”
The whole thing was really messy. There was no mistress or anything, but for whatever reason her Dad hadn’t added her name to his bank accounts, he was just bank rolling her Singapore undergrad. Gaurav wanted to study abroad and got denied because she had decided to pursue Masters
Her Dadi favored boys and Taruni suspected leaving her out of the bank account might have had something to do with it
Now with Rajesh gone, Dadi still alive, Nidhi working in the state excise department with not much clue about where her money was invested
Everyone was in a limbo
The first thing Gaurav had asked Nidhi was “Main abhi bhi GMAT ka score increase kar raha hoon I want to go to the US Ma, aap Papa ke finances check kar lo” he had murmured
Taruni was irritated
She already had a admission
Her deal was sealed and locked, how dare he insert himself
“Sab jaoge?” Nidhi asked in between sniffles
“Ha Ma F1 pe jaaoonga Aparna US ko love karti hai we will settle”
“MBA mein to Rs.70-80 lakh lag jaayega”
“Zyaada” he mumbled
“KITNA zyaada?”
“Umm.. sava crore, dedh crore (1.5 crores)
Taru ka bhi admission hua hai, I don’t know beta”
“Ma aap Taru ki shaddi kar do”
She had been listening as she was getting ready to go out to meet her BF Shiv Chandel for dinner
She went into her mother’s bedroom and glared at her brother
“Tujhe kya hua hai?”
“I am going for my M.S. dude… jo bhi hai” “I mean Papa already told me”
“TUJHE Singapore mein undergrad karna tha Papa ne mujhe nahi bheja US”
“Tujhe mili hui thi admission?”
“Tere se zyaada intelligent hoon”
“Ur wife will admire it… not me” she shrugged
“Ma… Papa ne isko spoil kara hua hai”
“Oh pleez”
“Gaurav… Tarooo” Nidhi growled
“Ma… I already have a promise I am going”
“Enrollment, move in date, August mein hai, kab jaayegi?” he mocked
He then laughed
“Laugh all u want I am going in Spring”
“Kaise jaayegi”
“U have two kids and a job… why do u need an MBA”
“U are not even married… hai na BF jiske saath soti hai, he will marry u na”
None of ur business”
“Gaurav… DADI sun lengi”
“Maa yeh sab kuch kar chuki hai”
Gaurav was losing his s---
Taruni stared at him long and hard… and left the room
She wanted to yell and scream
Goingt o the US was HER dream, Aparna Gaurav’s wife must have put him up to this sham
He had two girls, Latika and Poorna 11 months apart, Dadi was constantly needling Aparna so she took it all out on Nidhi
Dadi actually loved Latika and poorna more than she loved Tushar & Pallavi’s boys, Sahil and Aseem
But Gaurav was Dadi’s favorite and he had married Aparna… love marriage, he didn’t marry Dadi’s best friend from Satsang’s grand daughter , and that friend stopped talking to Dadi now, and Aparna had earned Dadi’s wrath instantaneously
Taruni made chai for herself in the large airy kitchen
The home was ancestral, but Rajesh owed a share to his 3 brothers and 2 sisters.
Even to the ones that lived overseas and had a s--- ton of money
She stirred the pot wondering how she could get her hands on Rs. 40ish lakhs so she could pay the first year fee for M.S.
She was going to apply for Grad Assistantship, it was a done deal for Fall but pushing out one semester was disastrous
She hated a mother for a minute, for not knowing WHERE her 35 year savings were.
Shiv wanted to marry her he wanted her to get her MBA from IIM or something
But she used him for pleasure and told him she probably didn’t see herself marrying him. S—was good… and with no strings attached Taruni didn’t feel obligated to pretend
She went through her phone
Rajesh Bhushan’s book store pictures….
Half and half… half stationery school supplies, half novels rare books and periodicals
He was a crazy man who firmly believed neighborhood bookstores were going to make a resurgence
She was a year and a half younger than Gaurav at 27, but didn’t have much savings, she lived for 3 years in Singapore after undergrad worked for around 2 years and spent the rest traveling SE Asia
She loved her parents, she even took them on a 4 country tour
She had less than 5 lakhs in her bank
She turned off the tea, drove to Shiv’s and waited for him to return from work, and made out
“Jaake dekh shop ko” he had told her
Hence the two visits….
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