A short distance away stands another group. Pratap Uncle, Baba and Krish’s father, Ratan Rajvanshi, the President of GLEN. Krish and Ayaan may be the Directors now, but the empire still belongs to the man who built it from nothing. Age has finally convinced him to hand over most of the day-to-day operations to them, but he still keeps a close eye on everything. He has flown all the way from Austria, especially for this event.
Three old men. Three friends. And standing with them is my Maa, Rukmini Vardhaan. Today, she’s wearing a beautiful golden saree, and her hair is neatly tied into a bun. From where we’re standing, we have a clear view of everything. Pratap Uncle is holding out a white rose to her, and even from this distance, we can hear every word.
“Honestly, Rukmini ji, you should put this in your hair,” he tells her. “It will complete the look. Very retro. You’ll look even more beautiful.”
If there’s one thing that has remained unchanged over the last five years, it’s Pratap Uncle’s special fondness for Maa. And somehow, everybody enjoys it. Even me, though I’ll never admit that aloud. I glance at Vishnu again, who catches my look immediately.
“I told you,” he says with a grin. “I’m literally rooting for this couple.”
“Shut up,” I say instantly. “No way. She’s my Maa. Stop wanting her to be your mother.”
Vishnu only laughs harder. Before he can say anything else, Ayaan joins in. “I don’t agree.”
I look at him, and he shrugs casually.
“She’s not just your Maa. She’s my Maa too.”
He’s right.Over these last five years, both of us have started calling her ‘Maa.’ Ayaan, too, never had the love of a mother growing up, so naturally, Maa being Maa, took him into her fold and loved him like her own son.
In fact, not just Ayaan, she’s become a mother figure to our entire group because none of them had mothers while growing up either. Maa is loving every moment of it and is enjoying that role to the fullest. The love she never got from her own son, she’s getting it in spades from all of us. She deserves every bit of it.
Ayaan folds his arms. “So stop acting so possessive about Maa.”
“Please.” I scoff. “She loves me more. For her, you’re only her son. But I’m both her son and her son-in-law. So technically, I get double the love.”
Ayaan rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Fine. You win.”
“You know what?” Krish interrupts as he nods towards Maa. “Today, when I introduced Aunty to Dad, she called him Bhai Sahab. So, my point is... Kailash Uncle is Bhai Sahab. My father is Bhai Sahab to her. But Pratap Uncle…” He grins with a dramatic pause. “He’s just Pratap ji, as always. I wish somebody would ask her why.”
The moment he says that, the possessiveness returns in full force. “No. You’re not asking Maa anything.” I point a finger at him.
“See?” Vishnu says with a laugh. “Protective son activated again.”
Before I can respond, Simran and Trisha walk over to us.
“If the women’s gossip session is finally over, can we please cut the cake now?” Simran asks.
The entire group protests at once.
“What women’s gossip?” Krish looks personally offended. “We do not gossip. We discuss serious topics.”
“Very serious topics,” Ayaan adds, trying to hold his grin.
“Oh, really?” Trisha arches an eyebrow. “What was today’s serious topic?”
We all look at each other because nobody has an answer. I don’t know why, but we all look at Vishnu, who blurts out, “We were discussing politics.”
Everyone nods in unison, covering up his lie.
“Really?” Simran narrows her eyes at him.
Vishnu calmly lifts his drink. “Of course. We were discussing international affairs.”
Now Trisha is openly laughing.
Simran simply points at her husband. “Bulsh*t. Look at his face,” she says to Trisha. “It’s so obvious he’s lying.”
The rest of us immediately start laughing.
