A Scandalous Proposition (3 page)

The frown returned just as swiftly as it had vanished. There
was nothing gentle about Mira. If he had ever met a firebrand, it was her. So
why could he not get the clinking of the dozens of glass bangles she wore out
of his head? Who on earth wore glass bangles any more? And her unbelievably
long earrings—as ridiculous as the chiming anklets on her feet. There was music
surrounding Mira every time she moved and it could drive a man mad. She had got
under his skin in a way he had not believed possible. Ranbir Dewan had never
had to offer money for sex before. The problem more often was convincing girls
that he was not quite the philanderer the media painted him to be. But never
had it happened that he had been attracted to a girl and she had not succumbed
immediately to him.

An image of Mira when he was kissing her floated into his
mind—the tumbled curls in disarray, the hint of innocence in those beautiful
eyes awakening into surprised passion, the lushness of her lips swollen with
his attention. He groaned at the response her memory elicited. This was an
untenable situation.

There was a knock on his door. He straightened himself and
picked up a file that had been sitting on his desk.

Jasmine popped her head in at the door. “Tarun is here to
see you, Ranbir.”

Tarun walked in from behind her. “Bhai!” he said, as Ranbir
walked towards him to give him a hug. They settled themselves in the armchairs.

“Where have you been, you rascal? Chachi is most
disapproving of your group studies. Do you think she guesses what you’re really
up to?”

“What, Bhai? How can you talk like this? Of course I’m
studying at Raza’s
barsati
. No one’s there to check up on me all the
time.”

“Studying, is it?” Ranbir laughed indulgently. Tarun, who
was about seven years younger than him, adored him and he loved him back
equally, more than anybody in the family, with the possible exception of Dadi.
“So, you’ve come to meet me?”

“Of course, Bhai, haven’t seen you for two days.”

Ranbir walked to the intercom and ordered two coffees. “And
something to eat?” asked Tarun hopefully.

“Where do you pack it all away?” asked Ranbir.

“In my brain, Bhai—remember, I’m studying?”

The brothers laughed together.

Ranbir watched Tarun as he worked his way through a club
sandwich and the packet of chips that Dhruv had sent down when he’d heard who
the order was for. When he picked up his coffee at last, he looked at him
meaningfully. “Okay, out with it. What’s the problem?”

“What problem, Bhai? I mean, apart from the exam tension.”

“I know you too well, you rascal. Tell me all about it. Right
now.”

Tarun shifted uneasily in his chair. He looked out at the
urban jungle that was visible through the glass of the French window.

“There’s this girl,” he began and paused. Ranbir relaxed
visibly.

“And…?” he asked helpfully.

“She’s wonderful, Bhai, incredible, beautiful. I love her.”

“Great!” said Ranbir, smiling at his excitement. “And you
propose to…?”

“That’s exactly it!” said Tarun. “How did you know, Bhai, that
I’ve proposed to her?”

“You’ve proposed to her?” exclaimed Ranbir, frowning. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? I love her. I really do, Bhai, I
can’t live without her. I want to be with her for the rest of my life. She’s
everything I’ve been looking for.”

Ranbir raised his eyebrow quizzically. “And at the tender
age of twenty-four, you claim you know what you are looking for in a wife?” He
sat up straight and fixed his cousin with his eye. “Have you slept with her?”

Tarun spluttered. “Bhai, Reema is not that kind of a girl. I
told you I love her and I want to marry her.”

“All girls seem unique, Tarun, till you bed them. Then they
all seem the same,” said Ranbir harshly. “I would suggest you bed her and get
her out of your system.” His face softened as he looked at Tarun’s shocked
face. “You are a Dewan, Tarun, and we Dewans don’t take these decisions so
impulsively. Who is this girl? Do we know her? Is she suitable? There are many
beautiful girls in this world, but we don’t—can’t—marry all of them.”

Tarun wore a determined look on his face. “You haven’t met
Reema. She is different—she’s just amazing.”

Ranbir sighed. This was not going to be easy. “Where did you
meet her?”

“TSL Mall, at the new department store that has opened
there.”

“She was shopping there and you fell in love with her?
Please don’t tell me that you bumped into her, she dropped her bags and you
both bent to pick them up and then banged your heads together! This isn’t a
Hindi film, Tarun.”

“She works there, Bhai!”

“Oh, great! You’ve fallen in love with a salesgirl! Tarun,
are you out of your mind? Have you thought even once what Chachi is going to
say about this? How were you planning on breaking the news to her?”

“That’s why I’ve come to you, Bhai. I can’t live without
Reema. You have to convince Amma to accept her.”

“I am not convinced yet myself. Tarun, marriage is serious
business, especially in a family like ours. We are one of the foremost business
families in this country. And while I am not too strong on like marrying like
in all events, we have to be conscious that there will be any number of girls
who look on us as a lifelong meal ticket.”

“Reema is not like that, Bhai,” Tarun replied quietly. “She
won’t even let me pay for a cup of coffee for her. She prefers to drink
chai
from a roadside stall because that’s all she can afford. I’ve only just managed
to take her out for dinner, just once.”

Ranbir narrowed his eyes. The girl’s display of self-respect
might be a façade, but his kid brother was obviously emotionally involved. He
didn’t want Tarun hurt, but he didn’t want him embittered either, which was
what would happen if Meenu Chachi got wind of this affair before it was
absolutely necessary.

He looked at Tarun’s mutinous face before him. “I’m not
making any promises,” he said at last.

“Will it help,” asked Tarun, “if I tell you that her sister,
Mira, works here? In the cafeteria?”

Ranbir groaned silently—not Mira Talwar again! Was the girl
haunting him? “Let me see what I can do,” he said to Tarun.

≈

FOUR

Now

Mira walked into the room she shared
with Reema to find her sister staring out of the window. The room was a large
balcony Dhiru Mausa had had converted into a third room, but it had the
advantage of a large window through which you got an eyeful of the park across
the road. Mira stood at the door for a minute watching her sister lost in
thought, only a tiny pucker to her eyebrow marring the picture of serenity she
presented.

“Thinking of Tarun?” Mira asked softly.

“Ummm,” said Reema dreamily. Then her eyes widened as she
took in Mira standing before her and the import of her query. “No, no, who
Tarun?”

“Tarun Dewan—you do know him?”

Reema got up hastily, went to the door and closed it. “Who
told you about Tarun? Did someone see us? Have they told Ma? Please, Di, I
didn’t mean any harm.”

Mira’s face softened as she looked at the tremulous face
before her. “Don’t be silly. No one knows.” She paused. “Except me.” Another
pause. “And Ranbir Dewan.”

Reema’s face went white with anxiety.

“Ranbir Dewan knows? Di, Tarun promised me he wouldn’t tell
anyone. Oh my God, what am I going to do?”

The tears that had been threatening spilt over, but Reema
made no attempt to wipe them away. She just stood winding the corner of her
dupatta
round and round her little finger. “I told him there was no future for us, to
keep away from the store, from me. But he keeps coming to see me. What can I
do, Di?”

“Is he troubling you then?” Mira put her arm around her and
led her back to the bed where she had been sitting just minutes before.

“Troubling? Oh no!”

“Then?”

“Di, he talks of marriage, but how can that ever happen? You
know how rich his family is. We are nowhere near them in status. His family
will never accept me. This relationship is doomed, right from the start. That’s
why I told him to stop coming to see me in the store.”

“He comes every day?”

“Yes,” said Reema shyly, “then he waits till my shift is
done and brings me home.”

“Every day?” A note of incredulity laced Mira’s voice.

Reema nodded. Then she looked up as a thought struck her.
“But how do you know, Di? Who told you?”

“I’ll tell you. But first tell me, do you also love him?”

“Love? I don’t know whether this is love, Di, but I feel
happy when I’m with him. And I miss being with him on my off days. He makes me
laugh.”

“Do you want to marry him?”

Reema contemplated the question for a minute. “It can’t be,
Di. We live in different worlds. Ma-Ba… would be shocked.”

“You leave all that to me,” said Mira, who had noticed the
tiny slip. It was still difficult to come to terms with their father’s sudden
death. “Just tell me—do you love Tarun Dewan?” Reema nodded, her eyes glued to
the floor. Mira sighed in vexation. Drat the man—he was always right.

A knock sounded on the door. It was Renu Mausi. “Oh Mira,
you’re home early? Reema
beta
, I wanted you to run down to the
kirana
store and get me a few things.”

“I’ll go, Mausi,” said Mira quickly. She grabbed her bag and
let herself out of the flat. As she exited the building, she took out her
mobile and dialed a number.

“Yes?” Ranbir’s voice resounded authoritatively.

“It’s me,” stammered Mira. Did he have to sound so
impatient?

“I could see that from my phone, Mira. Well?”

“It’s true,” she said in a rush. “What you said…about…umm,
you know.”

“So Reema has told you that I was right about their affair.”

“It isn’t an affair,” said Mira, embarrassment dispelled by
a cloud of indignation. “He meets her at the store and brings her home. It’s
nothing as sordid as an affair. But, yes, they are in love.”

“Tell her to come to Dewan Kutir tomorrow morning.” Ranbir
hung up.

Mira looked at her own mobile instrument resentfully. The
man was too much—so peremptory, so used to people jumping at a snap of his
finger. How was Reema to get to Dewan Kutir? Whom was she to ask for there?
What was she going to say who had sent her? There was no way around it. She
would have to go with her.

***

Mira and Reema stood outside the front door of Dewan Kutir,
looking at each other. They’d had a bit of a time getting past the guard at the
gate. Typically, thought Mira, Ranbir hadn’t thought to tell him they were
expected.

“Don’t worry,” she said now, looking at her sister’s tense
face. “You just have to show yourself to be willing to run around and help Mrs.
Dewan with whatever she needs done.”

“I don’t think I can face…” whispered Reema.

“Don’t be a goose!” said Mira impatiently. Then her voice
softened, “Remember, this is Ranbir’s idea. He’s on your side. All you have to
do is get through this initial interview with his Dadi. And, after all, she’s
Tarun’s Dadi, too. Just think of this as a practice run for when you actually
marry Tarun. Now, shall I ring the bell?”

A dignified looking woman opened the door. “Yes?” she
enquired, looking at them.

“We were told you needed someone to help Mrs. Dewan,” said
Mira quickly.

“Who sent you?” asked the woman sternly. Just then, Ranbir
came up behind her. “Ah, there you are—both of you? It’s all right, Mrs.
Bagchi, I called them here. Will you take them up—no, I’ll take them to Dadi
myself. I need to make sure the girl is okay.”

Ranbir led them up the stairs. Making sure they were out of
earshot of the housekeeper, he gave Mira a meaningful look, “Why are you here?”

“Well, you didn’t say anything about whom she was to ask for
here and what she was to say. Just look at her, she’s so nervous. I had to
come!”

“Well, don’t do anything silly in front of Dadi,” he said
leading the way down a wide corridor. Four doors down, he stopped and knocked.

“Who is it?
Aa jao
,” said a woman’s voice from
inside. Ranbir walked in, holding the door open for the girls to enter.

“Dadi,
pranam
,” he said, bending down to touch the
elderly lady’s feet.

“
Jug jug jiyo
,
beta
,” said Saudamini Dewan,
caressing his head with her hand in
aashirwad
.

Mira’s eyes widened. Was this for real? Ranbir Dewan, the
ultra-sophisticate, whose name filled the gossip pages, greeting his
grandmother in the traditional Indian way? She choked back a hysterical giggle.
Why did she suddenly feel she was taking part in a ridiculous farce? But the
old lady sitting in the wheelchair near the window, studying her gravely,
looked anything but unreal.

“Which of these is the girl you were talking about,
beta
?”
she asked Ranbir.

Ranbir gestured to Reema to come forward. “Dadi, this is
Reema, who will help you from now on. If you like her, that is,” he said
gravely.

Reema stood before the wheelchair, her head hanging down
shyly.

“Your name is Reema?” asked Mrs. Dewan. “Yes, ma’am,” she
replied in a whisper.

“Well, if you are going to be about me, you’ll have to talk
a lot louder than that. I am a little deaf in my left ear. Can you read
English?”

“She’s a history graduate,” said Mira loudly.

“And who are you?” asked Mrs. Dewan imperiously.

“Dadi, this is Mira, Reema’s sister. She works in our office
cafeteria. That’s how I got to hear of Reema,” interjected Ranbir smoothly
before Mira could reply.

“And why does this history graduate want to be my
assistant?” asked the old lady. She broke in, just as Mira opened her mouth to
reply, and waved an admonishing finger at her, “Not you, young lady, I want to
hear Reema speak. I assume she has a tongue?”

Mira flushed and kept quiet. “Ma’am,” faltered Reema. “We’ve
just moved to Delhi and Ma is still ill. We need the money, so the first job…”

“What happened to your mother?”

“She was injured when…when…Baba was killed and now we are
staying with Renu Mausi.” Slowly, Reema’s confidence was growing. “I was working
in a store, but it’s not very nice. So many strangers, Ma and Mausi were
unhappy.”

“And so they should be,” said Mrs. Dewan. “Do you know the
ten names of Arjuna?”

A look of surprise crossed Reema’s face. “Parth, Jishnu,
Keeriti, Savyasachi…” she began.

“
Bas
,
bas
,” said Mrs. Dewan. “It’s good to
know that unlike the rest of your generation, you have some knowledge of your
culture and traditions. I assume your mother has also taught you our religious
rituals and how to prepare for a
puja
.” Reema nodded.

“I think she’ll suit, Ranbir,” she said and turned again to
Reema, “Come tomorrow. Bring your things with you. I will have your room
prepared.”

Reema’s eyes flew open.

“She will have to stay here?” Mira was taken aback. “I don’t
think Ma…”

“Well, what did you think?” Ranbir intervened. “Dadi leads
an active social life with all the charities she chairs and organizes. Reema
will need to accompany her to most of them. This is not a ten-hour shift, after
which you get to go home.”

“You can go home every second Monday and come back on
Tuesday evening. I’m making this concession because your family lives here,”
said Mrs. Dewan.

“Mr. Dewan, I honestly don’t think Ma will agree to Reema
staying away from home,” said Mira. “I can talk to her, but really…”

“Why don’t you stay here, too, with her?” Ranbir cut in
smoothly. Mira looked up at him sharply. Now what did he have in mind? “You
will find it easier to get to office from here and, when you are here, you can
keep an eye on your little sister. With the two of you here together, your
mother will not be worried. It works out on all fronts.”

“I will have to ask her,” said Mira firmly. “Ma is not well
and frets all day while we are away at work. And she still needs a lot of
nursing. Mausi cannot cope on her own.”

She looked at Mrs. Dewan, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t
realize the situation. But we have to ask our mother before we can say yes.”

“Do you always talk for your sister?” asked Mrs. Dewan in
amused tones. “Very well, run along then and talk to your mother, but let me
know by evening what you decide.”

The sisters left the room and made their way out of the huge
grounds. Reema had just turned to her to say something, when a voice drawled
behind them, “That was not very smart, was it?”

Mira swung around in fury to face Ranbir. “You should have
warned me that she would be expected to live in,” she hissed.

“I thought you would realize it was inevitable,” he said.

“It never occurred to me,” she spat. “There were so many
things in my head yesterday. Your revelations were enough, and then Reema! But
I don’t think my moving in here with her is the answer. Ma needs at least one
of us at hand with her.”

“Think about it,” he said. “You have till evening.”

***

It was early evening. As Mira walked towards Renu Mausi’s
flat, she was lost in thought. How was she going to get Ma to agree to Ranbir’s
bizarre plan? She could not remember when Reema or she had ever spent a night
away from their parents, and now, at this time, to shift out of home
altogether? She almost walked past the gleaming white Porsche convertible
before she saw it. She doubled back to give it a puzzled look—where had she
seen that car before?

There were visitors at home. She could see the grill door
open and hear voices inside. She sighed, why today? The long figure lounging in
Renu Mausi’s three-seater sofa beside Dhiru Mausa caught her eye immediately.
Ranbir! Ma sat on the divan opposite, smiling gently at Ranbir, while Reema
stood behind her.

“You?” she asked, quickening her stride. “Why are you here?”

“
Beta
, you didn’t tell us Reema and you were going to
meet Ranbirji’s Dadi today? In fact, you didn’t even tell us you knew
Ranbirji,” admonished Mausi gently, as she came into the room in time to catch
Mira’s words. She was carrying a tray with biscuits and cups of tea on it. Mira
scowled at the sardonic look Ranbir shot her.

Dhiru Mausa took over. “Ranbirji tells us that his Dadi
wants Reema as her companion. That is very good because we’re not very happy
with her working in that store, as you know. Looking after a lady as well
respected as Mrs. Dewan is a much better job, but we are not very happy about
our
bitiya
living all by herself in a strange house. It is not done in
families like ours. Daughters leave home only when they get married—with their
husbands.”

Mira shot a meaningful look at Ranbir, who gazed into his
teacup, seemingly unaware of her look.

“But then again, Ranbirji tells us our families used to know
each other in Baghpat.”

Mira’s eyes flew open in surprise. Ma explained, “My
mother’s father was a good friend of Mrs. Dewan’s father. I did not think of it
till Ranbirji told us, but I do remember visiting Nanu-Nani and playing with
Bittoo and Varsha,
haina
Renu Di? That would be your Dadi’s brother’s
children, wouldn’t it, Ranbir
beta
?”

“Yes, ma’am, it would indeed. They are both in the US now.
Dadi’s brother passed away a few years ago.”

“In the event, we can hardly refuse to help Mrs. Dewan,”
said Dhiru Mausa. “And Ranbirji has come up with a solution to the problem of
Reema being all alone. He says you should also move there with her. We have
been worried about how long it takes you to travel to Gurgaon every day. Well,
it seems that problem, too, can be solved if you go with Reema.”

“No, Ma, this is impossible! Who will look after you? And
all those visits to the doctor and the hospital? You and Mausi will tire
yourselves out. We can’t both leave you and go away.”

“No matter,
beta
,” said Ma quietly. “We will manage.
I am much better now. I don’t need as much looking after as before. And maybe
this is what I need…to get up and stop being such a burden on all of you.”