CHAPTER 41
VIKRAM
Flashback (New York)
Mom and Dad stare at me, horrified.
“Drink anyone?” I ask, opening a bottle of red wine.
“This conversation does not need a celebration, Vikram. I cannot believe you are actually planning to go to India,” Mom argues.
I pour wine into three glasses and pass two to them. They’ll need a drink to relax when they hear me out completely.
“I’m missing my wife, Mom. Nothing wrong with that.” I take the opposite couch and relax, sipping my wine. I’ve already asked Ajay to get the jet ready. I have to fly in a day.
“Then call her here,” Mom suggests.
“I want to surprise her.”
“What surprise?” she snaps, realizing I’m not happy with her argument.
After a few seconds of silence and dozens of glances between my parents, my mother speaks again.
“Fine, Vikram, I understand you’re missing her, and its high time you both put an end to this long-distance relationship. So please, now that you’re going there, sort this out and make her shift with you permanently here.”
“Meera is right,” Dad interrupts. “Give her all the necessary support to wind up, and then she can start her business here. We can all help her set up.”
I smile and nod gently. “You’re not getting my point, Dad. I’m not going there to convince Maahi to shift here. I’m planning to shift there for a longer period this time.”
“What?” Mom scowls. Dad looks even more annoyed.
“Longer period? How long?” he queries.
“I don’t know. Maybe a year or more.”
“Vikram, you can’t be serious,” Mom shouts, putting her wine glass down. “You’re leaving us?”
“I never said that. Why do I have to leave you guys? You’re my parents, my family, and Maahi and Daadi are part of it too. They’ve been alone for ages. It’s high time I give them a family environment.”
“Is this your Daadi’s idea? Did she force you to do this?”
“Mom, please. Whatever grudges you and Daadi have, this has nothing to do with it. Shifting there for a year is my personal decision. I’ll keep visiting the US every two months for a week or so. I know people here will need my presence for some important decisions at work. I’ll keep traveling, which I don’t think is a problem for now.”
“We need you here full-time, Vikram,” Dad scolds. “Do you think all this is a joke? What is there in India for us? We don’t even have our business set up there. Grover Group’s presence is in the US.”
“About that,” I nod. “I was thinking, how about we expand Grover Group in India too? I know this can’t happen in a year, but…”
“Vikram, 25 years ago, I came from India to set up our business here. And now you want to go back there?”
“It’s our home country, Dad. You wished to move out back in your days, and I wish to move in there and start something again. What’s the harm?”
Mom is almost in tears, and Dad has to stroke her back to make her feel better, but it doesn’t work.
“Look at your mom. How could you do this to her?”
“How could you do this to Daadi, Dad? If I’m wrong now, you were wrong back then. Don’t you think?” I ask, and again there’s complete silence. “You both left her too.”
“Oh,” Dad clenches his jaw. “So, is this some kind of vengeance you’re taking on her behalf?”
“I would never do that to my parents,” I assure, reaching them and sitting next to Mom. “I love you, Mom, and you too, Dad. But staying here and waiting for my wife to make the first sacrifice is not my choice. I want to take the first step.”
Mom doesn’t say a word after that. She pushes me away and hurries to her room. Dad gets up, annoyed.
“You’re making a mistake, Vikram. Your life is here…”
“Maybe my life is here, Dad. It always has been. But now my soul is there, and without it, I don’t think my life will be any better. I have to go, and I wish you both could bless my decision.”
“I built this empire for you, Vikram, and you just want to leave it?”
“I’m not leaving anything. I’m expanding it to a place I want to live in. Besides, Devki Estate also needs looking after. So much is happening back there, and I can’t leave Maahi and Daadi to handle it all alone. I want to help them.”
Dad shrugs in disbelief. “You cannot stay happy without keeping your parents happy, Vikram.”
“Do you agree with that?” I mock. “I thought you and Mom had the happiest life here without Daadi in it.”
Dad glares at me for relating everything between us today to the mistakes he made in the past. He gulps down all the wine and heads back to his room. I know this didn’t go well, but I hope it will end with us all together someday, as a complete family.