June’ 2002, Monday – 23:00 Hrs,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough (NY City), NY.

They pootled up till they got exhausted and felt peckish again. They spoke about his college and friends and every other details that he had been in for the last few months but Aryan wasn’t happy that he had a chatter. He was never questioned on his future, he was never asked about his plans after his graduation and that’s the thing that deeply disturbed him.

As they spun-out and strolled in the garden Rekha had not spoken much in Vivek’s presence. She either had her head bobbing or her hands gesticulated. Otherwise, she shrugged off. Rekha was well schooled, it was considered truthful that she attained a bluestocking while she did her masters abroad before marriage. Yet she kept her stature of being a wife at the fore of a functionally illiterate but minted husband. They both had hard times having their eyes locked. It appeared to Aryan that they both might not be moving in the same circles. He wondered how he was brought into this world when the couple were hesitant to say word to each other but he believed there was a theurgy by the ring that binds them together in the name of marriage. He believed it strongly because he was convinced by a compelling reason by then: his own existence in this world.

When Vivek was a child, he hollered and affrighted Dayanand with his comportment at the preschool. All the more so, he was desisted from being sent to do schooling for a while. Later, Dayanand has been at the helm of sending him to phrontistery but soon after he realized that Vivek flunked at all the subjects and when Vivek confessed his struggle through the academy, Dayanand had no choice but leave him to his freedom. Since then he never went to high school or college.

Vivek life had more or less been submerged in the revels and relishing being the son of a millionaire. Most of the people who knew Vivek superficially babble and blithered that he quaffs and engages in fornication and shackled him with the criticism that was all he learned with undivided inquisitiveness and no swedge or grapples with life.

Aryan did hear on to them at multiple times but he had no perception of Vivek engrossed in a coitus. He never had any knowledge about the truth except for Rekha.

The inculpation of Vivek had also permuted his fate in conjugality. Going by the instincts of the mob, Anusha, who would had been Vivek’s wife, hadn’t Rekha be married to him, was surmised that she had eloped a week before the marriage. All the family took as gospel of the same but the veracity of Anusha’s mystery was only well-known to Dayanand.

At that point in time, Aryan only knew that Shekar and Dayanand were long-time friends. Lugging the gaffe in the name of his daughter, Anusha and yearning to square the things out for Dayanand’s family in the marriage, Shekar approached his brother, Shikar. Couple of days later, Shekar had made consensus with Dayanand asking him to consider Shikar’s daughter, Rekha as the bride on the same date of the marriage. Dayanand had no other choice as the full Monty for the marriage was in a fit state. In order to keep abreast with the whole ball of wax, Dayanand felt he got out off the hook, so he had to show no objection. When everything was said and done, Rekha was married to Vivek. Rekha was born and brought up for a while in Germany. Later she went to the US for her high schooling and graduation. She then flew for her marriage with Vivek.

Despite the state of affairs with Vivek, Aryan shrugged off on what had happened when he was not existing. He believed his father had done no mistake and all he did was to withdraw from attending school. Aryan thought, Vivek was subconsciously insignificant and unpremeditated to the consequences of being illiterate. He encouraged on his thoughts that it was an instinctual behaviour of a child and naively dropped the blame over Dayanand. When he contemplated, in slant of Dayanand, he by the narrowest of margins found a reason to impute the blame on him. Dwelling on to an unanswered question, he thought that why should a moneyed man’s son stand in for a struggle when he had power with deep pockets all through his life, and when the man was potentially strapping to bequeath the chattels and fortune to his son. The thought seemed to be convincing but the ramifications were unclear for Aryan.

---

Next Morning …

“Mama, can I ask you something,” Aryan checked with Rekha when they ensconced for the breakfast.

“Shoot” She came back like the deuce.

“Yesterday night, during the family time” He was bunged by all of equivocation yet he recaptured the sentience and asked, “Is there any an extreme tiff between you both?”

“Why do you think so?” she questioned back.

“It just occurred to me. You seem to be falling-out” Aryan answered.

“Aryan, do we have to do this talking now?” She said “it is good if we brush it off”

“It is just that I wanted to know if there is anything wrong. I didn’t intend to make you feel cramped, I am sorry” he said and retuned to heed over eating.

“It’s okay, don’t be. You will know when the time comes. Don’t think too much, stay focused on your career and future” she said in a low voice with subtle love.

“Alright mama, I like the sandwich”, he said licking his fingers as he finished with his breakfast, “So mama, will go out tomorrow, what say?”

“No Aryan, we have got a new CEO for our company” she said wiping her hands, “Nemo had planned a congress tomorrow evening. We will be going there” She dabbed her lips and they both walked away.

June’ 2002, Monday – 19:00 Hrs,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough (NY City), NY.

Aryan requested his mama to wake him up but she didn’t I knew she would do this as I might lose sleep. Aryan thought waking up. It was 19:00 Hrs and by the time Dayanand had arrived and was resting in his bedchamber.

“Hey Nemo” Aryan said in an extreme excitement as happy as a sand boy.

“O Aryan, my King, how are you young man, I missed you so much” Dayanand responded in a low voice.

Every single time when Dayanand meets him, he had a modus operandi of receiving him. With a grin like a Cheshire cat, kissing his forehead, taking him into his arms, ruffling his hair and then talked his heart out. This time it was a jolt for Aryan as Dayanand lay down while receiving him. Rekha’s incomplete look in the morning and Dayanand’s conduct triggered him a thought of his grands father’s illness. Up in the air, he opted to broach the subject with his mother and talk more about it to learn on what’s wrong with Dayanand.

“I am good and look at me, perfect” Aryan said with a sham smile as he had a hunch over the lurgy. “How are you Nemo? You seem to be busy all the day?” he asked.

“I am fine Aryan, absolutely fine,” he voiced out words sporadically in a low voice, occluding few of them.

“Nemo, why do you hold all the charges on to your head at this stage of your life? Don’t you wanna give it to dad? He is lying all day swigging”

“Hahaha! My King, back then when I married, I lost my wife giving birth to your father, since then, your father didn’t know what a mother’s love is and how would it be. I was asked to marry for the second time but I rejected all the proposals as I married your grandmother after loving and giving my whole heart to her. I never thought or wanted to share my love with any other women. My wife knew that she would die the next moment when she gives birth to your father, she always wanted to bring him to this world by giving her life to him. After your father came out of her, I took his life to be my wife’s. I never wanted my wife’s life to get into trouble, I never wanted my wife’s life to get strained with arduous tasks, be it physical or mental. I brought him up giving him everything he asked and I never wanted to anchor his life by ceasing his freedom because it only embarrassed me”

“That is the mistake you did Nemo, not caring for your son. You thought you were caring, but he took it to lenience and now you see him, don’t you? I am sorry, I pity my father but I dislike him for not keeping up to a be a real son”

“It’s all over Aryan, it’s an already a grown tree. Talking anything about it, howbeit will never get it right, it will only be a subject to kill time”

“I reckon the same. You take rest, I will see you tomorrow,” Aryan replied and left the room switching off the lights; shutting the door”

---

“So what has happened to Nemo, you may not want to lie” Aryan questioned his mom at the dining table.

“Please serve the soup to the junior” Rekha insisted the lackey. She replied “nothing to worry Aryan, he is doing fine. Just some problems with the lungs and the heart”

“Is it Critical?” he asked her sipping the corn soup.

“Not so serious. Nemo assured me,” Rekha reverted with a smile “Ironically, still and all he takes care of your father. So don’t worry son, he can take good care of himself. He is a strong man, ‘THE NEMO’, you know it”

“I am glad to hear the positive line of notion” he said.

After fifteen minutes of eating at the dining, he heard a familiar voice saying “how are you, my dear? When did you arrive?”

“Hi dad, I am okay! I have come in the morning while you are away” he replied reluctantly.

“Yeah Junior, I had to go out with Nemo, he had a doctor consultation today,” Vivek said, “Just the curd, I am half full already” while the lackey proceeded to serve the food.

“Why isn’t your stomach hollow dad? You had anything before coming for dinner?” he tried insinuating the tipple disposition of Vivek.

“No son, little stomach upset. I’ve come to spend time while eating with my son” he said, “It’s been a long enough,” grinning from ear to ear looking at him.

In fits and starts he despised him for who he was and fitfully, at the other times he endeared again for who he was. It was bizarre as such for Aryan, the fusion of two extremities in emotions: despise and the love. He was never concerned about the ambivalence in his feelings. He had the perspicuity for why he had an aversion or a tenderness. Aryan thought, unlike him most of his mates, they categorically divided people into good and bad based on subjective feelings. He explained himself that if they liked an individual then anything was right in regards to that person but if they abominated then everything else was wrong in regards to that loathed person. In fact he believed that he never found a mate who liked the right and shunned the wrong in a person. I am the only person maybe, who accepts the right and leave the wrongs Aryan dabbed on his confidence.

They were finished with the dinner by the time it was 22:30. “Dad, let’s go and mama you wanna join this time?” Aryan triggered an uninvited question. After dinner, the three had a routine of walking in the garth. They called it “a family time”.

June’ 2002, Monday – 08:00 Hrs,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough (NY City), NY.

Aryan arrived in the morning at his hometown airport. Rekha, Aryan’s mama had been waiting at the airport for more than half hour hankering for meeting Aryan.

“Hey, mama!” he voiced out and clasped by taking her into his arms. He found her shedding tears as the palm of her hand touched his countenance at a slow trot. “Oh, mum! Please, I am back, come on”, Aryan pepped up dabbing her eyes with his hankie.

They walked down towards the car in the parking lot, “Where is dad?” Aryan asked as he gazed at inside of the car catching sight of no one else expect the chauffeur.

“He hasn’t come, he is busy with…”

“With what? Slugging?” Aryan said in haste, much to his chagrin, expressing his discontentment apropos to his father for not making it even so after coon’s age.

“Aryan, you might want to pull yourself out of the cogitation. He is busy, story end” Rekha said apprising Aryan implicitly to put an end to the moot.

“Okay! I don’t want to trouble you. Let’s scoot off to home. I am famished, it’s been months since I had homemade food” he said hopping in the Rolls Royce.

Rekha pulled out a baggage from the rear shelf and posited on the rear seat tray table. Presto! She unstowed the bag lunch and uttered, “Aryan, here, Sautéed Chicken with sweet potatoes & pears and the stroganoff chicken”

Flabbergasted Aryan voiced out, “Mama, are you kidding me?” he paused, “It suddenly is appetizing” he said.

“It’s more than an hour drive from the airport, you would feel hungry by the time we reach home” Rekha made it plain.

“Absolutely delicious! Mama I love you and I am so lucky to have you as my mother. You have attained the candid expertise in cooking different cuisines. Lots of kisses” Aryan mumbled with glob of chicken in his bazoo.

“That’s not all dear” she made him hold onto another surprise, “the satay chicken stir-fry with snow peas, your preferred recipe above all”

“You know what Mama,” he said momentarily, “I am gonna add on weight this summer.”

By the time he finished the brunch they reached home. The home is the only place on earth which never showed a sign of change. Aryan said to himself.

---

Dayanand, a millionaire, gramps of Aryan. He built a palatial edifice outspread over nigh of thirty-thousand sq. Feet in area. The entrance gate was twelve foot tall, full of iron weighing a bigger number tons, well equipped with surveillance cameras. The guards were in a livery, clasped with a logo on the raiment, exclusively suggesting to the public about the millionaire residence. As one ingress for few meters down the entryway, the alley cuts right opening on to a vestibule with a double passageway for high end security check. A few more meter walk down the track to the left will lead one towards the foyer. To the right, one will find the sods, different kinds and sizes of fountains were set-up in the midst of sward on either side of the pathway evincing a route to the parking lot. The property produces its own wine in the backyard, for the guests to meander all over the garth, it would take two long days. The entrance of the house had a thirty-foot tall entry hall, intricately carved ceilings, everything looks affluent right from the exotic hardwood flooring in the front room to the goblet pleat curtains billowing like mist on the wall of the floor. The furnishing of the interior was vividly an urban modern pull up composed of integral elements from wide range of Ethnic heirlooms, shabby chic décor, Scandinavian décor and glamorous chic décor. Portion of interior design had hand carved wormilesanship in addition to antique furniture’s including davenport desk, drop-leaf table. There were in total fifteen bedrooms, wrap-around balcony, an atrium, a home theater well-nigh spaciously accommodating forty people, a family room with another terrace, wine cellar, three projection rooms and an art disco night club. The house also had six thousand sq. Feet allocated to the playing zone, it has tennis courts, billiard board, swimming pools; each room has its own beauty timely melting into the other room. Despite having such a mansion, Aryan left the city for various reasons from his mom end.

Aryan loved Nemo, his grandpop sobriquet, all through his heart as much as he loved his mother. The first thing he always did after arriving at home was to rush up to his room soon after hopping off the car.

“Mama, where is Nemo?” Aryan asked looking arrantly nonplussed after ceasing his search in the abode.

“Nemo has an appointment today for the weekly health check, he might have gone to the infirmary”

“What happened to Nemo lately? Why a check-up?” He asked with an oblivious thought.

“Nothing darling, he is fine. Go get some sleep, you are already tired”

“We do have a family doctor but why Nemo has to go,”

“Son, you can buy the time of a doctor, but not all the equipment in the hospital, it is useless” she responded.

Unbriefed about the actual problem, Aryan nonchalantly said “okay, just wake me up after Nemo’s arrival, don’t hesitate”

“Okay, get some sleep” Rekha responded.

He left to his bedchamber in the sixth floor. He turned on his mobile phone from the flight mode.

Oh gosh! Aryan puffed out. My bad that I missed out.

“You don’t answer my call when I needed you the most” one of those several messages said. “Sorry dear, I have just reached my home, going for some sleep, will talk to you sometime later, don’t mind.” He replied and he doze off.