The Malhotras

Anand Malhotra met Sangeeta  in college in 1972. Jamia Millia at that time was one of the best institutes and was one of the best places to be in. It was definitely one of the institutes that had made a mark for themselves. Anand Malhotra was pursuing a BA course in Economics, while Sangeeta was pursuing a BA in English literature.

They first met during a common class. Both were 19 when they met for the first time. The first meeting made no difference to Sangeeta. But, in Anand it left a lasting mark. For the first time in his life, he felt he wanted a woman very much. He made his plans to be in touch with Sangeeta. Over the next one year, Anand would make it a point to attend at least a few classes every week with Sangeeta. Regardless of whether it was part of his curriculum.

In time he took special permission from the Head-master to attend the classes, citing profound interest in literature. He would take time out from his schedule for the English literature classes, just to have an opportunity of meeting Sangeeta. Then about 4 months after they met, he asked her to come for a walk in the garden. Anand’s efforts to woe her had not gone unnoticed and Sangeeta too had developed an interest in Anand. She agreed to go with him.

That evening as they walked slowly in the garden, Sangeeta was struck by Anand’s profound knowledge about business, politics and even English literature. He knew a lot of Shakespeare’s sonnets and could recite many of the verses in Julius Caesar or the Merchant of Venice. For a young man of 19 he seemed to be very focused on his career path. He knew very well what he wanted to do in life. What struck Sangeeta most was that he always respected the other’s opinion. Though Sangeeta had different views on many topics they discussed, he seemed to appreciate it. He was never worried about countering her and was frank about his own view, but without thrusting his opinion on her.

Sangeeta like these things about Anand and developed an attraction towards him. He showed respect towards women which Sangeeta noticed was not only for her. Over the next few weeks, Sangeeta kept waiting to meet Anand. If he didn’t turn up on a particular day she would get restless and look to meet him the next day. The moment he came, she would be waiting to ask him about his absence the previous day.

Anand had so far kept his love for Sangeeta a closely guarded secret from all his friends. He didn’t make any exception for his three best pals; Laxmi Iyer, Narain Arora, and Gurpreet Singh Chandok. About 2 months after their first walk in the garden, Anand one day finally disclosed to his friends about his feelings for Sangeeta. They were surprised that their reserved friend had finally found love. All the same they were happy for him.

Soon Anand introduced Sangeeta into the gang, and from then on, the 5 of them were inseparable. By the next year, Laxmi and Narain too developed a liking for each other, and in course of time, this developed into love. Gurpreet was the more studious of the lot and he would have his eyes inside his books most of the time. His biggest dream was to become a dentist. He was pursing a BSc in Chemistry as there were no Dental Colleges in Delhi and nearby areas then. His father would not allow him to go out of his sight, and hence he had to contend himself with doing a B.Sc. in Chemistry.

The days passed and they graduated. It was the Summer of 1975. Gurpreet, Anand and Narain came from business backgrounds. While Anand’s father had a diamond cutting unit, Narain’s father was into textile manufacturing. Gurpreet’s father was a commodities trader. All three of them joined their father’s business.

Laxmi and Sangeeta took up masters courses in Arts. This in itself was an achievement then. The actual reason though for both of them studying further was the inability of Narian and Anand respectively to speak to their parents. Both wanted to achieve something before owning up. In Narain’s case this was further complicated cause of his interest in a South-Indian girl. Intercaste marriages then were definitely no trend.

Finally in the December of 1977 Narain spilled the beans at home. He let his parents know that he wished to marry a girl who was not from their caste and community. The initial repercussions followed. He was not allowed to go out unnoticed or unguarded. His every move was monitored. But soon his parents realised the futility of this and decided to accede to his request. Laxmi had also had her set of problems. But when Mahindra Singh Arora finally went and met Mr. Vaidyanathan Iyer, things took a turn for the better. The marriage was held on February 1978.

Meanwhile, Anand too had admitted to his father about his love. Though unhappy with his son Dharamdev Malhotra relented fairly easily. He himself decided to go and speak to Anantajeet Rai, the bride’s father.. He went all the way to Hoshiarpur in Punjab along with his two elder brothers to ask for the hand of his daughter Sangeeta for Anand. Convincing and influencing people were in-born qualities in him and he came back with the date of the marriage fixed for August of 1979.

The marriage of Anand and Sangeeta was held at Hoshiarpur itself as was the request of the bride’s father. It was celebrated in a manner befitting princesses. The marriage over the two of them came back to Delhi and settled down happily. Anand was now completely into his father’s business. He was now looking at diversifying further into trading. Having a sharp mind for business he very soon setup a trading arm and grew the business manifold. 2 years later on the 14th of November 1981, Sangeeta and Anand were blessed with a baby daughter. They decided to name her Savita. Meanwhile, a year earlier Narain and Laxmi were blessed with a boy. They named him Rajneesh.

Anand was a dotting father and he ensured that his daughter was never left crying for anything. He always fulfilled all her wishes. Savita on the other hand was a very nice and well-behaved girl right from childhood. She would never throw any unnecessary tantrums. She was always obedient of her parents. She said her prayers every night and every morning. The Malhotras considered themselves very lucky indeed. Four years after the birth of Savita, Sangeeta gave birth to a baby boy. They decided to call him Ashwin.

From a very early age, Savita showed that she cared for people around her. In her parents absence the 7-yr old Savita would take care of her 3 yr old brother. Having a large circle of friends, Anand and Sangeeta had to go out often to socialize. Though, they had a governess at home to take care of the children, it was Savita who would make sure that Ashwin ate his food and went to bed. She would not go to bed herself until she put Ashwin to bed. Often the Malhotras would come back to see Ashwin sleeping on the bed and Savita sitting on the side and sleeping with her head on the bed.

The Malhotras found this not only cute but admirable. With his growing business, Anand never found it a problem to meet ever need of his children. While Ashwin developed into a playful brat, Savita as was the promise at the early age grew to be a very well-mannered and disciplined girl. Finally in 1997 Savita passed her 10th grade with flying colours. She was the toast of her school as she came on the merit list on the CBSE board.

It was then that Anand Malhotra got the first shock of his life, when his daughter expressed interest to go to Mumbai and study further. He tried to explain to his young daughter that there was nothing in Mumbai that Delhi couldn’t give. He told her that here in Delhi she would be in the best college. She simply nodded her head and said, “Papaji, baat behtar college ki nahin hai. Mujhey akele rehna hain. I want to live on my own in a city far away from here. I know that you are surprised by my request. It is not that I do not want to live with you. It’s just that I want to experience what it is like to stay alone. Here in Delhi you look after me, you care for me. I want to know what it is like when there is no one beside you to take care of you. Please Papaji, say a yes”

Anand Malhotra gave way. He was proud that his daughter was so independent and yet he was a dotting father. He tried till the last day though to change his daughter’s mind. But finally on a hot May afternoon, he put her into a Rajdhani Express. He had booked her a coupe with seats registered, one in her name and one in Ashwin’s name. This allowed her privacy and his influence with the TT and station master meant that the other seat would not be allotted to anyone else during the train journey in spite of being unoccupied. He had to do this as Savita had insisted on going by train rather than by flight. She was stubborn about it, and wouldn’t let Anand have his way at all.

The entire Malhotra family was there to say bye to Savita as she left Delhi. As Anand Malhotra turned away from the now speeding train with moist eyes, he remembered a queer poem by W S Merwin that he had read as a college student.

Your absence has gone through me

Like thread through a needle.

Everything I do is stitched with its color.