Chapter 1: https://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/2013/10/good-people-path-breaking-novel-and.html
Chapter 2: https://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/2013/10/good-people-classic-novel-and-classic.html
In the living room of Medhavi’s house, it was time for conference between Shaan and Medhavi’s father where Medhavi and her mother also presented themselves.
To Shaan everything around him looked bright and nice. The setting of the drawing room appeared very congenial to Shaan. He noticed the subtle decorations in the room and he felt pleased. His thoughts got filled with anticipation of a positive outcome.
While it is normally dreadful for most of the sons-in-law in the making to meet their prospective parents-in-law, Shaan was the exception. In fact he was looking forward to meet his future parents-in-law.
Shaan knew that it would be a cakewalk. After all Medhavi loved him so much. She would have shared that fact with her parents and the conference was a mere formality.
Medhavi introduced Shaan to her parents and her parents to Shaan little more formally today, though Shaan had met her parents a few times earlier as a friend who was guiding their daughter in her studies. Then Medhavi’s father broke the momentary silence that prevailed in the room after exchanging the usual introductory pleasantries.
“Shaan, my daughter tells me that she likes you a lot. She is all praise for you that you are a brilliant student and the university topper. She told me that she just couldn’t match you in her grades despite her very hard work at the studies all these years. I am sure that with your extraordinarily bright career, you will bag a very good job and flourish in life. Yet, just like any other father of a daughter in addition to getting to know you, I will also like to know your family background. Hope it’s OK with you.”
“Sure. Do you mean about my parents?”
“Yes about your parents, other relatives. Your brothers and sisters. The usual stuff.”
“My mom and dad are very fine parents. They are very well placed and highly educated. Both of them are M.D. My father is a surgeon and my mother is a gynecologist. They are quite reformed to the extent that they had an inter-religion marriage in the days when even talking about it was a taboo. I am an adopted child brought home from an orphanage. I have no brothers and sisters. My dad and mom were outcast from their respective communities after their bold act of entering into an inter-religion marriage and so I cannot claim to have any relatives too.”
Medhavi’s mother went into a shock to hear this description of the background of the candidate for their future son-in-law. Medhavi’s father was shocked too but he controlled his body language. Medhavi had not supplied this background information of Shaan to her parents deliberately, as a part of her plan.
Medhavi’s father continued, “Just as part of some curiosity, what are your parent’s religions? And did they know your religion when they brought you from the orphanage?”
“My mom follows Christianity and my dad adheres to Muslim faith. They had decided this kind of arrangement at the time of their marriage. The orphanage had declared me a Hindu I don’t know on what basis. My parents did not hesitate adopting a Hindu child. They were quite overboard then, didn’t mind these petty things.”
“Then, what religion they decided for you?”
“Frankly they could not. In bringing me up, they could not decide on many issues for me. While marrying each other and in adopting me they had shown enormous maturity of mind, but they could not cross the threshold level of maturity that was required for deciding on various things for their adopted child.”
“I don’t get you,” Medhavi's father obviously wanted a detailed explanation on this sensitive issue.
“For example, there were serious differences of opinions among my mom and dad regarding some rituals. Should I be ‘circumcised’ like a Muslim or ‘baptized’ like a Christian or like a Hindu should I be administered through ‘yagyopavit’ or ‘upnayan’? Then there was the question of what should I eat or not eat- each religion has some restrictions and some permissions. Which ways I should pray and should I pray Allah or Jesus Christ or the Hindu gods? They would argue a lot and finally give up keeping the matter pending for decision at a later date. They went on postponing decisions on such matters and also my affiliation to any religion. They were afraid of losing each other if they did.”
“You mean to say that you do not follow either of your parent’s faith?”
“No. They were quite undecided till late. Since I am an adult now, recently they allowed me to decide on this matter.”
“Then it’s easy for you. You can adopt Hindu religion. You told earlier that you were a Hindu as per the orphanage’s record. So logically you could adopt Hindu religion since it is on records.”
“How does it matter? Even that might be incorrect. How did the orphanage ever know if I was a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Sikh or some else? Some one had left me at the orphanage’s doorstep on the second day of my birth. The orphanage in-charge just gave that tag to me as per his own thinking which I do not know. Therefore I have decided that I will not like to attach myself to any organized religion.”
The conference was definitely taking a serious turn and everyone in the room was becoming aware of it.
Medhavi’s father declared in the midst of such seriousness that he and his family would need some time to think.
“Does my religion less status bother you? I wonder if it bothers Medhavi. She loves me and I love her- that should be quite sufficient. My brain, skin and blood are no different than that of her and all of you. This expression may sound like a cliché to you but I mean it.”
Shaan looked at Medhavi, he needed her support.
Medhavi interjected a bit sharply, “Shaan, hold on. Give my parents a chance to think. They are quite broadminded and it will be OK finally.”
Then the conference got dismissed abruptly. Shaan wondered at Medhavi’s stance.
Medhavi did not even escort Shaan when he walked out. Shaan sensed indecisiveness in the body language of Medhavi.
But he was not hurt. He had the practiced realization that it was happening again. He was refused jobs during campus placements and other job interviews despite being a topper and he was now on the brink of refusal from his sweetheart and her parents.
He walked to his hostel room all alone.
(Get your copy of the novel "Good People" as an eBook from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BHH37G only for $ 0.99. You may also like to get its Printed Book from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Good-People-Dream-Boundary-World/dp/1479333085/ref=sr_1_8_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380916602&sr=1-8&keywords=shyam+bhatawdekar%27s+books)
Novels and Stories
Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/
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