Chapter 8: Why the Pin Drop Silence?
This is the library of my parents."
"They spent hours in this library reading various books of medicine and surgery."
"Some books here, could be the ones you initially bought for your son and daughter."
Her Dada ji and Dadi ji as well as her Nani ji and Mamu ji started to check the huge room.
They found the books that they had bought for their children before they had boarded their flights for Moscow.
Suddenly, her Dada ji saw the wall containing her books on History from the early Indus civilization till India gained independence from the British rule. In addition, he found some books about Past Life Regression.
He called her Dadi ji to have a look. Her Dadi ji was looking at the books that her son had brought from India when he had got admission in a Russian Medical college.
Similarly, Nikita, Svetlana's mother, was reliving her moments in their family history when she and her husband had bought their daughter a few books on medicine. Tania could see the eyes of her grandparents glistering with un-shed tears.
Tania guessed that something on her side of the wall had triggered an immense emotional response from her paternal grandparents. She had a mystery to solve and would get to the bottom of it after everyone had their lunch.
"I think we need to see the faces of each one of us while we are discussing my future," said Tania with a smile while gesturing towards the study table.
Everyone took their seats around the Oval table. Tania then tried to explain the events from her parents death to date. Everyone was listening silently. It must have been a painful experience for their Tania, they all thought.
Her paternal grandparents tried to convince her to go back to India with them. Simultaneously, her maternal grandmother and her Mamu tried to convince her to go with them to Ukraine. They gave their reasons from being the only child ( India) to having a family of siblings/cousins to look after her(in Ukraine). They put forth their arguments in a convincing manner.
If anyone else had been there instead of her, she was sure that person would have chosen straight away where she wanted to live. However, she had already decided that she wanted to see both worlds before she decided. Hence, she waited for an opening in their sentences to put her points across.
"'Would you like a cup of coffee?" She asked everyone. She had thought that the meeting would turn into an acrimonious debate if it was allowed, and she did not want this to happen.
Soon she was back with five cups filled with coffee which she placed before the elders. But wait, where were her dada ji and dadi ji? They had gone to her wall and were talking among themselves.
She asked what was the issue? She had gauged that this wall, particularly the books on Past Life Regression, held their attention.
"Nothing, We were just admiring your collection of books," said Dadi ji.
"In the afternoon we would like to talk to you about Past Life Regression."
"Yes, Of course," replied Tania.
Now it was the turn of Nikita to add a few lines.
"We need to finish our discussion before lunch if possible," Nikita spoke in an authoritative voice. " If we do not arrive at a solution, then we need to carry on discussions after lunch."
"I have no intention of seeing her living alone in this huge house anymore." she voiced her opinion." We elders have been pig-headed in the past and our children had suffered. We, as parents also suffered but now, Mira and I will not let this suffering continue for our granddaughter."
"Yes, agreed," replied Mira.
"Lunch is almost ready, like I told you earlier, we can continue our discussion after coffee."
Now, it was the turn of Tania to add her two words.
"While I was making the coffee, the words you had spoken, from both sides, kept repeating in my mind."
"My parents, your children, brought me up as a self-reliant person."
"Maybe, they knew that a day would come when I would be on my own, so they trained me in everything," she added.
"I like to live alone but I want to get to know the families from both sides of my parents. Be it Ukraine and be it India."
"Please do not mind, but I am OK from the financial angle."
"This house is in my name and my parents had started putting aside money for my future after I was born."
"Hence, I have a good amount of money in my bank account. Also..., I will be getting a job soon in a nearby college."
Tania had dropped a bomb. There was a pin drop silence in the room. Cups raised towards the lips stopped midway. So did those cups on the way down to their resting place on the saucers. It was as if all the relatives had turned into statues.
Her words, that she would like to live alone, were not liked by everyone. All the relatives were undergoing inertia due to the shocking statement.
Her being financial secure and having enough money in her account as well as the house being in her name, were not of much of a concern to her paternal grandparents. She was, after all, their only grandchild and whatever they had, as property etc, would be hers. They just wanted to take her back to India to spend some time with her, to relive the missed out time of her growing up. They wanted to make amends for their irresponsible behavior towards their son, their daughter-in-law, and their grandchild.
Even in the case of her maternal grandmother, Tania having a house in her name, being financial secure, etc was not an issue. Nikita wanted to spend the lost time with her granddaughter. By doing so, she would want to make amends for all the wrong done to her daughter, son-in-law as well as her grandchild.
However, her uncle Igor was not at all happy knowing that Tania had this huge house to live in, a car to travel in, ample money in her account. He was feeling jealous. He had everything in life but still wanted more. That too what others had, if he could lay his hands on their money or property.
There are people in this world who think what others have is better than what they have. It is like the grass is greener on the other side.
He wished that he could get possession of all that Tania had in her name by hook or by crook.
Her being well-educated and on the verge of securing a job was also not to his liking. Somehow, he wanted that Tania would go to Ukraine with them, there, he would be a goody goody uncle and swindle her out of her property and money on some pretext or the other.
So, he decided to get into her good books by pretending to be a very caring and loving uncle. He knew he had to adopt a soft stand otherwise, Tania would not go home with them.
Tania had been watching the emotions playing on the faces of her relatives from India and Ukraine. In so far as her paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother were concerned, she had nothing to fear. They were kindhearted souls and wished the best for her.
She could see the changing colours on the face of her maternal uncle. She knew that he did not like her. His face was not very pleasing at the moment. It seemed as if he wished her dead, or she be transported to Timbuktu by magic.
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