Those Pricey Thakur Girls (43 page)

‘She’s fine,’ Bonu tells him. ‘Dabbu mausi’s getting married.’

‘Cool!’ Satish grins. ‘Congratulations. And… where’s your Eshu mausi?’

‘She’s not my mausi,’ Samar clarifies immediately. ‘She’s no blood relation.’

Bonu sniggers.

Satish doesn’t notice. His eyes are searching the space behind them. ‘So, where
is
she?’

‘She left,’ Samar informs him, not without some satisfaction. ‘Jai Kakkar took her.’

Satish swallows. His eyes shut, just for a moment, and when he opens them again, he suddenly looks years older.

‘Oh, of course!’ He nods vigorously. ‘I knew that! I thought I’d just check in case he was late. Because he’s a little… undependable, you know?’

They nod.

There is a pause.

‘You look nice,’ Bonu tells him kindly.

‘Thanks,’ Satish smiles. ‘Well! I’d better run or I’ll miss all the fun!’ He does a corny little disco move, pointing one finger into the air. ‘Woo-hoo! G’nite, kiddos.’

And whistling softly, he turns around and bobs away.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to
Suneet Tandon and Rini Simon, for bearing with my many many questions on what it was like being a newsreader in the eighties.

Mr Bhaskar Ghose, whose
Doordarshan Days
was a fascinating and informative read.

Google, for all the dope on the Anti-Defamation Bill, 1988. Satish Sridhar, for letting me cut-paste his name, surname and persona.

Samar Singh Shekhawat, for loaning his names to two boys in the book.

Mansi Jain, for the tedha naam Pushkar.

Nika, Nandu, Minni didi and Manu, for allowing me to swirl them in a mixie and produce a smoothie called Debjani.

Tara, for being such a Bihari.

First readers Niret Alva, Niharika Alva and Shalini Beri, for all their patient reading and critiquing. And Alok Lal, for providing the closure on Chandu.

Anupama Ramaswamy, for the fab cover. Sudeep Bhattacharya, for shooting the cover pic. Kavita Joshi, for putting me on to Nakul Sawhney, who gave me access to both his cat and his flat.

My cover girl – she-who-shall-not-be-named.

My cover cat – Chuski.

Neelini Sarkar – perfectionist editor – who conducted many experiments to check if water mixed with Dettol really does look like susu.

Karthika V.K., who always provides fantastic direction and insight.

My three gorgeous and fabulous big sisters, to whom this book is dedicated.

My mum and her sisters, who were quite the original ‘pricey Thakur girls’.

My nanaji, Thakur Dalchand Singh.

And, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ for teaching me both faith and patience in these last two years – and for keeping my family healed and happy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANUJA CHAUHAN wrote ads for colas, chips and chocolates for seventeen years before deciding to do something healthier for a living. She now writes novels, movie screenplays, news articles and her children’s Hindi essays. Her bestselling rom-coms
The Zoya Factor
and
Battle for Bittora
have been optioned by major Bollywood studios. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Niret Alva, two helpers who bang the doors a lot, a Lhasa Apso who thinks he is a German Shepherd and three adolescents who give her attitude.

Also by Anuja Chauhan

The Zoya Factor
Battle for Bittora

COMING SOON

The House That BJ Built

Anuja Chauhan

The last thing much-sought-after Bollywood director Samar Vir Singh wants to do is to go back to Hailey Road and get embroiled in a messy ancestral property dispute involving the various factions of his stepmother’s family. He hasn’t spoken to any of the Thakurs for years – and that suited him just fine. But now the clan wants to sell, and as Samar is the eldest, everybody is insisting he travel to Delhi and talk sense into his irritating step-cousin Bonu, who is running a seedy tailoring unit from inside the two-hundred-crore property and who clearly seems to think that nobody but she is entitled to a hissa in the house…

First published in 2013 by
HarperCollins
Publishers
India

Copyright © Anuja Chauhan 2013

ISBN: 978-93-5029-602-8
Epub Edition © JANUARY 2013 ISBN: 9789350299685

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Anuja Chauhan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction and all characters, places and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Publishers
India.

Cover design Anupama Ramaswamy
Cover photographs Sudip Bhattacharya

www.harpercollins.co.in

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