Javed naam hai mera phir se

Chapter 21

Parents always liked Anjali… Granted – her first engagement ended disastrously and her married life was even more dreadful… but Anjali vividly remembered that when she was a young girl of "engagement age" she was considered to be a very well-mannered, traditional and all-round "good girl". Sure, there was this issue with her bad leg but families of perspective suitors were willing to oversee this flaw for the sake of her own family.

They mentioned her "proper upbringing" and "respected social status" but Anjali knew it was nothing but "Raizada's fortune blinding spell". Once she even applied too much make up to make herself look hideous and almost vulgar – only to see if it will influence the outcome of the "bride assessment". It didn't. It never did.

The problem was – for the first time in her life Anjali kinda wished she HAD some name power for upcoming meeting with Javed's parents.

…

Anjali tried to be honest with herself… and the truth was she wasn't sure she could see their future as far as Javed did. When Javed told her about his plans if she'd ever said "yes" to his proposal, he spoke with so much conviction and confidence… something Anjali couldn't quite feel in her right now. But… that was a nice picture he painted… she could feel how her soul longed for that perfect future… and to share that future with Javed… it would be perfect too.

And now… before she even had a chance to figure out what her feelings for Javed were… Anjali was about to meet his parents.

Sure, Javed kept saying that this is just a formality for Nani-ji's sake, to keep up with traditions and all that… But for Anjali tradition was that when somebody came to ask her hand in marriage (even if it was only "for dating reasons") she had to be approved by the parents.

Which was a high order seeing how Javed's mom pretty much hated everything and anything Indian. What good it did Anjali to hail from India's Top 100 Power Dynasties if Genevieve Marion-Khan despised the whole country?

…

To be honest, it wasn't always like this. Genevieve Marion met Suleiman Yusuf Khan when he came as an exchange student for the Department of International and European Studies at Sorbonne Law School where Genevieve studied at Business Law Department.

As history would have it they hit it off immediately and for first two decades of their marriage it was a perfect fit for both of them… until he was called to India to work for Ministry of Law and Justice as a deputy minister. It was not an offer to pass easily so the Khan family took a plunge into unknown… and landed flat. India and Genevieve was not meant to be.

Not that she wasn't familiar with a culture or the country itself – in twenty something years she has had her share of family vacations here, Indian community festivals in Paris (she used to call them "my oriental parties") but being submerged into the Indian world so fully was new to her… and she didn't like it.

When Genevieve tried to pull off and get her family back to "civilized and dignified" France – it fell apart. Suleiman stayed to work for the Indian government, Javed headed to Delhi and Genevieve went back to teach at Sorbonne. The end.

…

Anjali has met Javed's parents once while they were still married – at Chote's and Javed's Harvard graduation ceremony. She didn't even have to ask Javed to point them out – they were visibly the most exquisitely beautiful couple in the crowd, simply stunning!

When Anjali got into talking with them struck her as a most kind-hearted and fun-spirited man she'd ever met – she laughed through all of his university stories. was much less talkative and mostly kept it to herself but she was polite and attentive to Anjali… that time.

Next time Anjali met was eight months later… but so much has changed in those eight months! Javed's parents got divorced and Anjali got married to Shyam – it was their honeymoon to Paris when she'd met at some fashion gala.

This second meeting could not have been more different from the first one. Anjali knew from Chote that Genevieve despised India for breaking up her family, but she'd never expected this hatred to be directed towards her in such a concentrated form.

It looked through her with burning gaze while Anjali tried to introduce her husband – but it was like talking to an ice statue – Gevenieve's only respond was stone silence as she walked away.

And now Anjali was about to meet her for the third time. She kept wandering – what would this time be like?