Unfazed

15. The Price You Pay For Ambition (Deeksha)

I had always, as a child, wondered what the lives of the 'elite' looked like. Even with all the progress that we as a family have made, watching Papa scoop out some of Ma's ice-cream from her bowl while she wasn't watching, wasn't ever something I imagined. While Harsh and I erupted into peals of laughter, Ma, without a glance at her bowl, simply served herself some more. "Really Ganesh – you could have asked me to pass you the tub, you know?", she asked in pretentious abhorrence.

Smiling like a child caught with his hand in the candy jar, Papa slyly diverted the conversation by asking, "So – Harsh and Dee; what did you do today?" Of course, though this was more out of tradition of our schooling years than actually wanting to know the details of our day, we didn't mind. Recounting our little trip to the Start-Up Fair (and smartly leaving out the parts that involved meeting Mr Dev Sanghvi and out little row thereafter), the tale ended with Ma telling Papa about the little scene in the kitchen that she walked in on.

This ended in all of us laughing our hearts out until Papa said, "Kids – let's clear the table." Walking into the kitchen with the last of the dishes, Ma was wiping the table clean when Papa asked Harsh and me, "Who's turn is it to help tonight?" Without batting an eyelid, both Harsh and I pointed to each other. Laughing at us, Papa said, "Okay – technically Harsh has been doing it for six months now. So you should do it, Deeksh."

Sighing at the fairness with which our parents always did things – as far as they could – I braced myself to a long conversation with Dad; one I wasn't sure if I had the strength to go through at this point.

The first few plates and dishes dad washed, were passed to me in silence. My job was to dry them and put them away. By the seventh plate (not that I was counting or anything), Papa – in the quiet, pensive tone only a father's voice can have – asked me, "So what is your plan now?"

"Umm.. I.. I've thought about it, Papa. I have. I'm at a stage where I know where I want to land up or try to land up.. But I just don't know how to land up there," I admitted. "Hmm.. Makes sense," he said, surprising me, "And where might that be?"

"I want to work with aesthetics," I said with a pause, "What I mean is, there are not very many options here where you can avail all-round aesthetic services. See, there are designers for everything. There are stylists, image consultants, etc. But there isn't an integrative store where you can get things to match your aesthetic – in a 360 degree manner. Eventually, I want to create an enterprise or institution like that."

"Sure – if that's what you want," struggled Papa, with a particularly dirty pot.

"But that's the thing, na, Papa? While I have the destination in mind, I haven't figured out the commute yet", I sighed. "Hmmmm," came the reply as Papa continued to scrub away at the stains.

It took a little longer for Papa to get done with that pot. As he handed it to me to be wiped and put away, he was looking at me almost curiously. "You think my idea is weird. Or worse, not feasible," I stated. Really, I didn't think it was worth making a question out of. "What? No no. Why would you think that?" gushed my father, embarrassed.

"I was just thinking that I might have something to help you figure out the commute", he continued, gesturing at the last phrase. "Okay... I'm listening", I replied, genuinely intrigued.

"There is a friend of mine who runs a little café at King Square. He does quite well for himself – but he's been wanting to change the décor of his café and do some renovation and the like. His wife runs the café and he owns it," He elaborated. When I nodded, he went on to say, "They're childless and would love to have an extra pair of hands to help overlook the work. If you'd like," he was about to say something else too – but I cut him off screaming "YEESSSS!! I'll do it. I'll take it."

If my mother walked in, she would have seen me drop the dish towel and hug my dad saying, "Thank yoooouuuu. You're the beeessssttttt!!", followed by the chuckles of my dad and "Yeh ladki kabhi nahi sudhregi." ("This girl will never learn/improve.)

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Your parents stepping in and offering you an opportunity > everything else! 

So cute lol!! 

Will Deeksha get the job? 

Stay tuned!! :D