Contract or Covenant

Part 6

Mukti : "Oye joker. We are all discussing something important here and you are standing there and smiling to your self. What did you find so funny?"

Cabir : "When my sister was little, she used to pull my dad's hand and pester him to buy a doll for her. She was very particular about the doll she wanted. My dad would buy the doll for her even if it was expensive so that my sister was happy."

Dhruv : "What is funny in that?"

Cabir : "I was visualizing Mr.Murthy in place of my dad, this girl Nandini in place of my sister and Manik in place of the doll. Except that Manik isn't a doll, but a handsome man. Our current situation is similar but a bigger version of this scenario."

Cabir's started explaining what he was visualizing:

Nandini is in bridal wear.She is pulling Mr. Murthy's hand.

Nandini : "Granddad, I like Manik and I want only him as my groom."

Mr.Murthy comes to Manik with a briefcase. He opens it and takes out wedding attire for the groom and also some documents.

Mr.Murthy : "I want you to marry my granddaughter. I can pay any price you want in return - a job offer, ownership of company or ownership of property."

Mr.Murthy is waiting for Manik to choose one of the options, but Manik is angry.You can see smoke coming out of his ears. Manik takes out a sign board that reads "Not for Sale" and holds it in front of him.

Manik : "Abe Saale, you are having fun at my expense. Seriously, how do you manage to entertain yourself even in such a serious situation Cabir?"

Cabir : "Manik you should have known by now that Cabir's world runs on entertainment, entertainment and entertainment!"

Cabir's dialogue brought a little smile on all their faces.

Dhruv : "Were you listening to what we were discussing? What is your opinion about it?"

Cabir : "Sorry, I zoned out. What were you discussing?"

They told Cabir about their discussion. Cabir was holding the magazine with Nandini's photo.

Cabir : "She looks innocent to me. I don't think she is like how you think her to be. She wasn't present with Mr.Murthy when this discussion happened."

Cabir : " I am wondering what did she see in you that she fell for you by just meeting you for a few minutes?"

Mukti : "You could figure out how she is just by looking at her picture? Don't go on her looks, haven't you heard appearances are deceptive. She might look innocent, but in reality she maybe a rich spoilt brat."

Mukti : "What is there to wonder? Our Manik is so handsome, anyone can fall for his looks. Don't you remember how girls at our college would ogle at him. If Manik would have agreed, anyone would have been ready to become his girlfriend, but Manik chose Alya."

Cabir knew that Manik didn't choose Alya willingly, he was actually forced to accept Alya because of her suicide incident. They didn't want to lose a friend, so they convinced Manik to accept Alya.

Cabir : "About the proposal, Alya definitely has a point, it will solve all our problems related to wealth. But Manik is right too. Everything can be achieved. It will definitely take time."

Cabir : "If you go with the proposal, it will effect Alya, Manik and Nandini's lives. Alya is supporting the proposal already, so she doesn't seem to have any issues. It will probably fulfill Nandini's last wishes too.

Cabir : "So Manik, the decision is up to you.It is your life, you are the one who has to marry and stay with Nandini. It may not be as easy as how Alya says, but it is not very tough too since it is only for a few months."

Cabir : "If you don't go with the proposal, things will go on as earlier without any changes. Irrespective of whatever decision you take Manik, we will always be there with you. What do you all say?"

Dhruv : "I second you."

Mukti : "Me too. Isn't that our motto too : All for one and one for all."

Alya : "Yes...but do think about it seriously. I really don't care about Nandini's last wishes. We should think about how it will effect us."

Alya : "Opportunity has come knocking at our door. We won't get such an opportunity again. It is like we have a winning lottery ticket in our hands. I think we shouldn't let it go from our hands."

For the next two days, Alya repeatedly reminded Manik about the advantages of accepting the proposal. She stressed on the point that it will benefit all members of Fab5, though it would be most beneficial to her. She knew Manik's weak point, so she knew Manik would fall for it.

Currently,Manik was living alone. So there was no need to accept the proposal for himself. But all his friends had their families to take care of. He also knew about their issues related to money. Manik agreed to go with the proposal thinking that it will benefit his friends, though it would disrupt his life for a few months.

Manik informed Mr.Murthy about his acceptance for the proposal. They decided to meet and discuss about the future steps. Alya accompanied Manik as his friend, she wanted to make sure Manik doesn't back out. Navya stayed with Mr.Murthy during the discussion.

A contract was made with clauses benefiting both Mr.Murthy and Manik. Naturally Manik had an upper hand. Mr.Murthy wanted Nandu's happiness and he was ready to go to any extent for the same. Main content of the contract was as follows :

"Manik had to marry Nandini and stay at Murthy Mansion with her as a caring husband till her last breath. In return Murthy would transfer the ownership of his property to Manik's name at the end of the contract."

Manik and Murthy signed the contract and Manik and Alya left Murthy's cabin.

Murthy : "Navya, don't tell Nandu about the contract. She may not agree for the wedding if she comes to know of it. I know what I did is not right, but I couldn't think of another option. This was the only way to ensure Nandu's happiness."

Navya : "I understand, I won't tell her anything about it."

Mr.Murthy consulted an astrologer and the astrologer gave him the earliest auspicious date available for the wedding. It was decided that the wedding will take place at Murthy Mansion in a very simple manner with very few guests. Mr.Murthy didn't want Nandu to be too stressed.

It was the day of the wedding. The wedding took place with all the rituals. Manik tied the mangalsutra around Nandini's neck and applied sindoor in her hair partition. Manik and Nandini took the seven vows of marriage. For Nandini, it was marriage in the real sense. But for Manik, it was just a condition of the contract he was fulfilling.

Navya was beside Nandu all the time making sure that Nandu was doing fine. Anyone who saw Navya could make out how close she was to Nandu and how much she cared for Nandu.

It was night time. There was no question of first night considering Nandini's health condition. Manik was definitely not interested in it either. It was the first time Manik and Nandini were the only two people in the room.

Manik's thoughts: "It is not going to be easy. How am I going to show fake care and concern towards Nandini when all I have is anger towards her? If she wouldn't have initiated all of this, I wouldn't have ended up in this situation in the first place."