Tewari & Sons, 23, Chandni Chowk

Chapter 14: Courage

Arnav looked at Tumpa while she slept on his lap, her tiny form needlessly bundled in a ton of clothes though it was April and the days were very warm.

"Jeeju, why are you torturing the poor child by wrapping her in so many layers? Perhaps that is the reason why she has been such a handful," he said to Jun Jeeju who was furiously typing away something on his laptop. Possibly some hundred-thousand-word opinion piece on the just concluded elections. Result day was tomorrow and already the city was agog with all kinds of speculations on the possibilities of formations. The exit poll had clearly pointed to a verdict that suggested that the INP would get a majority. This meant that Payal was thrilled, and Jun Jeeju in a somewhat dramatic moment was considering immigrating to a country that would have a more left-leaning government. But he had a report to turn in and Di needed to catch up on sleep, so Arnav had volunteered to entertain Tumpa.

Tumpa, aka his niece Debanjana was honestly the most precious baby he had ever seen. Not that he got to meet too many babies, but he was certain that even if he did there would be none like his niece. She had barely been a few weeks with the family and already his sister and brother-in-law had fattened her up nicely into a chubby child. Tumpa was also the noisiest human he had ever met. Especially if one were to consider the size of the human vis-a-vis their ability to produce noise, it was baffling. When she gurgled and laughed, it was loud. When she cried, she was even louder. Jeeju, fuelled by NK's Indian Idol dreams already was of the belief that Tumpa would hit the high notes with ease and was possibly scouting for music teachers for her in Vasant Kunj. Like most babies, Tumpa had a penchant to keep her parents awake until late into the night and messing up with the sleep patterns of the entire household. And if that were not enough, she did not like to be put down on a bed or her crib and insisted on sleeping on an adult's lap. Di had gone from, "Oooh, my favourite lap-top ever" in the first week to "God, we need to stop feeding her so that she does not weigh so much and give me arthritis". Of course, she meant this in jest, but his Di was exhausted. So if because of him jeeju could get some work done and Di get some rest, he was more than willing to test the strength of his knees. He was sitting on the floor, his legs crossed and Tumpa on his lap over a quilt that apparently used to be his baby quilt, though he had no recollection of it.

His mother had returned last week and had somewhat uncharacteristically driven down straight from the airport to Di's house. On reaching, she attempted to persuade Jun Jeeju to allow Di and Tumpa to stay at Raizada House for a month or so until they settle in. She even generously suggested that Jun Jeeju move in too and enjoy the Raizada hospitality for a while. But Di would hear nothing of it. After which, mom decided to loan HP to Di for a few months, but Di declined that too. This had led to an unpleasant encounter between the two women during which Di insisted that unlike her mother, she intended to be a hands-on mom. Of course, Di did not tell him any of this, but a distraught Jeeju had called him after his mom left. Jeeju loved his wife, and always supported her, but he also liked to keep peace within the family. Arnav had to reassure Jeeju that this was typical Raizada modus-operandi of letting things fester and then come out in inappropriate ways and at all the wrong moments. They all move on, until the next time.

"So Di did not want the services of HP, eh?"

Jun looked up from his laptop and grinned.

"Do you want some beer? It is kind of hot already, isn't it?" Jeeju asked him, as he walked towards the refrigerator.

"Beer? With Tumpa on my lap? I don't think so. Get me some chilled water if there is any," he said, carefully placing his palm to cushion Tumpa's cheek as he adjusted her again. His legs were almost asleep and he was beginning to see why Di was getting all antsy about Tumpa's disinterest in sleeping on the bed.

"Why? You think she will open her eyes and be disappointed that her Maama enjoys a drink? Do you think babies are more judgemental than adults? Arnav, sometimes you are so hard to understand."