Prescribed Insanity

Chapter 2: Mutton Stew

"Chotte you are unbelievably stubborn," Devyani Raizada declared the obvious at the dinner table. "Anjali bitiya goes to such great lengths to ease your pain and this is how you repay her. I got mutton stew especially made for you today. Tell me how will you eat it when your face perpetually looks like someone hit it against a wall?"

"Nani I am not in the mood for mutton stew. And would you and Di stop fussing? It's just a toothache. I am fine."

"If you are fine then why can't you eat the mutton stew?"

"Because like we JUST discussed Nani, I am not in the mood to eat it."

"You are not in the mood because your teeth won't let you. Your teeth won't let you because you refuse to show yourself to a dentist. Even when you have one standing right in front of you. Which brings us back to how stubborn you are."

"Should I leave the table? Is that what you want?"

"Well a lamb left its life so you could have mutton stew in front of you at the dinner table and now you refuse to have it."

"Okay Nani, the next time I see a lamb I will make sure to apologize."

"Chotte that's quite enough," Anjali quickly intervened before things escalated. "Please have your porridge. And Nani please let's do this another time? I am actually trying to enjoy the mutton stew."

"It is nice isn't it? I'm having it made for the guests for Sunday dinner", Nani beamed.

"What guests? What Sunday dinner?" Anjali asked, confused.

"I am calling the Guptas for dinner this Sunday. You know, to reconnect. Did I not mention that? I thought I mentioned that."

"You did not mention that," Arnav spoke, his porridge laden spoon held in mid-air. "Why are we inviting random people over all the goddamn time in this house?"

"They are not random people Chotte. They are your late parents' best friends from Lucknow. We have gotten a chance to reconnect, and reconnect we shall. And you will behave yourself while we do it."

"I will not have to behave myself because I won't be there," Arnav replied.

"Of course you will be there. Every single member of the family shall be there."

"Nani we are not celebrating Independence Day where collective attendance of two families is required to hoist a united flag. I have an important meeting on Sunday night that I can't miss and I won't miss."

"You have a meeting on Sunday night?"

"Yes."

"On Sunday night?"

"Yes."

"Anjali bitiya can you see your brother has now started lying out of his teeth to his grandmother? After all, only rotten speech can come out from behind rotten teeth."

"Nani I am not lying. I run a company. We have working weekends sometimes. On this particular one, I have an important meeting."

"You do have an important meeting Chotte, and it is with the Guptas."

"Unbelievable dammit—"

"Language Chotte!"

"I am going upstairs. I'm done."

"First you waste mutton stew, now you are wasting porridge. This is bad karma, very bad karma Chotte. God is watching."

Anjali sighed and shook her head as she saw her brother storm up the stairs and looked at her grandmother in exasperation.

"Nani...!"

"What? God IS watching. He is watching over us all. What? Now we deny God in this house?", Devyani Raizada shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her mutton stew.

*****

"How was your day at work Payal?", Ashish Gupta asked his elder daughter at the dinner table while Garima Gupta unnecessarily fussed around them.

"It was okay-ish Baba", Payal replied. "Not the best though. One of my students got pissed with the other over some inane thing and cut her ponytail with craft scissors from behind. The entire primary section shook with the poor girl's cries. Then the parents came, and a whole huge affair followed. They demanded the cut off ponytail back for some godforsaken reason. I asked the culprit where it was. He said some other kid stole it and glued it with fevicol on his face and claimed that he had grown a beard in second standard itself. Then the hair wouldn't come off this second child's face. So then his parents came to school and I just ran around horrified from pillar to post. So yeah. Not the best day."

The entire table looked horrified at Payal as she recounted that pleasant tale.

"Er...yes...that sounds...difficult," Ashish Gupta managed to say finally. "I don't know how you do it Payal. Very tough job. Managing little kids. Anyway, how was your day Khushi?"

"I was going to say my day was horrible Baba, but after Payal's story I suddenly have perspective," Khushi replied.

"Why was your day horrible? And wasn't the Raizada kid supposed to come to your clinic for an appointment today?" Ashish Gupta asked with concern.

"You just answered your question Baba. He came, ergo my day was horrible. And trust me he is no 'kid'. He is a six feet plus pole of obnoxiousness."

"You just don't know him well yet. I'm sure Shaurya and Nandini could only have kids like diamonds," Ashish Gupta refuted with conviction.

"Yeah? Well, this one is still stuck at the coal stage of diamond formation I think."

"Khushi!" Garima chided her.

"What? He is. His sister is sweet though. I liked her."

"Good. You will like them more when we meet them this Sunday," Ashish Gupta replied.

"When we what?"

"Meet them this Sunday."

"Meet who?"

"The Raizada family. We are invited for dinner. All of us will go."

"Baba I have work on Sunday, I can't come." Khushi protested.

"You have work on Sunday?"

"Yes."

"Khushi your clinic is closed on Sundays."

"Yes Baba but not if there is an emergency. I have it open for emergency cases."

"You know on a Monday night that you will have an emergency case on Sunday?"

"......."

".......?"

"Yes.."

"......"

"Baba please. Don't make me do this."

"No discussion on this now. You are not a kid Khushi. We should know how to maintain relations. Now stop sulking and have your mutton stew."

"Maybe I will punch someone in the face on Sunday afternoon and that way there'll be an emergency on Sunday night," Khushi whispered to Payal.

"By the look of things at my school, maybe you won't need to. I'll bring one of my many problem kids," Payal sighed.

*****

Drop in your thoughts, yes? <3