The Head of the Family

The Head of the Family

“As of now” Rawatji informed the men attending the board meeting, “the Punwars are an independent group.”

The news of deal not going through was a relief for the Punwar men. They were never in agreement with the terms and conditions of the deal but Dheerbai incessant nagging and reminders about the business suffering and going into loss and the fact Heer’s in-laws were part of the merger made them relent.

“But why were the papers not accepted,” Dheerbai asked faking concern in front of the others, hoping to make amends after the last fiasco.

“Because Ram is no longer the head of the business.”

All eyes turned to the door as an elderly lady entered the meeting room. All the men stood to greet the senior most member of the Punwar family.

“Kokoia ji” Dheerbai turned pale seeing the woman who completely ignored the former woman and took her place amongst the men.

Kokoia ji had supported Rao Ramrakh when the tides were against him. She had stood by his and the Punwar family side through all ups and downs so seeing her during their hour of crisis made sense to both Rao ji and Patta. 

Though her facial expressions made it clear that she was not a happy woman,

“Why wasn’t I informed about the merger?” she asked looking directly at Rao Ramrakh, “did you forget that I’m still an active representative of the Punwar board of directors.”

“We apologise Kokoia ji” Rawat ji jumped in trying to diffuse the tension, “everything happened so fast that we had no time to send you the correspondence.”

She nodded her head, “there is nothing we can do about things of the past but we can work towards a better future.” 

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “So let’s get to the main point” all eyes turned towards her as she sat little straighter and gestured for someone to enter the room.

“As I told you all before” Kokoia ji stretched her hand towards Rao ji’s old butler who passed her the file, “Ram is no longer the head of the Punwars. Hansa Bai ji has replaced him as the CEO and Ajabde is the Managing Director and her personal representative of the Punwar group.” 

She passed the file to Rawat ji who passed it to Hemant Solankhini and one by one the entire board saw the official paperworks announcing Ajabde Punwar as the go to person. Rao ji didn’t look at the file and directly passed it to Patta.

“This changes everything” Hemant Solankhini spoke up, “ if the deal is to be considered then we need HansaBai ji’s approval and to meet her we would have to seek out Ajabde.”

“Exactly” Kokoia ji smiled, “but both of them will be not available for any meeting for the next 10 days.”

“10 days” Dheerbai looked at Kokoia ji in exasperation, “we don’t have 10 days. The deal is the only way to keep the business intact.”

The elderly lady smirked, “in that case I suggest you go to Bijolia because both Hansa and Ajabde are there preparing for the upcoming wedding festivities.”

“Wedding preps in full swing. The card has been finalised. Puja to be held at the kuldevi temple in the coming days.”

“Ajabde seems to be serious about this wedding, don’t you think Dheer” Uma Devi grandmother of Phool Kanwar placed the mobile back on the centre table. Dheerbai refused to look at her cell phone. The maid she had planted to give her daily updates on the affairs in Bijolia was sending her messages that brought her worst nightmares to life. With Hansa and Ajabde taking control over the Punwar group her plan of taking money out of the company’s account was no longer feasible.

At the Punwar residence, Jiwa took blessings from Kokoia ji who hugged the newest member of the family. Caressing her face she asked her, “what made you choose our stick-thin, lanky and not at all graceful Patta?”

Patta made a face as the others laughed while Jiwa’s face turned red like a tomato.

Kokoia Ji handed her a box that held the family heirloom- a nosering passed down from generations. The nose ring made of pure gold, kundan, emerald and diamonds clustered together at the end was pure heritage jewellery but for Jiwa it was a legacy that had been handed down to her for safe-keeping. 

She was ecstatic that the senior most member of the family was a warm, lovable person and not at all as Dheerbai had described the lady- snobby, rude, ignorant and not at all approachable. Perhaps, Jiwa thought, Kokoia ji would be there team member against Ajabde Jija’s plan to remarry Maajisa.

Kokoia ji’s cell rang and as she answered all of Jiwa’s hopes shattered, “Champak Lal ji” the lady answered smiling, “how can I help you?”. 

She smiled all through the call, “you want to cook Ajabde’s favourite dishes, she would love it. I will text the names to you. Hansa would be so happy and don’t worry about a thing, I will make sure you get all the things you need and I have to admit I'm impressed with you, the way you are making sure of both  Hansa's and Ajabde's happiness like a true head of the family.”