Hasta-prāpya-stabaka-namito bāla-Mandāra-vṛkṣaḥ

Chapter Seven

"Dādā, we have a Photogram page now!" Nikhil was saying, excitedly, as Mandar walked around inside Deshmukh Saree Emporium. "We are getting so many orders online!"

Mandar grinned at his little brother's enthusiasm. "Of course! Tell me, how did you convince Bābā? I tried to show him my ShakalGranth page once, and he said, it's a waste of time. Nobody will look at so many photos. Picture-books are for little children - those were his words."

"I didn't convince Bābā. Pallavi Dī did that."

Mandar looked at Pallavi, his grin fixed in place, as he thought about what they had said to each other on their way to the shop. Pallavi still felt about him the way she had three years ago, when they had approved each other on the matrimonial site and gotten to know each other by video chat. So, a few minutes ago, Mandar had taken Pallavi's hand in his, and smiled into her eyes, just as he was supposed to do, and she had smiled back, trusting him. Pallavi had accepted him for marriage - that meant his life was getting back on track, right?

Pallavi had asked for a couple of days to talk to Raghav about an annulment; it wouldn't be decent if he heard about her decision from someone else. So, Mandar couldn't share the good news with his family yet. For now, his wife would still be Nikhil's Pallavi Dī, not Pallavi Vahinī.

"Tell me about it, Pallavi." Mandar looked from Pallavi to Krishna as the two women exchanged an uneasy look before Pallavi replied.

"I used to believe what Bābā said, that customers need to see sarees up close and feel their texture before they can make a choice, and our customers trust us because we answer their inquiries face-to-face. So, I never made the effort to advertise online. Then Raghav made me realize that even a trusted brand's reputation is fragile, and bad luck would swallow up our business unless I learned to fight back and be seen. So, I asked Nikhil to create the Photogram page and Āī-Bābā launched it together. Manasi is our photographer."

Mandar knew that Pallavi was trying to spare him the hurtful truth that Raghav had stalked her while he, Mandar, had not been there to protect her. Trying not to sound furious, he said, as gently as he could, "Pallavi, I know that Raghav made himself our landlord. I found out this morning that he was the one who slandered you, just before his mother told him to marry you. Did he also attack our brand's reputation?"

Pallavi silently nodded. Mandar looked at Krishna. "I want to know the truth. Don't try to spare my feelings. Tell me, Krishna, how bad was this bad luck?"

Krishna hesitated, looking at Pallavi, who nodded at her. One by one, the repugnant incidents tumbled out of Krishna's memory. "Mandar Dādā, it wasn't bad luck; it was all intentional. Raghav Jījū loves Dīdī now, but when they first met, he harassed Dīdī, just because she confronted the man that he sent to watch Kirti. Raghav came into the shop to intimidate me. He set fire to our raw material. He followed Dīdī at night and threatened to hit her with his car and smash her mobile phone. He tore up a beautifully hand-woven saree and used it to wipe his shoe."

So, Raghav was already stalking Kirti, Mandar thought, and he moved on to stalking and demeaning Pallavi. Women in business never know when harassment will spoil their entire day, while men like Raghav think so little of misbehaving with women that they make rudeness into a daily habit.

Krishna saw the look of disgust in Mandar's eyes, but he gestured that she should continue. "Mandar Dādā, I'm sorry, you don't know what you asked to hear. Raghav carried Dīdī out of her house at night and tied her up in the middle of the highway where a truck almost ran over her. He's sorry about that now. But right after he did that, Raghav bought our shop and sent people to bulldoze it and throw our wares into the street. He sent fake police to kidnap Dīdī, and when she lost consciousness while trying to escape on the road, he didn't call your parents to tell them where Dīdī was; he just kept her in his guest room all night while we were all worried."