Board Games

The market was on an upswing. Rahul was elated. He had invested in quite a few stocks and the profit margin was sizable. The gyrations in the stock market were to his advantage. Being a canny investor, he knew exactly when to buy and when to disinvest by selling some of his shares. He made his profit for the day and went home.

At home, Sheela served a bouncer.

“Rahul, Manekda dropped in today with a marriage proposal for our Ginny,” she said. “The family is good as you yourself know. Manekda’s son is working with one of the biggest financial management firms in the USA. Do you think we should consider it?”

Stunned by this information, Rahul exclaimed “Oh no. What’s the hurry? Our Ginny is only 21 years old. Let her finish her education first.”

“That’s what I thought too,” replied Sheela. “But Manekda says that since she is appearing for her finals this year, we could think of the proposal. Anyway even if we fix it, preparations for the marriage will take a few months.”

Rahul thought over. He knew his daughter well. She would refuse the proposal point blank. Her mind was set on not only completing her engineering degree but she wanted to pursue her post graduation in management from IIM. She had been meticulously preparing for the entrance side by side. But his wife Sheela, being of the old school of thought, would go forward with this marriage thing if he even gave an inkling of an acceptance. He did not blame Sheela. She had been brought up by orthodox parents who felt that the end-all of existence for a woman was her husband and family.

But the situation now was completely different. Ginny had been given the comfort of independent thinking. She made her own decisions as regards to the choice of college and subjects. She had her group of friends too. If Sheela was given the leeway to decide, she would go ahead with the marriage proposal. And that would not only be unfair but also be detrimental to Ginny’s ambitions.

 ‘Ginny is not a ‘mohra’ on the chess board to be moved as per our wishes. She is a grown-up adult with the capacity to decide the course of her life,’ he thought.

Rahul was clear in his mind. The answer had to be a firm ‘no.’