Born Again

Now it was the turn of Tania to add her two words.

"While I was making the coffee, the words you had spoken, from both sides kept going in my mind."

"My parents, your children, brought me up as a self-reliant person."

"Maybe they knew that a day would come when I would be on my own, so they trained me in everything,"she added.

"I like to live alone but I want to get to know the families from both sides of my parents. Be it Ukraine and be it India."

"Please do not mind, but I am OK from the financial angle."

"This house is in my name and my parents had started putting aside money for my future after I was born."

"Hence, I have a good amount of money in my bank account, also I will be getting a job soon in a nearby college."

Tania had dropped a bomb. There was a pin drop silence in the room. Cups raised towards the lips stopped midway. So did those cups on the way down to their resting place on the saucers. It was as if all the relatives had turned into statues.

Her words, that she would like to live alone, were not liked by everyone. All the relatives were undergoing inertia due to the shocking statement.

Her being financial secure and having enough money in her account as well as the house being in her name, were not of much concern to her paternal grandparents. She was, after all, their only grandchild and whatever they had as property etc would be hers. They just wanted to take her back to India to spend time with her to relive the missed out time of her growing up. They wanted to make amends for their irresponsible behavior to their son, their daughter-in-law, and their grandchild.

Even in the case of her maternal grandmother, Tania having a house in her name, being financial secure, etc was not an issue. Nikita wanted to spend the lost time with her granddaughter. By doing so, she would want to make amends for all the wrong done to her daughter, son-in-law as well as her grandchild.

However, her uncle Egor was not at all happy knowing that Tania had this huge house to live in, a car to travel in, ample money in her account. He was feeling jealous. He had everything in life but still wanted more. That too what others had if he could lay his hands on their money or property.

There are people in this world who think what others have is better than what they have. It is like the grass is greener on the other side.

He wished that he could get possession of all that Tania had in her name by hook or by crook.

Her being well-educated and on the verge of securing a job was also not to his liking. Somehow he wanted that Tania would go to Ukraine with them, and then he would be a goody goody uncle and swindle her out of her property and money on some pretext or the other.

So, he decided to get into her good books by pretending to be a very caring and loving uncle. He knew he had to adopt a soft stand otherwise Tania would not go home with them.

Tania had been watching the emotions playing on the faces of her relatives from India and Ukraine. In so far as her paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother were concerned, she had nothing to fear. They were kindhearted souls and wished the best for her.

She could see the changing colours on the face of her maternal uncle. She knew that he did not like her. His face was not very pleasing at the moment. It seemed as if he wished her dead, or she is transported to Timbuktu by magic.

Tania was a sensitive person and could feel energies. The energy emitting from Egor's body was not a helpful energy. It was all wrong energy.

As a matter of fact, when the relatives had landed at the airport, she had gauged that this maternal uncle was not what he seemed. Her father used to say an Indian Idiom that said, 'Hathi ke daanth dikhane ke or khane ke aur". This meant that appearances are deceptive. The elephant teeth for show are different compared to the teeth the elephant uses to eat. It was apparent that he did not like her. At the moment he was looking at her with a false smile. Tania guessed that he was no good, and she should be careful.

Her Dada Ji put down his cup of tea and addressed Tania, "I know that you are very independent as my son and my daughter-in-law have taught you to be self-reliant, independent as well as being resourceful."

"I and your Dadi Ma wish that you come to India for some time."

"We want you to get to know village life and if needed you can always go to the city now and then. You can stay with us as long as you wish. We will not hold you against your wishes."

"We will arrange for a young man to show you around as we will not be able to do so much running around."

Mira supported her husband and said, "Yes, Tania, come back with us to India so that we can spend some time together. To show you around, we will arrange someone."

Nikita joined in the conversation, and she also put down her cup in order to stress upon her needs. "I would like you to come back with us to Khayenky, our village in Ukraine."

"You have plenty of cousins to talk to in Khayenky, Ukraine," Egor added. "In addition, they will show you around Ukraine."

Nikita also felt that if Tania stuck to her decision, she would get the best of the two worlds.

On the other hand, Egor was a completely different person. His appearance was highly deceptive. Tania had seen this side of his face when she had gone to receive the relatives from the airport.

He was a cunning person whose main aim in life was to give himself the best of everything. Here, he was already in tension and wanted to somehow convince Tania to settle down in their village, Khayenky, in Ukraine.

Tania understood that if she landed up in Khayenky, he would not let her get out of that country.

"Yes, I entirely agree with mother here. We cannot let you stay alone in this big city." He said while rubbing his chin.

"Of course you can return to Moscow to do your job or study or whatever you want to do. Mother and I will never interfere in your plans."

Her uncle was a tall hefty chap about 6' in height and seemed to like dressing up in white clothes. Funny, had been dressed in white when the flight from Ukraine had landed at the airport where she had been waiting to receive her relatives from Ukraine with a placard.