Hello everybody 😊😊 Missed me😁 Of course you did😁 Yes my dissertation is over and so I m here 😁 But not for long as my exams have been postponed by a month😂😂
A huge thank you to all my readers for loving this ff and waiting so patiently for it😊😊 Love u guys loads😘😘😘

Chalo no more bad bad😁 Here we go😁

Dialogues in bold
Characters thoughts in italics
Narration is normal font

Flashback
Maheshwari mansion

"You are saying that you want to work Ragini! Not only that you want to join business too! Don't you know that bahus of Maheshwari khandaan do not work! DurgaPrasad bellowed at Ragini as she put forth her idea of working.

"Bade Papa please listen to her once and allow her to speak" Sanskar requested.

Durga prasad calmed down but questioned her again "Why do you want to work Ragini"

Swara jumped into the discussion
"Exactly my question ! Why do you need to work Ragini? We need to help Maa and BadiMaa with the chores. Plus BadiMaa needs care and how can you work when your mother in law is ill at home" She stated as she gave an apologetic look to Annapoorna.

Sanskar looked at Swara bemused. One would had thought that a girl who proclaimed so much about modern upbringing would never oppose her sister's decision to work. Wasn't she the one who claimed to support her sister throughout?

Ragini cast a glance at Annapoorna before proceeding with her argument

"Maa is recovering Swara. And she is going to her sister's place for a month.  So our staying in the house won't help with the recovery process. And regarding the chores I am sure the house help can finish the chores." Ragini pointed out

“Okay. I agree that our staying at  home won't be that helpful. But why business Ragini? Remember we started our own wedding planning company Ragini? What is wrong with that? Why not continue with it? You do know how much effort I put into starting it !” Swara fumed.

Ah ! So the problem wasn't that Ragini was not staying home to take care of BadiMaa but that she expressed an interest in joining business and not continue with wedding planning venture of Swara.

“I agree with Swara. It is better if you two continue to work on the wedding planning thing since you would know such stuff. But our business is very different and you know nothing about it nor would you be good at it. So it is best if you want to work, you work on the wedding planning thing. If money is the problem, we can give it to you.” Laksh replied clearly displeased with Ragini's idea.

Ragini grimaced at the mocking tone of her husband. It was almost as if he was insulting her.  She wished that her husband of all the people would support her decision. But then again she was wrong.

"Well we organised one wedding Swara and left the business midway. We were never into it anyway. Sure we did the arrangements but that wedding planning thing was more like a distraction so that we could keep our minds away from our family troubles. And as far as joining business is concerned, I feel that we will be able to work well in the field. It's true that we have never managed stuff like this before but there's nothing you can't learn. Our preliminary knowledge in BBA might even help us in the field.
Women can be good entrepreneurs you know.
It seemed like that latter part of her sentence was directed at Laksh.

Sanakar chuckled but then sobered up quickly.
"I agree Bade Papa. Both Ragini and Swara seem to have good business acumen. Plus it would be great if they join us and we can handle it better." He suggested

Ragini glanced at Sanskar and mouthed a thank you. He smiled in return.
If only Laksh had been so supportive.

"Okay. If that is what you want to do then you have my permission to work and join the business"DP stated after a long pause.

Ragini stiffened at his response but quickly covered it up. Sanskar noticed it however.

"Thank you Papa" She fake smiled and left.

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Sanskar carried two cups of tea towards the terrace.
He saw Ragini sitting on the swing lost in thoughts. He handed her a cup.

"Thinking about Bade Papa's words, Haan?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Ragini looked at him with a  wry smile. Over the past few days the terrace had been their favourite spot. They would sit there in silence gazing at the setting sun, each trying to make sense of their life.

"It is funny how women are granted permission to work . My husband allowed me to work. I wonder if a man ever said, my wife allowed me to work. " She responded

"What is funnier is how women don't realise they are treated like second class citizens. Whether she wants to work or not, it is her right to decide and not some bald middle aged patriarch's ! He stated.

She chuckled at his words. His words always made her feel better.

Men like him who respected women and understood how gender equality worked were a rare find. She smiled at that thought

"I know I m great but you don't need to praise me so much" He replied with a smirk

Ragini looked at him bewildered.

"What? Now I m not allowed to read your mind" Sanskar shrugged his shoulders and they both burst out laughing.

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Soon enough both Ragini and Swara had started working and had learned basic information about the company's working.

Ragini had better business acumen among the two sisters. Perhaps due to her observant nature or her reserved attitude, she could catch the minute details and habits of her clients.

Laksh was never good in business. While he seemed to be hot headed and ambitious, his impulsive nature seemed to be a major obstacle in his growth as a businessman.

Swara liked to emphasize her role in every project. Since her ideas had never been opposed she seemed to have quite a lot of trouble when things didn't go according to her plan
It was one such project that brought to the forefront her insecurities.

Maheshwari industries had filed a tender for a huge project and secured the bid. Swara and Laksh were too excited and ambitious about this project and wanted to give it their all.

They had developed an elaborate plan for the project and were discussing it with Ragsan when Sanskar pointed out a major flaw.
This did not go down well with Swara who seemed offended by Sanskar's criticism. While Laksh had a similar reaction when Ragini agreed with Sanskar.

“Laksh I think Sanskar is correct. More than profit we need to win the trust of our clients. More than profits it is long term relationship that matter in business.” Ragini voiced her opinion.

Laksh fumed and barged out of the room. He could not believe that Ragini did not support him in front of Sanskar. As a wife it was her duty to support him no matter what. What had happened to his Ragini.

Ragini did not expect such a childish reaction from laksh. Truth be told she did anticipate his anger but his childishness.

“Sanskar what was the need to oppose Laksh? Had you not opposed my idea and encouraged Ragini, she would not have opposed Laksh.
I did so many efforts for my sister's marriage but you spoiled it all.” Swara yelled at him and barged out of the room.

Sanskar stared at Swara as he tried to make sense of her reaction. How did his not liking Laksh's idea put Raglak marriage into trouble? Was Ragini not allowed to voice her thoughts? Did she always have to prove her love/allegiance to Laksh? Above all, what was it that made Swara so angry? Was she angry  because she was concerned about a possible tiff between her sister and her sister's husband? Or was she angry because he opposed her idea?

As he pinched his nose trying to keep calm, he realized that he needed to look for Ragini. There was no point going after Swara trying to explain his view since she always failed to look at his perspective. The wise thing to do was to talk to Ragini and apologize to her for  Laksh's behaviour.  Perhaps talking to her would help them gain some perspective and sort out their lives.

With this thought in mind, he left the room and proceeded to search for Ragini.
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I really don't know how this turned out. How was it? Was it incomplete?
Do let me know😊
Hoping this was worth the wait🙈🙈🙈