Family struggles
When Niraj and his sister were brought back to the Jagat Seth's house, the siblings were dazzled by everything. "It is like the king's palace from grandmother's stories.", Niraj muttered.
Niraj's sister was around 5 or 6 years of age. She was understandably very timid and scared as she clung to her brother as they entered a beautiful palace she had only imagined and dreamed about back in her village.
Niraj who had noticed the fear on his sister's face tried to hide the anxiety and fear growing in his heart and held her hand tight, "Don't worry, Pabi. Everything is fine."
The guard who was leading them also looked at the siblings with pity and consoled them, "You don't have to be scared. The owners of this house are very generous. The young master who asked you to be brought here is just trying to help you."
"Is that kid really not a prince? And why is he helping us anyway?" Niraj asked while looking at the white buildings. Only a king could live here, he thought.
The guard had seen Vir a couple of times and knew that he was favored by the two young family heads who were set to take over the family in the future. Other than that, he knew nothing else. But from his observations, he had found Vir to be a very polite and kind-natured child.
"You should learn to speak respectfully to the owner's family. And yes, he isn't a prince. The owner's family does banking and merchant work. Rich people just like helping others out of kindness so you don't have to doubt it." The guard explained in a low voice.
Niraj nodded half understanding what the guard meant to convey. He still had many questions but he was still too scared and didn't want to annoy any strangers.
Niraj's sister Pabi pulled his hand to get his attention and spoke almost in a whisper, "Look, brother. There is a statue in that pond."
When Niraj looked in the direction Pabi was pointing, he saw the artificial pond in the middle of the inner courtyard and a marble statue in the middle of the pond. The siblings were mesmerized by the new sights.
"That is the inner courtyard. You can't go there or you will be punished. I have been told to send you to the servant's quarters. Don't wander around anywhere without the permission of the adults here. The master will probably send someone with instructions for you later." The guard warned the kids who seemed hypnotized by the display of wealth.
The children were taken by some maids to be bathed, fed, and clothed in a new set of clothes as instructed by Vir. They were also given one of the small rooms in the two-story building where the other servants lived.
It was a tiny room with a small bed and a cupboard by the side. There was also a small window right above the bed. When the kids were finally alone in their new room, they were dazed out of their minds. The things they could've never even dreamed about were happening to them.
Pabi who was starting to feel a little more at ease spoke with some excitement, "Brother, are we going to live here from now? We get to wear these new clothes and eat here from now?"
Niraj who was older and understood the world a little more through his struggles since the last year was still vigilant about everything. He had seen many ugly sides of humanity ever since his family was brutally murdered by the bargi. He didn't want to trust people easily.
He warned, "Don't get too excited Pabi. You don't know what these people might do to us. Let's just follow what they say for now. Be prepared to run away at any time if we find something is wrong."
….
In the evening, when Vir went to a somewhat regular meeting with Madhav and Swarup Chand, there were more people than usual in the room. He could hear the voices coming from inside even before entering the room.
"This house is not a temple orphanage or a charity house where we can just bring in strays from the streets. We have our dignity to maintain. Letting some rabble off the streets into our house is not something a member of our house should do."
The person who was speaking with such passion was one of Vir's many uncles. Currently, control over the entire family was firmly in the hands of Fateh Chand and was slowly being passed to Madhab and Swarup, his grandsons.
Jagat Seth Fateh Chand had three sons and two daughters. The daughters were married off and their claim to the family's wealth ended with the dowry they received during the marriage. But, his sons and his grandsons still had some claims for the wealth.
Due to his old age, Fateh Chand had to choose his successors early so he chose his grandsons. Madhab, the first child of his first son Anand, and Swarup, the first child of his second son Daya. But with such a massive fortune on the line, not everyone was happy with the decision.
The Jagat Seth Family was large with many descendants. Fateh Chand himself had many cousins and brothers who had their own descendants. This massive size and the tradition of venturing out to new territories were why the family was able to spread out across the subcontinent and run their banking business.
The education system and traditions started by the family's founder Hiranand had taken root and helped the family grow. Every child in the family had to study with tutors as well as get hands-on work experience from a young age.
Through this, the family produced some great talents like the Madhab and Swarup.
But there can't only be good seeds in any family. And so, some incompetent family members didn't want to learn or put in the hard work. Their focus was not on growing the family's business and influence but only on leeching off the family and misusing that influence.
Some of the family members had grown conceited and entitled, abusing their power.
When Vir came into view, Swarup cheerfully welcomed him. "Oh, you're here? Some of your uncles and cousins seem to have questions for you."
Vir only knew the uncle who was talking just now because he had seen him come by the main house a lot. The other two men of similar age as the 'uncle' were new faces to him. There were also three teenagers sitting beside them with proud looks on their faces, smirking at Vir.
Swarup seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. Even for the richest men in the world, there was little to do for entertainment in the 18th century.
Madhab who seemed annoyed spoke to the group, "Okay, now that the person in question is here, just ask him about it and be done with it."
The full picture of the situation became clear to Vir at that point. The family members living near the main house seemed to have found out about him bringing Niraj and his sister home. They had found something to nag about so they had come to complain.
Such stupidity would have been shut down with a snort by Madhab but Swarup seems to have let it continue.
'Maybe they want to use this as some kind of test for me? Or Swarup is just bored and wants to see some drama. It's probably the latter.'
"Greetings, uncles and brothers. What questions do you have for me?" Vir greeted the group.
Uncle 1, who was speaking before, whose name Vir didn't even know just like the others, spoke with some force, "Did you bring two orphan kids home?"
Vir nodded, "I did."
"Did you get permission from any adult in the house?"
"I didn't."
"What a brat! He is so confident about not asking for permission before bringing strange people into the house. Where has the dignity of this family gone? Did your father teach you nothing in Bombay?" Uncle 1 abruptly spoke with a louder voice.
Swarup who had been enjoying himself drinking something with a grin suddenly put the brass cup down on the table, making a loud noise. Everyone turned to see that the smile was gone and was now replaced with a cold look aimed at Uncle 1.
The room fell into a deathly silence. A few gulps could be heard from the teenagers who were subjected to the heavy atmosphere.
Vir's voice cut through the silence, "Excuse me, but I only put those orphans in the servant quarters which isn't even anywhere near the main house, so what is the problem? It's my house, can't I bring anyone I want in here?"
Although he wasn't yet close enough with Madhab and Swarup to claim ownership of the house, Vir didn't think the two would mind him talking like that. And as expected, a smile was once again plastered on Swarup's face.
On the other hand, Uncle 1 and his group were very offended and angered by Vir's claims. Some kid who had just been brought to the main family a month or so ago is now claiming to be a part of the main house.
"Do you even know the meaning of the title Jagat Seth? A stray who was brought from who knows where is even saying that this is his house now. Why am I even arguing with a child? It's the fault of you two brothers who let this little bastard run wild." Uncle 1 took the fight to Madhab and Swarup who were just observing the drama.
Another uncle from Uncle 1's group echoed, "That's right. How are you going to run this family if you can't even discipline a single child?"
'I had miscalculated. The target wasn't me. They were aiming for Madhab and Swarup by using me as the cause.'
Although the successors were already chosen and most of the family had accepted them, those who wanted the position of the family head were looking for any opportunity they could find to replace the two young guys.
'As long as they cast some doubts over Madhab and Swarup's abilities, their chances go up. Or that's what they think anyway. But why are they doing this now when there is nobody to witness any of this?'
Vir's doubts were answered right away. A commotion was heard outside and when everyone in the room turned to look at the door, an old man in his late 60s with gray-white hair came in followed by a couple of middle-aged men.
Fateh Chand. The name appeared right away when Vir saw the old man. Just like the meaning of his name, he was a conqueror who had conquered the world of finance. He had the dignity and force of such a conqueror even in his walk. Even in his old age, his eyes looked very lively.
'So they knew about Fateh Chand's arrival today and took their chance huh? Their luck is quite good. Well, being born in this family meant their luck was good from the beginning.'
From Swarup and Madhab's expressions, it was clear that they didn't know about Fateh Chand arriving today. If they had known, Madhab would have ended the farce before it even started.
"Greetings, grandfather. You look healthier. But weren't you supposed to arrive tomorrow? If we had known you were coming, we could've prepared to welcome you." Swarup greeted Fateh Chand. Madhab also followed with his greeting.
Fateh Chand nodded, "Yes. May you be in good health. We found some good horses being sold on the way so we traveled faster than first intended. But what is happening here?"
When Fateh Chand looked at the rest of the people in the room, they all felt overwhelmed and bowed low to greet him. They had planned for it but still standing calm in front of the family head wasn't something everyone could do.