Meet the Chands

"Remember to be respectful and greet them like I taught you." Manu Chand was teaching his son before going to meet his uncles.

"I have already practiced it so many times," Vir grumbled but nodded in agreement.

When they finally got out of the carriage and went into the mansion, it was truly a magnificent sight. A large, annex with an internal courtyard with an artificial pond, and white palatial buildings all around it.

The palace looked magnificent with many windows and pillars with elaborate carvings. The main door going into the palace was equally magnificent with reliefs carved on them.

While he was admiring the architecture and the interior with lavish decorations of jewels, precious metals, and clothes, he was led into a large room where a few men were gathered.

Two men were sitting side by side in the head position on an opulent, Mughal-style sofa that seemed more like a thick mattress with backrests. Five other men were sitting adjacent to them in groups of two and three on each side.

Their discussions came to an end when the servant announced the entrance of the father and son. The group's eyes were focused on the two with some interest.

Vir, unaware of all the attention was still looking around dazzled by the patterns in the marble flooring, the carvings on the pillars, the lavish furniture, and the colorful curtains.

"Greetings, brothers. I'm happy to see that you are in good health." Manu greeted the two men and nudged his dazed son.

Vir came back to his senses and offered his greetings as well, "Hello uncles. Nice to meet you."

Although it wasn't the practiced greeting, it would have to do. Manu sighed at his son who seemed like an adult most of the time but turned into a curious child whenever he saw new things.

"Come, come, dear Manu. You did well in coming a long way here. You've changed so much. Has it been six years since you left for Bombay?" The cheerful-looking guy with a chubby appearance who was sitting on the right side beckoned.

The taller serious-looking guy on the left corrected, "It's almost been eight years. He left at the age of sixteen."

Both of them seemed to be around the same age as Manu in their early to mid-twenties.

"Ah right. This guy went out quite early, didn't he?" Swarup exclaimed.

'So the one on the right is Swarup Chand. He seems cheerful. Somehow the title Maharaja seems to fit his regal look. The serious Madhab must be the one who handles the more practical parts of the business.'

As Vir analyzed their conversation, his father took him to sit in the empty seat. Alongside the other two people already there.

"Right, is this the kid you talked about in your letter? What number was he again? Sixth?" Swarup asked.

"Yes, brother. This is my sixth child, Vir Chand. His mother is the daughter of an advisor of the Maratha Peshwa." Manu explained.

Swarup chuckled, "Not just the business but even your family is flourishing quite well, brother? It's good. The more the merrier. Just don't forget to teach your kids our family values."

Manu scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled at the teasing.

While everyone was in a relaxed mood from Swarup's joke, Madhab smirked and looked at Vir, "Vir, was it? So this is the kid who designed that pen thing and he is also working to create books to make it easier to learn languages? Grandfather was very impressed by that pen."

'Grandfather? Fateh Chand is still alive? Ah, I forgot that he died in 1744. But it seems that these two were already chosen as the successors.'

"How is grandfather doing by the way? He is in Delhi I heard?" Manu asked with concern.

Fateh Chand is the single most influential person in the Indian subcontinent at the time. When the previous Nawab of Bengal insulted him by lusting after his wife, Fateh Chand used his enormous wealth to cause a revolt and put Alivardi Khan on the seat of the Nawab.

Although it set a precedent for revolts in Bengal and will create massive problems in the coming decade, the fact that a single trader/banker changed the ruler of one of the richest regions in the world at the time was a testament to Fateh Chand's power and influence.

"Yeah, it has been too noisy around here so Grandfather decided to stay in the capital for a while. He left after dumping all the work on us. Anyway, tell us about the kid." Swarup dismissively spoke of being trained as the heirs of Fateh Chand.

Manu whose lips were turning up with a proud smile gathered himself and spoke, "Vir was exceptional from the beginning. By the age of two, he had already learned arithmetics and taught himself to read and write with minimal help from others. He has already read more books than I have."

Everyone in the room was surprised by Manu's words. They had seen a fair share of geniuses in their time but Vir was an unusual case even for them. The eyes of the two family heads were practically shining with greed and interest.

"Hoo. Brother, is all that you said really true? I hope you aren't lying." Swarup who could've been mistaken for a fun brother in the neighborhood just a moment ago was now radiating a sharp and overbearing aura.

'He is the head of such an influential family for a reason. He turned from a teddy bear into a grizzly within a second.'

Manu who had been doing his own business for many years already wasn't intimidated by his cousin and answered, "Yes, brother. You could test him yourself."

Madhab raised his hand and gestured to the man sitting by his side. In the silence, the man stood up and went to the side and brought some paper, pen, and ink.

The pen was an elaborately decorated piece that was specially designed and sent from Bombay. The writing apparatuses were placed in front of Vir.

Madhab then spoke, "Write something about yourself on there."

Vir calmly nodded and picked up the pen to start writing. Manu on the other hand was starting to sweat out of nervousness and staring at his son with encouragement pouring through his eyes.

Everyone waited for Vir to start writing but he suddenly asked a surprising question, "In what language?"

Embarrassed by his son's blunt behavior, Manu explained, "Vir can read and write in Persian, Khariboli, English, and French."

"Even English and French? Just write something in Persian for now." Madhab answered while staring at Vir like a treasure hunter who had happened upon the greatest find.

Vir quickly scribbled something, sat up from a hunched position, and spoke, "It's done."

While Vir contemplated the difficulties in writing without a table, the paper was already in the hands of Madhab who swept through it and passed it to Swarup.

"My name is Vir Chand. I am two years old. My father's name is Manu Chand. We traveled here by ship from Bombay. It was a long journey." Swarup read it out loud and chuckled. "Heh. Are you trying to say you are tired from your travels? Anyway, it's not bad for a child's writing."

Madhab nodded. "Now then, let's start with some arithmetics. What is 16 added with 24?"

Vir answered right away, "40."

"Oh, he is quick. What about 12 multiplied by 6?" Swarup asked excitedly.

"72."

"150 added to 143"

"293."

The question and answer continued for a long time with questions getting progressively more difficult. At some point, Vir asked for a paper to do the calculations. And finally, when the questions that Vir couldn't answer came about, they stopped.

'I remember most of the math I studied including calculus. But I can't do that complicated calculation without a calculator. I refuse to even try. I can just hire someone for that.'

Vir was spoiled by the modern conveniences where you could find a calculator everywhere. So the idea of doing complicated arithmetics by hand was just annoying to him. If he wanted to, he might have been able to do more complicated calculations but he just didn't want to.

Swarup sighed and spoke after some silence, "He is indeed a genius. He's already capable of so much at that age, I'm looking forward to what he will show in the future."

Manu sighed in relief at the recognition of his son's talents. Madhab gave a satisfied smile while the others in the room were also nodding in agreement. They were always on the lookout for talents to work for their family. And it was the best when they were of the same blood.

"Nobody repeats what happened in this room outside of this place. Let the kid learn and develop in silence. It would be annoying if flies started buzzing around our sweets." Madhab warned everyone.

"That's true, brother. But who will tutor him and what subjects will we teach?" Swarup asked. The boy was so talented that he couldn't contain his excitement thinking about the possibilities.

"When we are doing business from home, let him stay beside us to observe and learn. He should be taught Bengali too. As for tutors, we need to find trustworthy guys."

When everyone was nodding in agreement with Madhab, a childish voice caught everyone's attention. "I just need books. I can learn by myself."

"You just need books? And who will teach you the things you don't understand from the books?" Madhab asked coldly.

Vir wasn't burdened by the cold gaze and answered simply, "I can ask those things to the two uncles. There are also the elders who work for the family."

Manu nodded in agreement, "I agree. I think it's better to let Vir learn things on his own."

Swarup smiled with satisfaction, "That's right. So what books do you need then?"

Swarup was just asking this out of interest. He was expecting some childish answer but what came back surprised him.

"I want to study books on science and mathematics from Europe and England. Also any other books about economics, finance, geography, and anything else. I will give you the list of the books I already have."

Madhab looked at Manu after hearing the surprising answer from Vir, "Did you teach your son about all those things?"

Manu who was startled by the sudden question replied, "No. Vir is always reading books and learning by himself. I just got some books from the European traders for him some time back."

"He can read English too? Who taught him?"

"I taught myself with the help of the interpreter who used to come by the house sometimes," Vir answered before his father could say anything.

'The interpreter indeed came by to our house a lot and I talked to him too. But it was at my initiation and I just asked him about random stuff. Hopefully, this is enough to cover it up.'

It was convincing enough for everyone present. Although some questions remained like how he learned a language after a few meetings, all of it was chalked up to Vir being genius and ignored.

"Well, that's that. Then we will get you the books you want. Make sure to study well and ask for tutors when needed." Swarup spoke first in agreement. It wasn't some kind of state secret that they would need to know a clear and logical source.

Then the conversation naturally shifted toward Manu and how his business was going in Bombay. Vir listened to the conversation with interest until the food was served. It was just vegetables and lentils with flatbread.

Although they descended from a Jain family, due to extensive trade across regions and marriages outside their religious beliefs, the family itself had already strayed far from Jainism. But still, some of the traditions continued to be observed in the main family house, like vegetarianism.

'For a family that started its rise by selling saltpeter that is used in gunpowder and opium used to make drugs, the biggest Jain percept of non-violence has been long forgotten. We have been bankrolling wars on top of that. Why don't they just start eating meat already?'

Back in Bombay, Manu had not placed any restrictions on his family. It would've been difficult to even tell that they were Jain just by looking at their lifestyle.

Vir ate silently while contemplating the hypocrisy of the family. If they had followed the Jain percepts, they wouldn't have become large enough to gain the title of Jagat Seth.

'They even have Jain temples built within the courtyard. Yet in the future, they will conspire with the British to start a war to replace the Nawab of Bengal with one of their puppets. That war unfortunately kickstarted the active rule of the British over India as well as this family's downfall.'

Anger rose within Vir as he looked at the two men in front of him eating their meal. They played a significant role in helping the British lay the foundations to rule over India.

It can be said that the British doctrine of divide and conquer began with the conspiracy hatched between these two, a few other businessmen in Bengal, Mir Jafar, and the British.

'I can't even fault or blame them based on my modern perspective. They were just the greatest capitalists of their times trying to make more capital. This is essentially a different world altogether when compared to where I lived in my past life.'

They tried playing both sides while balancing the powers and were eventually killed for it. Both the British whom they supported to enter Bengal and the Nawab whom they chose as a puppet ruler betrayed them.