The Kanjus Chacha and the Gypsy Girl (Part I)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a continuation of my series about NRI chachas that I have met over the years. This one is somewhat embellished, more like a \u201ccomposite\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maximum wealth accumulation, that was Ratan chacha\u2019s motto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In grad school in America, we were all exceedingly poor owing to our measly stipends. Most of us desi students lived in one big apartment complex. Most of us will cook dinner after coming home from school around five pm and try to make one satisfying meal with our non-existent cooking skills. Hey, in India, we were raised as bright budding engineers, scientists, mathematicians and such, our mothers and bhabis taking care of all our fastidious culinary demands. Here, we could not afford to eat out even at the cafeteria!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We started by staring at frozen mounds of raw chicken that we bought at the grocery store! What the hell do you do with this stuff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of us were natural \u2013born cooks though. Their apartments would soon smell of chicken curry and such around six-thirty in the evening. That\u2019s when Ratan would arrive, make small talk, admire the food about to be eaten and finally, casually, grab a small portion for tasting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChamatkar Murgee Hoyeche! Khub bhalo! Kotha theke shikhlee?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n (\u201cExcellent Chicken! Very good! Where did you learn all this?\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ratan would visit about four or five different apartments in the evening and make an entire meal out of small tastes of chicken curry, keema curry, even sambar and idli and occasionally maaacher jhol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hey, we were not dumb, he was soon nicknamed the \u201cscavenger\u201d and ultimately banished from all apartments during dinnertime. We heard that he hit the middle-eastern circle later but was soon declared persona non grata<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After he made some moolah as an established academic in America, he asked his parents for a hook up marriage. The gods got him married to a lady doctor in India. Usually, in this case, the doc migrates to USA, goes for additional schooling to get her US medical license. The transition takes a few years. But your Ratan chacha was not going for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are making good money in two different countries. Why spoil that? You stay in Kolkata, I will stay here \u2013 I will see you every summer during my summer break\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hmmm\u2026., less conjugal bliss but a loadful of cash- happiness \u2013 Kanjus or what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n (\u201cLoadful\u201d is not a word, I just made that up )<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He never allowed his wife to visit America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c You don\u2019t even know anyone here, sweetheart. What\u2019s there to see in America anyway! Just some tall buildings! I will go every summer for three months and visit you and our families and friends \u2013 kill many birds with one stone hahahaha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anjoli, the lady doc, had a great private practice, saving up a pretty stack for the couple. Three years into their marriage, she got pregnant. Ratan was joyously making plans to raise the child in India, saving even more money, when a bombshell hit him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was late March. The baby was due in October, Anjoli\u2019s ob-gyn doctor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ratan gasped. \u201cAre you sure?\u201d he asked the doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ratan left India in August the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ooops! Let\u2019s do some simple math here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know how babies grow, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A baby conceived in June, July, or August this year will not be due in October the following year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots of screaming ensued over long distance phone calls. Ratan was not going to India any more. But divorcing Anjoli will mean separating from all the doctor\u2019s money !<\/p>\n\n\n\n Give up half of a loadful of cash or live the life of a jilted mate \u2013 for ordinary men, the decision would be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But our Kanjus chacha had to think about this . For about five years!! That\u2019s when he met the gypsy girl!<\/p>\n\n\n\n . <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, there are gypsies in America! They migrated from Europe many years ago, many got assimilated, some not so much. Among the ones that remained separated from the mainstream, some ran circuses and carnivals, some were in the music business, but there was a small core that continued their somewhat unusual ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ciara\u2019s mom, a white girl, eloped to California with a dashing man she met at a carnival. It turned out to be a pretty bad deal. The handsome gypsy man turned out to be a professional hustler and a wife-beater. Ten years and four children later, she escaped back to her parents in her hometown . Ciara grew up floating between her working class grandparents and her struggling single mom. But she remembered her dad well, she was a true gypsy at heart. But Ratan didn\u2019t know any of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (The gypsy girl would change Ratan\u2019s life for ever. But you have read the second part to find out!)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kanjus Chacha and the Gypsy Girl (Part I) This is a continuation of my series about NRI chachas that I have met over the years. This one is somewhat embellished, more like a \u201ccomposite\u201d! Maximum wealth accumulation, that was Ratan chacha\u2019s motto. In grad school in America, we were all exceedingly poor owing to … <\/p>\n