Custody Read Online Free PDF

is one in our neighbourhood. It will do her good to learn some independence. Unfortunately her father is bound to object.
    She had stopped using her husband’s name. It seemed too intrusive.
    Follow your instincts, darling, I am sure whatever you do will be right.
    Umm.
    *
    Raman did object. His wife must be out of her mind. The child was only one and a half. He didn’t think any school would take her. Also it was the middle of winter. Young children fell sick easily when exposed to groups.
    Their paediatrician always said such sicknesses increased immunity, his wife pointed out. Children can’t be protected like that. Besides, this wasn’t a regular school but one especially designed for very young children. Just two hours a day. Playing. That is all they do.
    Why couldn’t she play at home?
    She needed to get along with other kids. She was very clingy.
    At her age surely that was to be expected? She needed her mother. Enough time for independence when she grew.
    And Raman would not budge from his position.
    What happened about Roo’s school? asked the lover.
    He is not agreeing. Fussing about winter. Colds, infections, that kind of stuff.
    How old did you say she was?
    One and a half. Her birthday’s in June.
    They fell silent. Ashok out of ignorance, Shagun because of having to remind Ashok how old her daughter was. This caused her a very brief insight – which she quickly ignored – as to what it would be like to live with a man who was not the biological father of her children.
    School is not the only solution. There are others. You have to think out of the box, said Ashok finally.
    *
    Ever since Ashok Khanna had taken an interest in Mang-oh! Raman’s performance had improved. Together they had worked out an increase of the non-CSD (carbonated soft drink) profits by at least 1 per cent.
    Untapped markets had a lot of potential, said Shagun knowledgeably, when Raman told her of these projected figures.
    Did she know what 1 per cent represented? he asked, surprised at her commercial turn of speech.
    Whatever it represented, she was absolutely sure he could do it.
    When he returned from his tours, prettiness flowed from her, generously, like a replenished mountain stream after the snow has melted in summer. And he, of course, delighted in the attempts she made to please him. It was a point of honour that she should never feel he took her for granted.
    The reward for all the hard work was going to be the bonus that would make their projected England World Cup trip as special as it could possibly be. He would fly both of them business class, he would give her an unlimited shopping allowance. His absence would be compensated.
    Eight couples were going to travel together, and there was much to decide: which matches to buy tickets for, which places needed to be seen, which relatives to venture towards.
    The Mang-oh! ad had been dubbed into several Indian languages, and offers were coming for Shagun to act in other films.
    ‘I have to go to Bombay,’ she told Raman. ‘To do a screen test for Nestlé.’
    He looked at her, bright, restless and reaching beyond the home.
    ‘I’ll come with you.’
    ‘What about the children? No, I will manage.’
    When she came back, Raman asked how it had gone, but she could not answer satisfactorily. Apparently she had had to wait for a long time, she had been paired with a child she instinctively disliked, her screen test had been disappointingly short, and they had given no immediate assurances.
    What she really needed was a portfolio.
    ‘What about the children?’
    ‘What has that got to do with anything?’
    Nothing, but one thing could lead to another. He didn’t trust the world when it came to his wife.
    ‘You don’t wish me to have a life of my own?’
    ‘I never interfere in anything you want to do.’
    ‘All these years there was nothing I particularly cared for.’
    ‘Shagu, what are you saying?’
    Her face twisted, and she turned her head away. ‘Oh, forget