https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawab_of_Awadh
The Veteran’s Tale & The Sunday Lunch (Prelude)
Setting the Scene in Lucknow
It is Lucknow. Bopa Rai and Venkat, his Sikh LI friend, are listening intently to a 70-year-old veteran. Col Shukla is a man who is still physically active but increasingly alone, continuing his life in full gusto despite the age of 75. All are sipping gin and tonics in the MB club while the Colonel narrates a tale of his travails.
The Colonel’s Domestic Battles
He has two sons. The younger, forty-five and in poor health, has lost his mind to depression and become entirely dependent.
The older son is married and working, still living in the same house due to a poorly paid job and indirect dependency. His wife, Sneh Lata, is quarrelsome, scheming, and begrudging even a few chapatis to her brother-in-law and father-in-law.
Chapatis had long carried plenty of wisdom—since the 1857 rebellion when rebels used them to hide secret messages. Overfeeding meant alliance; underfeeding, war. The situation at their house was stressful.
The Veteran’s Plan
After his wife’s passing, the Colonel collected numbers of women friends. He sought companionship, believing he found one in an illiterate woman who would be quiet “like a snake.” But he hadn’t calculated that the Bahu could be a mongoose—outwitting and silencing the snake through “kitchen diplomacy.”
Club Life and the Diary
Soon, the Veteran and his new companion were often seen together at the club. As his tale ended, he handed Venkat a diary titled Epstein Dialogues. “Take good care of this,” he said, leaving behind both story and mystery.
The Lawyer Enters
Another elderly gentleman, a lawyer who once fought the 1977 case against Indira Gandhi, joined them. He invited them to his haveli, where he lived alone while his wife resided elsewhere. Bopa and Venkat, sensing opportunity, invited him for Sunday lunch at the MB Club. Perhaps, they thought, Col Shukla could use legal advice.
Silent Trust and Subtle Gestures
Among the unmoored gentlemen, Bopa Rai is unmarried. Venkat is married to a beautiful nurse with a daughter in college. The nurse conveys silent trust toward Bopa, hoping he might “improve” Venkat. Bopa smiles, carrying the burden of unspoken expectations with grace.
The Tailor of Fate
A gentleman’s voice cuts through the air—“32, 28, 36, 40.” The numbers flow like a tailor fitting cloth, stitching atmosphere with calculation.
Venkat whispers, “Suit sizes, isn’t he?” But Bopa sees more—measurements not of fabric but of lives. Even in chaos, some strive for order, balance, and continuity—living on with full gusto at seventy-five.