To Love or Not To Love

Chapter 15

The single-paned plexiglass door read Business Developer, but a closer look would reveal more reference material on Corporate Law than perhaps could be found in the local library. Owing to the fact that the office space was sparsely used by its rightful owner, the position requiring the employee to go on "extended vacations", the shelves had been loaned to the Director of the Company and joint Head of AR's legal department - Anjali Jha, who's current office space, right across from that of the Business Developer, was already beginning to burst at the seams. 

Unlike her predecessors, Lavanya didn't mind the extension. The books added a touch of color to the otherwise bland office. The fact that she neither read nor understood Corporate Law was another matter altogether. 

Anjali Jha (née Raizada) was ASR's older sister by 4 years and only sibling. A tiny bespectacled woman with her hair always neatly tied into a bun, Anjali was well known for her razor-sharp brain and tongue. A graduate of Harvard Law School, she declined offers from some of the world's biggest law firms to join her brother's fledgling business back in India.

When Anjali took over the Legal department at AR, there were just two people in it including her. Today the department boasted of 20 lawyers and 10 paralegals working round the clock on AR's contracts, mergers, and defamations. A defamation suit wasn't an uncommon occurrence in AR. ASR's "crush your opponent at all costs" attitude often wrung that response. And yet Anjali had single-handedly managed to settle every defamation suit in AR's favor.

If the business community was scared of ASR, lawyers fretted over the fact that they were going up against Anjali Jha. Nicknamed "the dragon lady" by her fraternity, she not just completely lived up to the moniker, but also regaled in its glory.

Five years ago, Anjali Raizada had tied the knot with a leading New Delhi criminal lawyer Shyam Jha. Both Shyam and Anjali, on the outside, were headstrong personalities. The New Delhi socialite grape vine expected them to part ways within the year. They all dubbed it a "marriage of convenience" and often wondered aloud, who would end up paying the alimony, in the eventuality or in this particular case, the certainty of a divorce.

Anjali's own friends dissuaded her from marrying Shyam. "It won't work", they all told her. "Shyam and you are so similar, you're both lawyers, both extremely successful and you both are used to getting your way."

"Think about it," they urged her. "Marriages work best when partners are of opposite temperaments. With both of you being Type A personalities, there is no way you guys would ever compromise. 

"And it's not like you both are head over heels in love with each other."

They begged her to think through it all, telling her the decision was a complete contrast to her practical nature. "This decision is foolish. The marriage won't work. The odds are stacked against it."

Her friends were her well-wishers and what they pointed out was logical and sensible. Yet Anjali's gut pushed her to take the plunge. Although she had met Shyam Jha just a handful of times, she felt this odd attraction towards the man. True, he was tall and handsome. But at 30, Anjali could admit that she had had her share of tall and handsome men. She had never felt this way for any of them. She may not be in love with Shyam, but there was something definitely between the two that deserved exploring.

When Anjali told Arnav about her decision to marry Shyam, he wholeheartedly supported her. After all, Anjali was sensible and reasonable and would have thought through everything before coming to the conclusion. The fact that she had refused a prenup wrung a dry chuckle. That was so her. Losing was never an option. She thought hard before taking something up, but once she did, she worked hard day and night to ensure its success.

On the occasion of their fourth wedding anniversary, Anjali and Shyam announced the birth of their daughter Anya. To say that the New Delhi socialite gathering was stumped would be an understatement. Nobody understood how this marriage, which was doomed from the start, had worked. Nobody really cared anymore. Now that Anjali and Shyam were a regular, happily married couple, they were of no interest to anyone.