Draupadi in High Heels , livre ebook

Penguin Books Ltd - Aditi Kotwal

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85 pages

English

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When love comes with a mythic twist! Born into a well-known business family, Deeya is a high-flying, spoilt, rich girl who owns an elite fashion store. Her parents want her to get married and hold a swayamvar of sorts for her to select a husband. And she has a dilemma to go with the extremely attractive and intriguing Karan or the dashing and outgoing Arjun! She is determined to make the best decision when she finds that her life resembles that of Draupadi, from the Mahabharata, in more ways than one. Will she be able to find her own path in life? Or will she flounder? Funny and romantic, Draupadi in High Heels explores the power of one s choice and how deeply its affects life!

Informations

Publié par	Penguin Books Ltd
Date de parution	15 octobre 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9789351183280
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0400€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Aditi Kotwal

Draupadi In High Heels
Contents
Dedication
About the Author
Inflight Entertainment!
Finding a Suitable Boy
Swayamvar
Meet the Kapurs
Secrets, Lies and Old Flames
Disaster Movie
A Charitable Afternoon
Tales of Yore
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
A Storm of Two Kinds
The French Connection
When in Rome
Life Unexpected
Mum s the Word
Revelations
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright
For my parents, who planted the seed
And my husband, who let it bloom
PENGUIN METRO READS
DRAUPADI IN HIGH HEELS
Aditi Kotwal is an ardent book lover and travel enthusiast. Her fascination with legends and mythology began at an early age and she also has a secret penchant for romance novels. This book is her attempt at reconciling the two. She has a bachelor s degree in English literature from Sophia College, Mumbai, and a master s degree from Cardiff University, UK. Aditi lives in Delhi with her husband.
Inflight Entertainment!
W ould you like some champagne, Ms Panchal? The airhostess jolted me out of my not-so-peaceful reverie. The cheery smile plastered across her face looked surprisingly genuine and I glanced at her curiously.
Yes, please, I responded in a dispassionate voice and watched as she opened a fresh bottle of Dom P rignon 2002 and poured it into the long flute-shaped glass on the collapsible table beside me.
For lunch, we will be serving pan-fried fish and grilled chicken breast. Which would you prefer?
The fish, please, I murmured so softly that she had to bend down to catch what I was saying.
I ll be right back with it, Ms Panchal, with which she left me to brood some more.
I was flying to London alone this year, since my parents had already taken the jet two weeks ago.
Every June, my parents and I would make our two-month-long annual pilgrimage to Europe. The trip was mostly to meet my twin brother, Deepak, who d been studying in London since high school and who refused to come back to India unless there was some occasion which he deemed extremely important. The last time he had been home was four years ago, on Dad s fiftieth birthday. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that Deepak was turning into a snotty upper-class brat.
I looked out of the window and threw an envious glance at the cotton-wool-like clouds which floated calmly beneath the airplane. They seemed without care, floating insouciantly in the sky, just passive spectators to all that was going on below. To most, my life would appear perfect since to them I d always be daddy s-little-rich-girl. My father, Drupad Panchal, is the owner of D.P. Steel, which makes him not only one of the richest men in Mumbai, but also the whole of India. Since I was a little girl, I ve had it all. I ve been to a Swiss finishing school, studied fashion retail in New York, and have holidayed at the most exotic destinations around the world. My wardrobe is usually flown in from Milan, Paris or New York-soon after it is showcased at a particular fashion show. I ve had so many movie stars come to my birthday parties that I ve lost count.
Yet, it s not as rosy as it looks. Growing up was a lonely period for me. My twin brother, Deepak, and I were never really that close and my social status didn t give me much of an opportunity to go out and interact with normal kids. My folks were always busy, juggling work and the million social dos that they had to attend and the thousands of parties they threw to entertain the who s who of the country. As I turned into a teenager, I tried to run away from this loneliness and boredom by flinging myself into one relationship after another.
My mood today would have been surprising to anyone who knew me. Brooding is not something which comes naturally to me. I ve tackled most situations in an extreme manner-I am either extremely happy or extremely sad. Even today, I shudder to think of how I had been as a teenager. Mom and Dad had a task controlling me and my massive temper. Fortunately, over the years, I have calmed down considerably. Yet, there are still so many times when my famous temper threatens to overtake me.
Today, the reason for my brooding was my ex-boyfriend Rohan. Two weeks ago, I had walked into an old friend s party which I had decided to attend last-minute. I had only gone because my friend Minti had practically dragged me along and because Rohan had cancelled our dinner date on account of some kind of stomach flu. So you can imagine my dismay when I walked into the party only to see Rohan canoodling with a girl I had never seen before, on a couch in the corner of the room!
Right now, my mind was recounting all the times I had spent with Rohan, slowly dissecting each and every thing he had said or not said, wondering a little desperately where I had gone wrong. My close friends, of course, said that it wasn t my fault, that I had been nothing but loyal to him and that he had no reason to do what he d done. But when I did manage to confront Rohan much later, I saw some genuine regret in his eyes. All he could do was shrug and say, I never thought you really liked me. I always felt that you tried too hard to make it work but your mind was always far away!
Was that true? Was I never that into him? All I know is that I really wanted this relationship to work. Although I m not what one would call a serial dater , I ve had my share of relationships in the past-none of which have been successful. I don t know what goes wrong. The guys I ve gone out with seemed perfect on paper and I m sure that they were too. It s just that I never felt passionately about anyone. I thought this was quite strange for a person like me. I was so extreme when it came to every other emotion. Why couldn t I fall head over heels in love? Minti tells me that I still have to meet my soulmate. I seriously doubt their existence but Minti is adamant that they exist. Obviously she believes that. She and her fianc , Aakash Sen, who she met back in college, are the cutest, sappiest and most annoyingly-in-love couple on earth! It was because of their engagement ceremony that I postponed my trip to London instead of flying with my parents.
I met Minti at finishing school in Lausanne. Minti, or Mitali Paranjpe, is my partner in crime and my pillar of strength. She s got oodles of compassion and this remarkable quality of keeping everyone around her happy. We have such similar tastes, it s almost uncanny. However, when it comes to the looks and personality departments, we are like chalk and cheese. Next to my five feet eight inches she is a mere five-two, although she does manage to somewhat match up to my height when she wears her five-inch Manolo Blahniks. My complexion is on the darker side even by Indian standards and I have a fairly good figure thanks to all the yoga and dance lessons that I ve had. Minti, on the other hand, would be the perfect model for a Fair and Lovely advertisement. She s dimpled, curvy and really cute. Also unlike me, Minti has always been lucky in love.
Your pan-fried fish, Ms Panchal. The airhostess arranged the plate on the table along with the silverware and refilled my glass with champagne.
Thank you very much. I unrolled the silverware and dug into the fish. I chewed a little apprehensively. I rarely enjoy plane food. Luckily, the fish was pretty good and I attacked the rest of it with gusto.
Eating immediately revved up my spirits. I began to mentally plan my holiday. I had allocated a week for work; I whipped out my iPad and began to note down what I would need to do.
Two years ago, I had launched my own high-fashion store in Colaba- La Belle Dame -where I showcase evening wear by top designers around the world. Although I did borrow the initial investment from my dad, I have paid back almost 50 per cent and hope to pay back all of it within two years. I m planning to expand and branch out into more cities but it is one step at a time for now.
The plane suddenly dropped down a few feet. The seat-belt sign immediately came on and I clung to my glass of champagne, not wanting to spill any on my pristine white Chanel sundress. As I looked around, I could see the airhostess chatting with someone two seats ahead of me. I could make out that the man in the seat wished to use the bathroom but the airhostess kept forcing him to keep sitting and not leave his seat due to the turbulence.
I craned my neck to see who she was chatting with, just because the man had an extremely interesting voice-deep yet soft. I was not surprised when after some cajoling, the airhostess finally relented and the man arose from his seat. I quickly averted my eyes as he got up and turned around to use the bathroom, which was a few seats behind me. However, my curiosity got the better of me, and I looked up just as he was about to pass my seat. Our eyes met and I was rooted to the spot just by his open and honest gaze. I stared right back at him, I just couldn t help it!
He was very tall, almost six-two, with a lean body under his well-cut suit. His personality exuded such warmth and energy that I blinked as I felt its full force. But what fascinated and captivated me the most was his face-which was the most perfect that I had ever seen! He was on the fairer side but with the perfect golden tan. His eyes, which were a warm light brown, suddenly crinkled as he gave me a smile. I blinked again, and after a moment returned the smile. He looked amused as he passed by. No sooner was he gone than I came back to my senses, somewhat embarrassed by our fleeting exchange and my blatant appraisal of him.
I gulped down my champagne, wondering why I had stared at him like that. I felt embarrassed and stupid, and immediately plugged the headphones into my ears and flicked through the movies available on the plane. I settled on a mindless Bollywood flick, hoping that it would distract me for a while. But even that did not drive away the excitement that was welling up at the thou