Rhythm

by

John Terry Moore
 

CHAPTER 15

Some years earlier, in 1990, Praveen Nayar, the eldest son of a Mumbai industrialist had attended the very same university that Adam Church and Patrick Benson were now in the process of making famous through their sporting prowess.  Praveen was stunning.  His flawless skin was a deep honey colour, he was tall and slim, always immaculate, and as a nineteen-year-old freshman, he had all the maturity and confidence of someone much older.  He had a presence about him that drew people to him.  Tim O’Brien was in third year at Law School, but was also heavily involved in his family business of transport, storage and logistics.  And he was deeply committed to the university branch of the Labour Party; he had the typical undergraduate passion for the social agenda, was a great supporter of Asian immigration, but was a practical, hands-on economist with quite commonsense views on balancing the nation’s books in every Budget. 

Tim was also tall, loved swimming, surfing and football, and had his father’s ruddy complexion and sandy hair.  Their eyes met across the room at a University Labour Club party and it was love at first sight.  It would have been a simple matter normally in an Australian society which had become much kinder towards same-sex partnerships, but it became very complicated because of Praveen’s Hindu family, back in Mumbai.  Praveen was expected to marry, and his bride was already picked out for him.  Nothing had been formalised, but the way ahead was set, and like any Indian boy, he was expected to agree with his parents’ wishes, as millions of others before him had done down through the centuries.  Being gay was never a problem; you married the girl, you got her pregnant, and slept with whomever and wherever you liked, being careful to bribe those who knew about your proclivities, so it never became public knowledge. 

But Praveen Nayar was a very different and modern young man.  Smart enough to remain in Australia, he emailed his father and told him he would not proceed with the proposed marriage because he had a boyfriend in Australia.  There was a predictable response; two goons arrived to ‘arrest’ him and take him back to Mumbai.  But Bikram Nayar, one of the most powerful men in India, had badly underestimated his son, his son’s partner, and Tim O’Brien’s father, Laurie O’Brien. 

Laurie was a famously rough, tough but fair businessman who loved his kids.  One child had died through a drug overdose some years before, and ever since that tragic event, Laurie O’Brien focussed more than ever on his wife Fiona and their family.  Tim was the youngest, and whilst he had inherited his dad’s business ability, Laurie knew he was headed for greater things, particularly in politics.  He was amazed when Tim fronted up with Praveen and introduced him as his partner.  But Praveen quickly won over the O’Brien family, and Laurie could see why.  The boy was hugely intelligent; and he had a wonderfully warm personality which charmed everyone he came in contact with.  But above all, he so obviously loved Tim.  Praveen; son of one of India’s richest dynasties, was quite happy to support Tim in everything he did, working away in the background to ensure Tim was successful.  That unselfishness made Laurie O’Brien almost emotional; it reminded him of Fiona as a young law student and homemaker. 

When they had nothing; living in a little flat in Murrumbeena, and he was working sixteen hour days to start his business.  Praveen was quite happy to sacrifice a potentially powerful career as a leading international industrialist just to be his son’s partner!  Laurie decided he had better act quickly and he did.  He moved Tim and Praveen into the O’Brien family home in the downstairs flat.  A twenty-four-hour guard was placed on them and some ‘friends’ in the Federal Police were informed.  Then Laurie began, with Praveen’s help, some painstaking research.  It was so hard for him, Laurie realised, having to turn ‘informer’ on his own father.  And he obviously missed his mother, sister and younger brother.  Laurie set up a secure line so Praveen could talk to them; but they still felt threatened by his father and those opportunities were rare.  Praveen was never openly emotional; Laurie realised Tim bore the brunt of it all in their isolated rooms. 

Praveen started to weaken, and the partnership with Tim was at breaking point when Laurie hit pay dirt.  He asked Tim and Praveen to come immediately to his office just after they had returned from university for the day.  Fiona O’Brien was there with her husband, and she ran straight to Praveen and embraced him.  Praveen knew something was about to happen as Tim held his hand. 

“Praveen and Tim,” began Laurie, “before we go any further, mum and I want you to know that we are so proud of you both.  You have kept your cool, both of you, under very trying circumstances, and I suspect, even though you have been under enormous pressure, you haven’t really stopped loving each other for one bloody moment!”  Tim and Praveen looked at each other and nodded, smiling and gripping each other’s hands. 

“The following information will most probably shock you, but it was obtained in the best interests of resolving this issue and allowing you guys to get on with your lives, like anyone else.” 

Laurie looked at Praveen and spoke quietly.  “This information is confidential, of course and is only known to ourselves and those we have used in our research.  You see, Praveen, you are not the first gay person in your family.  Your father attended Cambridge University, right?”  Praveen nodded.  “Well, whilst he was there he had a long running affair with a person called Graham Metcalfe.  We made a DVD of this conversation with him.” 

Praveen and Tim’s mouths fell open as Graham Metcalfe sobbed his way through the interview.  How he and Bikram Nayar had fallen in love and had lived together for three years before Bikram’s father had discovered them, made his way to London, and effectively ended their relationship.  How he was still single after many affairs but had never met anyone like Bikram.  Laurie watched carefully as Praveen turned to Tim. 

“I promise you, my darling man, that I will not make the same mistake as the previous generation of my family has done.  To go down the same path as my father would send the wrong message to thousands of Indians like myself, and I will not do that.  I love you Timothy O’Brien, and I simply promise you that I will be your partner forever.”  Australia’s toughest businessman cried like a baby; this sort of stuff usually didn’t have a happy ending because of the issues of race, backgrounds and tradition.  But he and Fiona, at first hand had seen the sudden and welcome change in Tim’s attitude to life.  He had matured with lightning speed, catching up with Praveen.  It was painfully obvious that Praveen and Tim were powerful individuals in their own right, but as a partnership they were now formidable. 

Laurie O’Brien was an old softie; he had worried about Tim because Peter, his elder brother, had fallen foul of drugs, and died of an overdose.  At least with the baby of the family, Laurie had been instrumental in saving what he somehow knew was going to be one of Australia’s great partnerships. 

“Do you want to take the next step, Praveen?” he said.  Praveen and Tim looked at each other and nodded their heads. 

“Dad,” said Tim, “we need to give Praveen’s family an opportunity to come to the table and negotiate, as it were.  To open the dialogue so Praveen can have some contact with his family group in the future.” 

“I agree," his father replied.

“We’d better pack because some of us leave for Mumbai early tomorrow,” smiled Laurie.  “Christ I’ll be glad when this is all over.” 

*****

The ceiling fans whirred in the old hotel.  The O’Brien family had planned well so far.  They were in an older hotel; still about four star by Western standards, but not the hotel at which a leading Australian industrialist would be expected to stay.  Laurie was smart; the key player stayed behind in Australia because he was at least safe and his continued presence in Australia meant the O’Brien family held the trump card.  Laurie had some friends in the diplomatic corps in New Delhi, who were aware of his presence and purpose in Mumbai.  Thanks to their efforts, Laurie had a three-day window of opportunity to complete his business and take his small army of security people home with him.  In addition, a small fortune had been paid in local bribes to keep the old hotel as ‘neutral ground’.  Finally, Laurie made contact with Bikram Nayar on his third attempt, and out of curiosity for the sheer audacity of the Australian, agreed to meet Laurie at their hotel. 

Bikram stepped from his Jaguar and was surprised to see his driver escorted from the car, and his own security force nowhere in sight.  No one ushers Bikram Nayar anywhere, but on this occasion, in his own city, he was ushered into Laurie Obrien’s temporary office.  He was livid, but before he could start screaming his head off, he was unceremoniously dumped in a chair in front of Laurie’s desk.  Laurie stuck out his hand; “Welcome to my humble temporary abode, Mr Nayar,” he beamed.  “I will have you arrested for this,” he said.  “First you kidnap my son against his will and now you detain me like a common criminal!” he shrieked. 

“No, no, no!” replied Laurie.  “I brought you here for a good reason, simply to save you permanent embarrassment.  As you well know,” he continued, “my son and your son are a couple.”  Before Nayar had time to interject, Laurie went for the rabbit punch.  “Kind of like, history repeating itself, wouldn’t you say, Bikram?”  The Indian watched stone-faced as the DVD played a second time.  ‘One tough bastard,’ thought Laurie. 

“Is that all the evidence you have to discredit me?” asked Nayar, his eyes flashing with anger. 

“No, of course not,” said Laurie amiably, “there’s this more up-to-date version where you have your twice weekly meetings away from Head Office.  In your diary it describes your appointments as dental or medical appointments.” 

The Indian dropped his head, all the fight gone.  He looked miserably at Laurie.  “What do you want of me?” he whispered. 

“I don’t want anything,” he said, “but Praveen wants to see his family again.  Amazingly, I think he misses you more than anyone.  But one of the reasons your son isn’t with us just at this moment is that he is in Canberra today, going through an accelerated process of becoming an Australian citizen.  Naturally, when he does decide to return to India for a visit, his whereabouts will be known to the Australian Consul here in Mumbai, and of course the High Commissioner in New Delhi.  He might still be your son, Mr Nayar, but he is also an Australian citizen, and we look after our people, as you most probably realise.” 

*****

Tim O’Brien had always been a mover and a shaker, but after Praveen Nayar became his partner, his career and life literally took off.  They were the classic case of two people improving each other in a most unselfish way; the result of perfect teamwork.  Tim worked as a barrister, and Praveen a merchant banker.  They were prominent workers for the Labour Party, and decided (with some serious pushing from Praveen) to start a family.  After a trip to Los Angeles, a surrogate produced a baby girl, and she was named Anam; meaning ‘blessing’ in the Hindu culture.  Then the same trip again not even twelve months later and Peter was delivered. 

Anam Fiona Nayer-O’Brien, and Peter Laurence Nayar-O’Brien, were soon circulating through all the Labour Party functions, official and unofficial.  Tim understood that Praveen had a nose for politics and for promotion.  He never questioned his judgement, because he knew Praveen had planned everything so well in advance.  He thought exposure to the better, intellectual side of politics would be good for the kids, and it was.  They were articulate little debaters before they had lost their baby teeth and the power brokers within the Party increased their kindly disposition towards Tim O’Brien and his little family group.

In 2014, Tim, as the Member for Charlesworth, had tried to persuade the Federal Caucus to embrace same-sex marriage as a policy issue because he knew it was a vote winner.  Or put more succinctly, a vote loser if they didn’t accept what the focus groups were saying.  Tim was howled down by David Markham, the Prime Minister, an old union boss and Catholic, who said Tim was  ‘pushing his own barrow’ and insisted that the election would be won on economic management performance alone, and this ‘disgusting issue’ would have no effect.  The Liberal Party listened to their focus groups, and even though their mainstream policies were generally unpopular, they promised to alter the Marriage Act to allow same-sex marriage, and to give formal recognition to the family structure and children of those unions.  For some time, there had been a Face Book, You Tube, My Space, Twitter and an email campaign running on the same subject.  Suddenly it all came together and the Labour Party lost the election by a handful of seats.  The seats that turned savagely against them had a high proportion of same-sex couples in residence, but it was their straight mates that supported them and gave their cause the numbers, just enough to unseat the sitting Labour members, and give government to the Liberal Party. 

A day is a long time in politics; David Markham was dumped as leader because he lost the unlosable election and The Honourable Timothy O’Brien, Member for Charlesworth became The Leader of the Opposition.  But the Liberals were not ready for government.  They bickered and fought, ministers were sacked with monotonous regularity, and then Australia’s worst ever corruption scandal broke, involving government contracts and three ministers.  The Prime Minister, Ronald Casey, decided to go to the people a year early, but a reinvigorated Labour Party with Timothy O’Brien as leader swept them aside in a landslide victory of record proportions. 

Laurie and Fiona O’Brien watched with pride as Tim, Praveen, Anam and Peter, walked on to the platform at the Regency Hotel.  Ronald Casey had conceded after the first hour of counting, and as the night wore on and the extent of the defeat became obvious, Mr Casey resigned.  Australians felt that at last they had something to smile about again.  In his acceptance speech, Tim paid tribute to Praveen, who, he said, many years ago, had inspired him to embrace the social issues that most politicians ran away from.  “Those were the days,” he smiled, “that politicians thought these issues were peripheral; that a small segment of society didn’t matter.  My party lost the last election because we didn’t listen to what people were telling us.  We have won this election firstly by proving we are listening to what the electorate are telling us, and secondly by providing sane, sensible and reasonable alternative policies that will impact on all Australians and drive us forward into the future.  I want to say to you all, that being chosen to lead the nation is a great honour and a privilege.  We must never forget who put us here; who our clients are; the people of Australia.  But to be the first Prime Minister who is part of a same-sex partnership fills me with pride for the loving family group who surround me!  Ladies and gentlemen, the former government lost its shirt simply because the electorate felt they couldn’t be trusted, and that is a terrible state of affairs.  I promise you that we will be as transparent and honest as possible in our dealings as we straighten out the mess we have inherited, and restore faith in the parliamentary system in Australia.” 

There was tumultuous and sustained applause as Tim, Praveen and their children filed out, surrounded by security.  Tim had been warned that the right wing religious zealots were still a force to be reckoned with, and they could stoop to violence to make a point about a same-sex family occupying ‘The Lodge’ in Canberra.  The O’Brien government had performed very creditably, and after twelve months, all the economic indicators were headed in the right direction, allowing some focus on Australia’s national obsession;----- sport, and in particular, the Olympic Games which were only four months away.  It was mid afternoon and Question Time in The House of Representatives, and the new Leader of the Liberal Party, Christopher Chen, stood to speak. 

“Mr Speaker,” he said.  “My question is directed to the Prime Minister.  Is the Prime Minister aware of the attack on the credibility and character of two of our brightest medal prospects in rowing at the forthcoming Olympics, made on morning television this morning?  The accusations and opinions made by one Mr Ted Macfarlane against Adam Church and Patrick Benson, were, I believe, Mr Speaker, in poor taste and most damaging to the training regime of these wonderful young Australians who could bring home gold in the Double Sculls event.” 

The Speaker of the House cleared his throat and barked, “The Prime Minister”.  Only two hours before, Tim O’Brien and Chris Chen had met secretly and Chris had volunteered to ask the question to demonstrate bi-partisan support. 

“Mr Speaker,” smiled Tim.  “I thank The Leader of the Opposition most sincerely for his question and his concern in this matter.  Mr Speaker, the simple answer to this question is that yes, I am of course acutely aware of these disappointing remarks.  With a household such as mine, Mr Speaker, I think I was aware of the person’s remarks even as they left his mouth, Mr Speaker,” grinned Tim.  “I have the text message to prove it.”  The House erupted with mirth, and then generous applause, because everyone knew that Praveen would be one pissed off honcho under the circumstances. 

Tim continued, “Mr Speaker, as members are well aware, we live in a democracy and it is everyone’s democratic right to free speech even though most of us would judge these remarks to be in poor taste and somewhat bigoted.  I therefore do not think it appropriate for the government to censure Mr Macfarlane’s remarks directly, but I have asked the Attorney General to look into the matter to ensure no federal act has been transgressed.  Importantly, however, Mr Speaker, I have asked the Minister for Sport and Recreation to ensure Mr Church and Mr Benson receive full cooperation for their relatively simple requests.  Those requests involve Mr Church and Mr Benson staying on at their training location in Victoria, Mr Speaker, so they can continue studying for their degree course in Agriculture.  They have also asked that they continue with their current coach who is also domiciled at the university.  And finally, having tried out a racing shell assigned to the Olympic crews, they have made the judgement, Mr Speaker to continue with their current craft, which is very modern, up-to-date and equipment they are more comfortable with.  I understand the National Rowing Secretariat and the Olympic Committee are quite relaxed with these issues.  Mr Speaker, these are two fine young men who are working towards their future and the future of Australia.  They are setting a magnificent example to everyone around them, and I know they will be great representatives for our nation overseas.  I ask the House to commend them upon their actions so far and wish them well at the Olympics.” 

“Hear, hear,” rang through the House as Praveen smiled, listening to Question Time from the comfort of  The Lodge’.