Jai spluttered with indignation, mostly at his own lack of comebacks for this annoying gadfly of a girl. Inaya watched him in wicked amusement.

‘That’s quite enough,’ said Habib quietly to Inaya, and then turned to Toshi. ‘Well, it was good meeting you, and thank you again for your help today.’

‘Not at all,’ said Toshi. ‘Good luck with the show.’

As Habib and Inaya walked away, Jai turned to his grandmother, red-faced. ‘Just who does she think she is—telling me what parcels of food to send to the Indian cricket team and stuff?’

‘She’s just pulling your leg, Jai. She wants to make conversation with you, and this is probably her way of breaking the ice.’

‘Oh, come on, Badi Ma. I can’t believe you’re taking her side. Even her own granddad told her off.’

‘I’m not taking her side. I’m just saying—don’t let her get under your skin. I thought you handled it very well by not retaliating.’

Jai took another bite of his quiche, quite pleased that his inability to come up with a fitting response was being held up as taking the high road.

‘The next time she tries that, I may not be as magnanimous,’ he announced. ‘Enough is enough.’

Houseful

The Puri family was now in full force in London. Rajan had also arrived for the last lap of their stay, before Arathi’s assignment came to an end and they could all return to India.

Jai and Rajan were busy chopping vegetables for dinner, while Toshi cooked the lentils and rice. Arathi called to say that she was on her way home from work.

‘Is our bowling really that bad, Papa?’ Jai asked, as he expertly chopped the brinjal into roundels.

Rajan looked at his son in amazement, unused to this line of questioning from Jai. ‘Our bowling as in . . . ?’

‘I mean the Indian cricket team. Is our bowling not as good as Pakistan’s?’

‘Of course not. Our team is way better than Pakistan’s.’

‘That depends on who you ask,’ interjected Toshi, smiling. ‘Are the vegetables done? My dal is almost ready now and so is the rice.’

‘Almost done, Ma,’ said Rajan. ‘I didn’t know you were into cricket, Jai?’

‘Oh, I’m not. There’s just this annoying girl who is following me everywhere—so I need to follow cricket just so I know what to say to her when she gets annoying, which is most of the time.’

‘Okay, you’ve lost me there.’

‘It’s just a teenage tiff,’ said Toshi with a wink, always game to add fuel to the fire.

‘Pfft . . . Oh please, Badi Ma!’

‘I seem to have missed quite a lot in these past few weeks,’ said Rajan.

‘Badi Ma has made friends with that girl’s grandfather—that’s why she’s always taking her side.’

‘Hmm. I really do seem to have missed out on quite a lot,’ repeated Rajan, with a smile. ‘So, you’ve made new friends here too, Ma?’

‘There’s no “too” about it, Papa,’ said Jai. ‘That Pesky Girl is definitely not my friend. And I don’t think you’ll like them either. They’re from Pakistan.’