‘All the others and a new girl from the Mumbai Observer.’

‘Janaki?’

‘You know her? Oh God! Of course. She was with you at Sharada’s concert.’

Anima looks at Haridas with narrowed eyes. He grins. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t find tense women attractive. The types who weigh every word they speak and smile once a month.’

The doorbell rings. It’s Feroze. ‘Late. You’re forgetting Mummy’s lessons.’ Feroze smiles, gives Anima a tight hug and pecks her on both cheeks.

‘How’s it going?’ she asks.

‘Going.’

‘Your magnum opus?’ Haridas asks.

‘What’s this?’ Feroze points at the covered wall.

‘The reason for the party.’

Ashesh comes with Ramprasad’s question still caught in his smile. ‘Sa’ab, why haven’t you brought your missus along?’ Like everybody else, Ramprasad finds Ashesh’s attachment to his old car amusing. But Ashesh has begun to find driving too stressful. ‘Where’s Mrs Padmini?’ Haridas asks, echoing Ramprasad. ‘Didn’t hear her grumbling and coughing.’

‘Bet he’s left her at home,’ Anima says.

‘How can he do that?’

‘He’s become a Gandhian. Travels by public transport, rubbing shoulders with the likes of us.’

Ashesh turns to Anima. ‘I came by cab today.’ His face glows at having scored a point over her.

‘My brother looks pleased,’ Anima says to Feroze, her eyes resting curiously on Ashesh’s face.

‘Work must be going well,’ Feroze murmurs.

Sharada, Shekhar and Janaki arrive together. They smile stiffly and look for places to sit. Silence descends on the room. It’s the first time after Sharada’s marriage that Shekhar and Haridas are face to face in the same room. It’s hot outside, but the temperature inside has dropped. Shekhar looks stern, deliberately so. Sharada’s face is blank. Ashesh’s eyes avoid Janaki’s. Janaki’s avoid Haridas’s, but turn repeatedly to Ashesh. Haridas looks nervous. Anima watches everybody in turn, conscious of the drama that is playing out silently. Only Feroze is relaxed. The ins and outs of complex human relations are beyond him. Since nobody says anything, he says to Janaki, ‘Your friend Prakash calls me all the time. I should have stuck to using my mouth to eat dosas that evening. The last time he called he wanted to know if he should accept Sumitraben’s invitation to a satsang. A satsang, for heaven’s sake!’

‘What did you tell him?’ Anima asks, while Janaki looks at the floor mortified.

‘I think I said go.’

‘Poor boy. Straight into the lioness’s jaws.’

Now everybody starts talking all at once. Haridas says to Janaki, ‘Who’s this friend?’

Sharada says to Feroze, ‘Who’s Prakash?’

Shekhar says to Ashesh, ‘We haven’t met for years. I believe your show’s opening soon?’

‘Not all that soon,’ Ashesh answers. ‘Twenty-eighth September. Between Ganapati and Dussehra.’