‘You can’t blame him, Janaki. Music is his life. In those days people didn’t equip themselves with a college degree, just in case things didn’t work out and they needed a job. He didn’t. He couldn’t have afforded an education anyway. His guru and the training he gave him were the only guarantee he had of a future. If he missed a note even by a microtone, his guru would throw a tuning hammer at him. The musical note was God. To dishonour it was sacrilege. Guruji would continue to sing even if his blood was flowing. That is how he commands every note of every raag he sings. These are the stories old masters tell. They lived in a different world from ours. We must try and understand their world, not expect them to understand ours.’

Sharada puts her cup down. ‘There’s a new bandish forming in my mind today. I want to set it to Malhar. That’s supposed to be a sombre raag. Deep and grey. But I want to sound out its playful aspect. I don’t believe the mood of a raag is fixed in stone. The mood has to change according to the mood of the bandish. Even the exquisitely disturbing Marwa can be sung merrily. I want to try this out with Malhar.’

The door opens. Shekhar enters softly. As usual, Shantanu is asleep on his shoulder. Shekhar puts him in his cot and comes out. ‘Please carry on.’ But Sharada says, ‘We’re through,’ and puts an arm around him. Janaki feels like an intruder. Saying a quick goodbye, she leaves.

‘I said carry on because I have to pop into the office for a bit.’ Shekhar gives Sharada’s hand an apologetic squeeze.

Sharada’s face falls. ‘I know what “for a bit” means. It means the whole evening. So when do we see Taking Sides? Feroze loaned us the film two weeks ago. Why do you have to go? It’s not fair.’ She is upset.

‘I have to go because the American boss says so. He refuses to understand that the work culture he’s trying to introduce into the company after the takeover will not be effective right away. We have to give it time. We discussed the problem threadbare in the conference. But the man isn’t satisfied. He’s going back to America tonight, and still has some last-minute questions.’

‘What’s so difficult or different about this work culture?’