Suddenly Ashesh springs up and throws the door open. Sandhya is leaning against it, dozing. ‘Tell your boss to come up.’

‘Ashesh,’ Sindhutai calls out in a cracked voice. ‘What did you tell her?’

Ashesh says nothing, just strokes her forehead. ‘Where was the love in your hands all these years, my pet?’ Her voice breaks. ‘How you’d cling to me as a child. And she to her father. She never loved me the way you did.’

Anima smiles wanly.

There’s a light knock on the door. ‘May I come in?’ Sindhutai tidies her sari and looks eagerly at the door as it opens. ‘Isshya.’ She smiles. ‘“May I come in?” A doctor doesn’t need permission to see his patient.’

A shiver of revulsion runs down Anima’s spine. How Anna had hated that coy exclamation ‘isshya’! Every time Ai said it, he’d rebuke her mildly with a ‘Sindhu!’ She had stopped saying it in his presence, but it is back.

‘Who’s the patient here? You?’ Bhaskar says gaily.

‘I’m a patient only when my healer isn’t holding my hand.’

Dr Bhaskar cannot hide his confusion. Anima takes brief pleasure in seeing his face go red. ‘It’s all right, doctor. Don’t we all distinguish between private and public behaviour?’

‘Why don’t you sit down, doctor?’ Ashesh suggests.

Dr Bhaskar sits down but on the edge of a chair. ‘You asked me up.’

‘Yes. Because we want to know what’s wrong with Ai.’ Anima’s voice is deceptively soft.

‘She gets tired. And there’s some loss of appetite.’

‘Those are symptoms. We were wondering about your diagnosis.’

‘Nothing to worry about.’

‘That’s not a diagnosis. Have you had any tests done?’

‘Tests? We don’t believe in that kind of hocus-pocus. We diagnose by checking the pulse.’

‘Is that how you treated your patients in America?’

‘Are you cross-examining me? I’m not submitting to this kind of questioning.’

‘Right. Then we’ll take our mother with us to Mumbai to satisfy ourselves.’

‘That’s your right. The noise bothers her anyway. A change might help her recover.’

Sindhutai’s eyes are like a dog’s when it is kicked by its master. Ashesh’s heart fills with compassion for her. He sits beside her, gently stroking her forehead. Bhaskar recovers his composure. ‘Akka, go if your children want you to. You’ll feel better. I’m telling you as your doctor. We’re not going to be stubborn now, are we?’

Another shiver runs down Anima’s spine.

‘Can we take her today?’ she asks.

‘Sure. Why not?’

‘Right. Then we’ll see about hiring a car,’ Ashesh says briskly and gets up.

‘What are you saying? What’s my car for if it isn’t to take care of my dear sister?’

‘No thanks. You need it for your work.’

‘I don’t use the car for my work.’