Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he says, ‘Annasahib was talking to madam all night. Went away in the morning.’ Rama lifts his right shoulder and wipes his eyes on his shirt sleeve. Then he stares into space.

‘Talked all night? You never told me.’ Bachchu Kaka is alert.

Rama shakes his head.

‘Did you know about this?’ he asks Anima and Ashesh. They look blank.

‘He wrote this chit. She threw it away.’ Rama takes a piece of crumpled paper from the pocket of his shorts. Unbelievable that he has kept it for ten years without showing it to anybody.

Anima takes the paper from his hand. Her heart pounds. It is Anna’s scrawl. Just a few lines. Anima reads them out in a trembling voice.

I thought long and hard about our conversation last night. I realize now that I was wrong to expect you to understand why I needed to go away. Our ideas never did match. I tried to impose mine on you. That was unfair. Last night, once again, I tried to do the same. Your decision not to go with me is right, for you. But I know if I continue here in my present state of mind, I’ll be more trouble than help to those I love. Please forgive me but I must do this. I have settled all my affairs. All my money is yours. The house is yours. I don’t know how things will go for me, but I may never come back. Please explain to Anima, Ashesh and Bachchu why I’m doing this. They will understand.

Rama has gone. Anima is weeping soundlessly.

Ashesh holds her close. ‘That’s enough. Enough.’

‘No, it isn’t. I want to scream. Don’t come with me.’

She rushes out. She’s on the beach for a long time. When she returns, she is as quiet as the seabed.

Bachchu Kaka has engaged a large van that will allow Sindhutai to travel lying down. She weeps as Dr Bhaskar settles her into the van. ‘He has cared for me like a . . . like a real brother, and I’m going away when he needs me most.’

She is silent throughout the journey. When they arrive in Gamdevi, she says, ‘If something is to happen to me, let it happen in Surgaon.’

Harya has ordered several tests. Sindhutai has to be coaxed and pleaded with to go through them. The sonography shows it clearly—the mass in the colon. Haresh looks at the images and reports carefully. ‘Metastasis in the liver. Looks bad.’ To Sindhutai he says, ‘Aunty, I’m going to put you on your feet in no time. I will have to, because I want to eat your delicious puran polis.’