Shekhar cuts in, raising his own glass. ‘Shut up, Haridas. You have not earned the right to speak about that institution. At this table I’m the only one who has the right.’ Sharada, who has stiffened, relaxes. Shekhar is laughing happily. He clears his throat. ‘You are entering the great institution of marriage hand in hand. We hope—no, we are confident—that you will continue this wonderful journey hand in hand. People make institutions. Institutions don’t make people. Make of your marriage what you want it to be. You will encounter ups and downs, but if you respect one another you will conquer all. Here’s to you, dear friends!’

As the levels in the champagne bottles dip, the joy on the friends’ faces spills over. ‘This is the stuff the gods must be drinking,’ Anima says to Feroze. He nods happily. ‘The Yadavas must have drunk something quite different. You’re not going to throw pestles at me on this, are you?’

‘There’s no drink on earth that will make me hurt you, Feroze.’

Feroze takes her hand in his and squeezes it. ‘Shall we also get married?’

Anima pretends to think hard. Then smiling sweetly, asks, ‘What for?’

Feroze nods wisely. ‘Yes indeed . . . what for?’ But he keeps her hand in his.

37

This year Dussehra is in the middle of October when the post-monsoon heat blocks your breath in the chest. The afternoon sea breeze offers the only reprieve from the layer of sweat that otherwise clings to the skin. As Anima climbs into Ashesh’s Padmini, she regrets their decision to travel by road. Trains are crowded but they have fans. Even if a couple of them are in working order, they stir up the air. The train tracks are not dusty and potholed. And trains don’t have to follow in the wake of tankers and trucks belching clouds of poison from their exhausts. If you can bear the stench of human excreta around the tracks as you enter railway stations, the rest of the journey comes quite close to being comfortable. Of course, Ashesh’s point is well taken. If the inaugural ceremony becomes unbearable at any point, a car sets them free to return home immediately. Ashesh, fed up of driving, has only recently engaged a driver. The only Padmini in the country that is chauffeur-driven. Thus said Haridas. Ashesh sits next to the driver and Anima and Janaki in the back.