He reached home to a text from Radhika. ‘Thank you, Madhav. I haven’t felt this happy in a long time. I hope no more rats commit suicide in your room.’

Madhav smiled and dropped on to his bed. His mother came upstairs to check on him and seeing him smile made her heart swell with joy again.

He began scribbling in his notebook and, this time, to his surprise, he wrote about embracing life instead of detesting it. It’s incredible what a slight change of perspective or an interaction with a special soul can do.

Life has plenty of moments

When the path splits in two,

We’ll walk in the dark

And if we stay together,

We will make it through.

5

Radhika dragged herself out of bed as the morning sunlight poured in through a gap in her bedroom curtains. She meditated, did her yoga, showered, blow-dried her hair and pulled the whole mess back into a ponytail. She put some moisturizer on her tattoo and dressed in her usual attire, a kurta and a pair of trousers. She then applied some mascara on to her lashes, dabbed on some cherry lip gloss and slipped on a pair of long peacock feather earrings and silver bangles. Radhika enjoyed breaking the conventional image of serious psychoanalysts.

She had been living by herself for four years now. She, too, harboured her own stories and secrets, some of which were probably as confounding as Madhav’s.

Suresh, her programme manager, emailed her the weekly schedule that morning. She had multiple appointments booked—it was going to be a hectic week. But she was still perplexed by Madhav’s case. She did not know his earlier diagnoses but felt quite invested in him already. She hadn’t received any calls or messages from him for the past two days, despite his eagerness to see her again. She was concerned and thought about texting him when her phone beeped. It was Madhav. She smiled at the universe’s sense of humour.

‘Ms Analyst, I too am an analyst now. I got the job! Business Analyst at Emarket.’ Radhika smiled and shook her head.

‘I think you are my lucky charm.’ He texted again.

‘But I didn’t even wish you luck,’ she replied, dumping a load of clothes into the washing machine.

‘Your presence was lucky enough.’ A straight drive for four runs! Radhika blushed.

‘So where are we meeting for the party?’ he asked. She was a bit worried that he was falling for her. She loved his gestures and company but was too cautious to succumb to it. She knew Madhav was only attracted to her because of the forced intimacy of their relationship.

‘No, Madhav. I’m busy with appointments today,’ she replied. Madhav didn’t respond, which made Radhika restless. She wanted to see him, but was afraid she would fall for him. She didn’t want him to develop feelings for her either. He was a young man, exploring his life and confronting the demons of his past, while she was a twenty-nine-year-old psychoanalyst, who had her own struggles with the past.