The woman brightened up again. ‘They are our co-curricular partners for maths and science. They even start teaching concepts of Trigonometry by class four!’

That did it. Anu vividly remembered how Trigonometry had tortured her in the tenth standard. That very Trigonometry had made her take Humanities instead of Science. That decision, in turn, had resulted in her mother’s deep disappointment for months. Her only daughter was not going to be a software engineer while every other kid in Vijaynagar was.

Vicky found his bounce the minute they left the school building. What next? Anu felt her panic spread all through her body. The other schools on the list would not be any different from this one. Was every little task going to be this hard in her new life?

12

12

Sanju came home in a good mood. It was Friday after all. Anu, having gotten over the traumatic experience at the school with a good nap, was in a good mood too.

‘Hey, Dave asked me if we wanted to go out for dinner with him and a few of his friends. I have already agreed. Get ready, babe.’

‘Where are we going?’ Anu had to know every detail. ‘We, as in a few couples? Children too?’

‘I think Mariott.’ Sanju beamed. ‘Dave’s girlfriend is in town. So I am sure it is a couple’s thing. But I don’t know about taking kids.’

‘Can you call and ask if we can take Vicky? If others are bringing their kids, we will too.’ Anu started working out the details in her head. Leaving Vicky with her parents would take insanely long. She could ask Rathnamma but she would charge an insane amount of money.

‘Ask the maid to stay with Vicky. We will have a nice evening out. See, this is the kind of life I was talking about. Living in a luxury house, going out for classy dinners with friends.’ Sanju looked so visibly happy, Anu decided not to point out any negatives to the situation. She could think of many, like for example, the cost of dining at Mariott. But they could afford that. It was just dinner.

Rathnamma’s daughter agreed to stay with Vicky for a thousand rupees for three hours. Anu brought it down to seven hundred. But the fact was, she had begun to lose a sense of money after moving here. Seven hundred would seem exorbitant a week ago but now, after dealing with Rathnamma and the school, it sounded reasonable.

The dinner was all good and friendly when it was just Dave and his girlfriend. Soon the other two couples joined them. Since Anu had already had a cocktail, one of the wives looked familiar but she couldn’t place her. Anu had a strange sort of memory. She could remember incidents even from her past life but not faces.

The woman now stood squarely before Anu and frowned. ‘Oh! You are the teacher from that school in Vijaynagar.’