‘Yes, and he’s already losing a year because of this . . .’ Aunty V waved her hands around angrily.

‘It’s all right if he wants to take some time to figure out what he wants,’ Ma told her gently.

‘That’s easy for you to say! Ananya is a good student. Not Raghu. I know that if he doesn’t do these entrance exams, he’ll just give up on studying.’

‘Why? What does he want to do?’ I asked, breaking into their tense conversation.

Aunty V sighed dramatically. ‘He wants to become a chef,’ she said.

I frowned. What, really? ‘Does he know how difficult it is to make it as a chef? It’s extremely competitive, the work hours are crazy and he’s going to have to work his ass off for years,’ I blurted out.

Papa cleared his throat. ‘Ahem. Ananya. Language,’ he said gruffly.

What? Oh, because I said ‘ass’? I rolled my eyes.

‘Exactly,’ Aunty V interjected as though Papa hadn’t spoken at all. ‘I want him to go abroad. Study in the UK preferably. But this idiot boy . . .’

‘The more you keep him away from what he wants, the more he’ll want it,’ Ma said.

I turned to her, surprised.

‘Let him do it and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, he can do the entrance exams.’

‘That’s what I’ve been doing,’ Aunty V said in exasperation. ‘Why do you think I haven’t already sent him out of the country after his twelfth board exams? This academic year is gone.’

Ma was silent. So was I. Raghu was this serious about cooking? Since when? I felt like I hardly knew him—the boy who’d thought baking was for sissies.

‘He wants to become an apprentice at a restaurant and learn from a chef. I’ll settle for him getting an undergraduate degree at least. I’ve no idea what to do with him,’ Aunty V continued.

Unthinkingly, my hand went to my plate of biryani. I took a spoonful and put it in my mouth before I realized what I was doing. The flavours exploded on my tongue and my eyes went wide.

‘This is so good,’ I said and Aunty V looked at me and smiled. I dropped the spoon back on the plate and got up. I had to leave before I ate any more.

‘Where are you going? Not eating more?’ she asked.

I didn’t answer. Ma frowned at the food I’d left on the plate but I knew that if I gave in, I would have to atone later.

Raghu was still weighing on Aunty V’s mind. ‘I was wondering if Raghu said anything to you, Ananya,’ Aunty V asked.

I paused by the door, my heart racing, my palms feeling clammy on hearing his name and mine together.

‘Um, no. I haven’t been in touch with him for a while now,’ I said.