He took his time eating. He used his fingers to scoop up every last drop of the kozhambu from the pot, and then licked it clean. The gravy his mother made was very watery, like rasam. He could drink it up. But this kozhambu was different; it was thick and flavourful. Even a small amount was enough to mix with a lot of rice. He wanted to enjoy such pleasures for the rest of his life. When she returned home that afternoon, the little pot with the lid on it was outside her door. She picked it up and went inside. There was a small note inside the sparkling clean vessel. ‘I wish for this to last forever. Is that possible?’

Immediately, she said ‘Hmm’—a yes—within her heart, but it swelled up slowly and grew into a sound. She thought it would float in the air and reach his ears. She truly believed that he could hear every word she uttered in her heart—that he was aware of all her thoughts, just as she knew his. She tried expressing the ‘Hmm’ in many different ways. Then, feeling shy, she lay face down on her cot. She could not even think about lunch that day. She fell asleep.

When she woke up, there was the faint murmur of evening everywhere. Guilty at having slept for so long, she went to the bathroom and washed her face. When she stepped out, she ran into Parvati, who smiled at her. Saroja wondered if Parvati knew something. What if she had seen Saroja placing the pot of kozhambu at his door or else him returning the pot later? Saroja did not want to stop and talk to her. She just smiled at Parvati and walked back into the house with her head bowed.

He was not on the cot. And his room was locked. Where could he have gone at this hour, she wondered. But then how long could he lie around on the cot? She knew he went for a little walk in the evenings. What would it be like to join him on these walks, she thought to herself. Kumaresan usually returned in an hour. He would stop at one of the many biriyani shops on the way to get his dinner. Now that he had tasted the biriyani from Bhai’s house, he went out to eat biriyani every other day. Bhai had given him extra money, telling him to eat well. When Bhai learned that Kumaresan, his mother’s only son, had come from a village to work here, his heart softened towards the young man, and he began giving him a lot of leeway.