‘Quickly, children, we need to get home soon,’ she looked around Burwood Plaza nervously.

‘Amma, I’m chewing carefully. I might choke,’ Vivek said, swallowing his last mouthful.

‘You’ll choke if you’re being cheeky,’ she replied, picking up the tray.

‘Priya? I thought I saw you.’

She turned around and looked into the drooping face of Mrs Pasupathy, flanked by her three grandchildren. ‘Hello Aunty, how are you?’ she leaned down and kissed the old lady. Mrs Pasupathy was a friend of Nala’s and a regular patient of Priya’s.

‘I’m just giving the children some French fries; they begged me for a treat, don’t you know.’ Mrs Pasupathy looked at Priya’s tray littered with beef burger wrappers and raised her eyebrows.

‘Will you be attending temple tonight?’ Mrs Pasupathy asked meaningfully.

‘Yes … you?’

‘Yes, of course. We never miss it,’ Mrs Pasupathy replied, placing her tray on the table next to Priya’s.

‘Good … well, enjoy your French fries,’ Priya smiled tightly and turned to go. And then she turned back. ‘The beef fat they’re fried in can be bad for your cholesterol, Aunty, just be careful about that, won’t you.’

She ushered her children out, faking the jaunty wave she’d seen her mother do a thousand times.

As soon as she arrived home she called Dhara. They usually spoke after temple, but she couldn’t wait.

‘What is wrong with these people? It’s not just one of them, it’s all of them,’ she complained. ‘Why are they all so nosy?’

‘By “these people” I assume you mean “our people”—and the answer is therefore obvious: thousands of years of inbreeding,’ Dhara replied.

Priya laughed. She could hear the smile in her sister’s voice. She missed it.

‘Don’t be too hard on them, Acca, they’re okay. These people keep secrets for us. They have accepted Smrithi as your child, they’ve cooked you curries and given you more baby clothes, toys and advice than you ever wanted. The community is claustrophobic at times, but also very caring. I don’t know if you can have one quality without the other.’

‘Thank you, Dhara,’ Priya replied. ‘You are very wise and very right. I’ll be nicer to poor, old Mrs Pasupathy tonight.’

‘What time do you leave for temple?’ Dhara asked.

‘In an hour or so, as soon as Siva gets home. He’s so happy to be a consultant, I can’t get him to leave the hospital now.’

‘Is he still on Deity Duty?’ Dhara asked. Every week Siva took a suitcase of deities to the community hall and, like a travelling salesman, assembled a demountable altar with a selection of Hindu gods and goddesses for worship.