Seth-ji had repeated this sentence many times with his nostrils flaring and cheeks turning red.

It was clear that the Aslams and Kulwinders had to be fed and their pockets lined over a period of time to ensure the number of people they would bring to the rally. It was a long-drawn-out game that Seth-ji played. Rajjo could see new worry lines etched over his wrinkles.

As she sat numbering the parcels and boxes, she felt the hair on her neck stand up as she heard a familiar voice. Kesar led someone in through the main door. Rajjo turned around to see Rano and Karam standing in her living room.

Rano was clad in a green sweater and green shawl embroidered with yellow and pink silken threads. Rajjo had fought over it with Rano, as it was their mother’s and the sisters had decided to wear it turn by turn. With a few parcels in hand, Rano just came forward and hugged Rajjo. Rajjo wanted to hug her and run away and hide at the same time. She was not ready to meet them yet. She was not ready to meet anyone from her village. Rano was looking pretty and happy. Karam looked handsome in a white kurta. His hair was shorter, his face thinner. Something came rushing back to Rajjo. Nostalgia tasted strange. She could taste the days and nights spent in the village fleetingly. She could smell the wheat fields turn ripe as many afternoons were spent with Rano lying in the belly of the soil.

It brought back sweet lazy days, gulping down the sweet sugarcane juice, drinking the last drop and racing to the house to feed the fodder to the cows. They smelt of home.

Kesar was happy to see someone from Rajjo’s house had come to see her. He took the little gifts they brought with them and offered them water. Seth-ji acknowledged them and asked a few distracted questions. It was clear they were a hindrance to his hectic schedule. He went back to making some notes, but Rajjo had learnt from this brief awkward exchange that Karam had started working in a shop just on the outskirts of the city but now he was heading back to the village for a while. Shortly after the tea was served, Seth-ji made an excuse and moved to the bedroom leaving the trio alone.

The three of them together had never known silence before this. The teacups rattled, the spoons clinked, the heater in the corner of the room under the table blared. Every tug, every sigh and every thought was magnified till Rano made some generic comments. Rajjo responded in monosyllables in response to Rano’s hesitant questions as she sat slurping the sweet hot tea.

Karam did not speak at all. Rano filled her in about the village and tales from back home, ‘Totu is unwell. Father is frailer than ever. They found an alliance for me, I refused last minute so now Rikki is finalized for the boy.’