Who am I to stab at the tide of history, Abhimanyu recalled quoting Chishti to his uncle the night his family had gathered after Uday Singh’s last announcement as a monarch. Alas, he didn’t have the luxury to be that blasé anymore. He groaned inwardly, knowing that he was going to have to choose between Vihaan and the rest of his family. His father, along with Ajay Singh and Avantika, had decided to join India in exchange for an elusive seat in the corridors of power. Vihaan, his kid brother, who by all accounts was always high on cocaine and conspiracy theories, had bandied up with other state rulers to subvert the very idea of India. Abhimanyu felt helpless in the face of Vihaan’s arguments. He found it preposterous that Vihaan was working with other princely states to counter the might of India, going against the collective wishes of the millions who cherished their freedom and were willing to defend it till their last breath. He wanted to save Vihaan from the self-destructive path he was on. While he found his brother’s arguments absurd, deep down he envied him for having a point of view; a fire in his belly to stand for something. On the other hand, all Abhimanyu could think of was his right eye, or what was left of it. Where is Meera, he wondered.

‘The Nizams have been thrown out of Hyderabad, but they won’t give up. I am working with them through international channels. I need your help to convince Daata and others to join the fight, Abhi. We have the Nizam with us! The rightful ruler of Hyderabad will not—’

‘Vihaan, you are barking up the wrong tree. I wish to rest. Now please leave me alone.’

As Vihaan made his exit, angrily and unceremoniously lambasting his elder brother for inaction, Meera was trudging along Fifth Avenue, battling a blizzard. Twenty inches of white, powdery snow had engulfed the city, and Meera was on the road, taking one step at a time. Her forty-minute walk on a normal day had taken her three hours, even though hundreds of men all over the city were ploughing the snow relentlessly.

‘It’s your big day! I have tickets to a Broadway show!’ she said as soon as she entered Abhimanyu’s hospital room. She was shivering and dusting snow off her heavy winter coat, clueless about the two brothers’ recent and contentious reunion. Abhimanyu smiled at her excitement, grateful once more that she was by his side, though he was almost immediately consumed by guilt when he remembered that he was keeping her in the dark. But this was Meera’s first Broadway show and he didn’t want to play spoilsport, and so he gamely went along with her.