Deepak leaned against a cool slab of stone and told Bina he knew she was scared while she performed. I could see it on your face, he said. This was years before her confidence would be taken from her, before she’d promise to make sure her future children never doubted themselves the way she did. Bina had been approached by many men by then (with five marriage proposals!), but none of them had the insight to point out her vulnerability or even care about it in the first place. She could be open with this man. She could be herself. She called her parents that night and told them she’d met her husband.

Ma was waiting for Bina when she got home. She was sitting at the dining table, next to a decorative plate with Queen Elizabeth’s face on it. Both of Bina’s parents loved collecting British royalty memorabilia. Ma’s stern expression seemed to match the queen’s. You’re making the biggest mistake of your life. That man won’t be able to provide you with any of the things you’re used to.

Ma wasn’t wrong about the latter part. One week later, Bina sneaked out of her parents’ gated house in the middle of the night, to where Deepak waited on his motorcycle two streets away. They moved into the first floor of his college friend’s house, where every time Bina had to use the bathroom, she took three flights of rickety stairs to the terrace and hoped that the common toilet was free. She channeled any doubt or frustration into her work, into every role she auditioned for. There were plenty of Bollywood parts where a woman left her family and defied the odds with her husband. A part of Bina relished this overlap between art and life.

But then it happened.

Bina’s parents were sure Deepak would leave her after the first incident. But Deepak was at her bedside every single day. He brought her Havmor ice cream and met with the doctors. When she was discharged, he pushed her to act again, find a new project, a new group of people who wouldn’t hold what had happened against her.

It happened again one week after Suhani was born. Bina had no idea that giving birth would turn her emotions into tiny tornados, ready to destroy everything in their path. By then, Deepak was in med school and too busy to give Bina the support she needed with the baby. She begged for her parents to take her back, just until she got into a good rhythm. And even though they agreed, it was clear within hours that things between them had permanently shifted.