“How are you?” Bina reaches out to hug her best friend. There’s safety and security from just knowing she’s right here, next to her.

But Anita’s entire body stiffens. “Fine. Just fine.” There are prominent lines on her forehead. Her pointy chin is trembling. One of the best things about Anita is that her face always gives her away. From the moment they met, Bina felt that gave her a sense of sincerity.

“No, really,” Bina presses. “Are you okay? We haven’t talked in days.”

Anita’s face tightens. She hates confrontation, while Bina thrives on it, always has.

Before Bina can say anything else, Kavita interrupts them. “Haaaaash, have you seen Sonam’s latest Facebook post?”

“What about it?” Bina asks, hoping Anita will jump in.

“She wrote this very long nonsense about how she believes men ‘need to do more housework’ and how she feels that her future husband better be ready to ‘pull his weight.’ And then she ends it with some research on ‘emotional labor.’ Can you believe that?!”

Mira and Anita nod in agreement with Kavita’s disapproval of the post.

“So many of us have taken pride in just doing what’s expected of us and not complaining. These young women are now finally speaking up! Isn’t that good?” Bina asks.

“Good?” Kavita peers at Bina as though her eyes are adjusting to the light. “No wonder Sanjay hasn’t proposed to her! I’d been giving him so much trouble for not asking, but now I realize why. The poor boy is scared.”

Kavita hasn’t been quiet about the fact that she’s been waiting for Sonam’s longtime boyfriend, Sanjay, to pop the question. She even bought herself designer saris and new diamond jewelry during her last trip to India. I’ll probably need all of it soon, she’d said, beaming.

“I’m sure Sanjay already knows how she thinks,” Bina says. “They’ve been together for a long time.”

“These girls.” Kavita shakes her head. “They think they can just mouth off and say whatever they want, do whatever they want. I thought it was an American thing and told Bipin that maybe we should have stayed in India. But apparently, the girls in the big cities there are just as outspoken.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Bina says. They’ve all practiced so many types of parenting—attachment, tiger, helicopter—but none of them have helped them understand their kids more. Bina mentally records this as another thing they can discuss in their group.

“Ha, you wouldn’t!” Kavita scoffs. “But even your Natasha knows when to stay quiet.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Bina says.

Mira turns toward her. “What do you mean?”