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here,”
said Mrs. Dewan.
    “Mr. Dewan, I honestly don’t think Ma will agree to Reema
staying away from home,” said Mira. “I can talk to her, but really…”
    “Why don’t you stay here, too, with her?” Ranbir cut in
smoothly. Mira looked up at him sharply. Now what did he have in mind? “You
will find it easier to get to office from here and, when you are here, you can
keep an eye on your little sister. With the two of you here together, your
mother will not be worried. It works out on all fronts.”
    “I will have to ask her,” said Mira firmly. “Ma is not well
and frets all day while we are away at work. And she still needs a lot of
nursing. Mausi cannot cope on her own.”
    She looked at Mrs. Dewan, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t
realize the situation. But we have to ask our mother before we can say yes.”
    “Do you always talk for your sister?” asked Mrs. Dewan in
amused tones. “Very well, run along then and talk to your mother, but let me
know by evening what you decide.”
    The sisters left the room and made their way out of the huge
grounds. Reema had just turned to her to say something, when a voice drawled
behind them, “That was not very smart, was it?”
    Mira swung around in fury to face Ranbir. “You should have
warned me that she would be expected to live in,” she hissed.
    “I thought you would realize it was inevitable,” he said.
    “It never occurred to me,” she spat. “There were so many
things in my head yesterday. Your revelations were enough, and then Reema! But
I don’t think my moving in here with her is the answer. Ma needs at least one
of us at hand with her.”
    “Think about it,” he said. “You have till evening.”
     
    ***
     
    It was early evening. As Mira walked towards Renu Mausi’s
flat, she was lost in thought. How was she going to get Ma to agree to Ranbir’s
bizarre plan? She could not remember when Reema or she had ever spent a night
away from their parents, and now, at this time, to shift out of home
altogether? She almost walked past the gleaming white Porsche convertible
before she saw it. She doubled back to give it a puzzled look—where had she
seen that car before?
    There were visitors at home. She could see the grill door
open and hear voices inside. She sighed, why today? The long figure lounging in
Renu Mausi’s three-seater sofa beside Dhiru Mausa caught her eye immediately.
Ranbir! Ma sat on the divan opposite, smiling gently at Ranbir, while Reema
stood behind her.
    “You?” she asked, quickening her stride. “Why are you here?”
    “ Beta , you didn’t tell us Reema and you were going to
meet Ranbirji’s Dadi today? In fact, you didn’t even tell us you knew
Ranbirji,” admonished Mausi gently, as she came into the room in time to catch
Mira’s words. She was carrying a tray with biscuits and cups of tea on it. Mira
scowled at the sardonic look Ranbir shot her.
    Dhiru Mausa took over. “Ranbirji tells us that his Dadi
wants Reema as her companion. That is very good because we’re not very happy
with her working in that store, as you know. Looking after a lady as well
respected as Mrs. Dewan is a much better job, but we are not very happy about
our bitiya living all by herself in a strange house. It is not done in
families like ours. Daughters leave home only when they get married—with their
husbands.”
    Mira shot a meaningful look at Ranbir, who gazed into his
teacup, seemingly unaware of her look.
    “But then again, Ranbirji tells us our families used to know
each other in Baghpat.”
    Mira’s eyes flew open in surprise. Ma explained, “My
mother’s father was a good friend of Mrs. Dewan’s father. I did not think of it
till Ranbirji told us, but I do remember visiting Nanu-Nani and playing with
Bittoo and Varsha, haina Renu Di? That would be your Dadi’s brother’s
children, wouldn’t it, Ranbir beta ?”
    “Yes, ma’am, it would indeed. They are both in the US now.
Dadi’s brother passed away a few years