'Gayatri, is that you?' her mother called from the living room.

'Yes, Ma.' Gayatri walked into the living room and dropped into an armchair.

'They called me.'

Gayatri looked at her mother wearily and shrugged.

'What happened?'

'Ma, please,' replied Gayatri, 'I can't do this.'

'What do you mean, Gayatri? Here we are, going crazy trying to find boys who are good, educated, earning well. Do you have any idea how tough it is? And you go around rejecting everyone. At least give me a reason—'

'Then don't do it any more. You don't need to do this. Please. This guy ... I just can't, Ma. You should have met him yourself, then you'd understand.'

'What do you mean? He's well-educated, from a good family, earning well. What more do you want?' Nina asked, in an agitated tone.

'Ma, I need you to stop badgering me about this marriage thing.'

'Really? And what do you propose to do instead? Go on living like this? Don't you want a family of your own?'

'I thought I have a family,' said Gayatri, unable to stop the tears welling up in her eyes. 'But if this is such a big deal for you, I'll move out.'

Nina was surprised to see her usually tough daughter in tears. 'Don't say such hurtful things, beta,' she said softly.

Gayatri had intended that to hurt. 'Mom, I am thirty-two now. I will not be bullied into meeting more useless guys. This is becoming humiliating.'

'But, beta,' began Nina.

'No, don't start that now,' said Gayatri, swallowing as she tried to control the tears that were streaming down her face.

Nina walked over to her and sat down. She tried to turn her daughter's face towards her, but Gayatri resisted. 'Please, beta, don't cry, I'm sorry,' she said. 'We just want the best for you. My strong girl.'

Gayatri pushed her mother's hands away, stood up and went to her room.

The next morning at ten, Gayatri and Farah entered Ramesh Kanthan's office for their weekly Monday meeting.

'Good morning,' Kanthan said, looking up from his computer screen. He was dressed in a crisply ironed green kurta and white pyjamas. His greying hair fell in scanty waves over his head. Widely acknowledged as one of India's foremost historians, Kanthan had started the Indian History Review twenty-three years ago. His writing had the unique distinction of being critiqued by both the right and the left, and being

labelled 'Marxist', 'pseudo-secular' and 'conservative', depending on the labeller's proclivity. Though he had been influenced chiefly by Marxist theories as a young scholar, he had later developed a fanatical focus on research from original sources, even learning several languages to be able to study these first-hand. This resulted in a study of history that was

more human and broad-based than Marxist blinders permitted, but also more factual than the 'nationalist' narrative required. When pressed to slot him, as this age of 140 characters and limited attention spans frequently demanded, people often referred to him, rather lazily, as a 'popular' historian.

Once they sat down, Kanthan got straight to the point. 'So, Farah told you about that call?'

Gayatri nodded.

'There's another development there,' he said. 'I got a call from Anil Bhargav last night.'

'Who?' asked Farah.

'Anil Bhargav. He's the secretary of the Shri Seva Parishad, SSP. You must have heard of them?'

'What does he want now?' asked Gayatri.

'He told me they don't like the sort of research we are publishing,' Kanthan said. 'He mentioned your piece on Godse, Farah's article on Kabir and Chandrappa's on the Indus script being non-linguistic. He also insisted that we publish that Dutt fellow's article to demonstrate that we are balanced.'

'This is just getting crazier,' said Farah, shaking her head.

'I've met Anil Bhargav a few times,' said Kanthan. 'I remember having a pretty interesting debate with him some years back at a college event or something. He was quite intelligent, he made a couple of points on archaeological evidence at Harappan sites that I went back and researched.' Kanthan paused. 'Look, I'll be honest with you two. My priority is that you are not dragged into some kind of mess. We have to think through this carefully.'

'But—' Gayatri started.

'Do you remember what happened to those journalists at the Indian Age?' continued Kanthan. 'And the Urdu Festival event organizers? They're still recovering from that attack. All I'm saying is, we need to be sensible. Things are changing, you know that. A few years ago, I might have reacted differently to something like this, but now ...' Kanthan broke off, then added firmly, 'I am not going to invite trouble, particularly for you two.'

'But surely we're not thinking of publishing that rubbish?' said Gayatri, looking from Kanthan to Farah incredulously.

'Gayatri, that's not what he is saying.' Farah turned to Kanthan. 'Anyway, why is this Sri Seva Parishad so interested in us?'

'So you know that SSP is a religious cult headed by that Sadhu chap.'

Farah nodded. 'He is also like the patron saint of the Bharat Sanskriti Dal. He channels funds to the party through his multi-millionaire devotees, and also puts his armies of goondas at its disposal.'

Gayatri clicked her tongue impatiently. 'I don't know that much about this SSP, but we work very hard on our journal, Kanthan. We can't just publish any bullshit someone sends in. How can we give in to these nutcases? Let's go to the cops.'

'You know it's not that simple, Gayatri,' said Kanthan. 'The BSD is now part of the central government. The cops will not act against these people unless we reach out through someone with influence. And those sorts of favours always come with strings attached.'

Gayatri bit her lower lip thoughtfully. 'I can try speaking with my sister's dad-in-law. He's joining the BSD, or maybe he's already joined.' After a pause, she added, 'In fact, that Sadhuji fellow came for Nandini's wedding.'

'Do you think he can help?' asked Farah. 'I mean, does he know this Sadhuji well?'

'I'll check with Nandini,' said Gayatri. 'And this will be a personal request, not exactly a favour.'

'Fine,' said Kanthan. 'let's all have a think and meet tomorrow evening to discuss this. I'm not saying we will publish that piece, of course, but let's figure out how to deal with this situation sensibly, without anyone getting hurt. I'll also talk to a few friends. Okay?'

'Yes,' said Farah. 'I think that's a good idea.'

Kanthan and Farah looked at Gayatri.

She shrugged. 'Fine, but I can tell you now, I will not vote for giving in to this kind of pressure, no matter how much I think about it.'

A few hours later, Farah and Gayatri took their afternoon coffee break. They sat on the broad step that led from the veranda to the lawn, their bare feet on the green grass. There was a slight nip in the air. It was getting to that point in November when Delhiites seem to instinctively turn their faces to the sun, like sunflowers.

'When is Zaheer coming back from New York?' asked Gayatri. 'Have you guys decided on a date for the wedding?'

'Not yet, but his parents are really pushing him now. Let's see.' Farah sighed. 'Anyway, is Nandini back from her honeymoon yet?'

Gayatri nodded. 'She got back last night. I haven't seen her yet.' She paused. 'It's funny actually, I was never excited when she came home after spending months away in college, and now she's been away just a week and I can't wait to see her.' She stared thoughtfully at the grass around her feet for a few seconds, then said, 'Can you imagine, I told her she should not marry Amar?'

Farah looked at Gayatri, but didn't say anything.

'I really regret that, you know. I apologized to her before the wedding. I should not have said that to her.'

'You're her older sister, Gayatri. You were just looking out for her.'

'I really didn't think that Amar was good enough for her. He's not as smart as her. They used to fight non-stop, and they had dated for less than a year. But now that they're married, I feel really bad about the things I said.'

'I'm sure she knows that,' said Farah. 'Did she bring up your argument again?'

'No. But you know, one thing she said to me that night stuck in my head.' Gayatri paused. 'She said, "I don't want to end up like you."'

'Ohho,' said Farah, 'don't be silly, Gayatri. I'm sure she didn't mean it.'

'No, it's not that,' said Gayatri quickly. 'I don't mind what she said, but it did make me wonder whether seeing me single pushed her to say yes to someone whom she didn't love all that much.'

Farah thought for a couple of seconds, then said, 'Look, Nandini is a smart, intelligent girl. She's financially independent. She would have thought carefully about such an important life choice.'

Gayatri looked at Farah. 'I hope you're right.'

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