At eight thirty that evening, mom and I stood outside three zero four, D Block as mom rang the bell.

Mrs Saxena had run into mom at Tashan's that morning. They had got talking and Mrs Saxena had invited us for dinner.

Mom had whipped up her special phirni for the Saxenas and packed it in a Tupperware container which was now in my hands. The aroma was delicious.

In two seconds, a middle aged lady in a salwar opened the door. The woman could only be Rahul's mother. She had the same eyes and smile.

The Saxena's house was very much like ours with the marble flooring and panelled walls, except that they had cream and gilt furniture and everything was in it's place and not in cardboard boxes. It was modestly decorated with not too much glossy stuff.

On the shelf stood many of Rahul's prize trophies  almost all of which were that of first place. I felt a strange gush of pride when I looked at them.

"Come come, sit down", Mrs Saxena beamed as we followed her to the couch.

I was feeling slightly queasy as I sat down on the sofa next to mom but Mr and Mrs Saxena were such a charming couple and as easygoing as their son that my nerves wore off, pretty soon and mom and I were animatedly chatting with them.

Rahul came into the living room after a few minutes. He was wearing the same tshirt but there was no jacket now and he had changed from his torn jeans to normal ones, clearly on his mother's insistence.

"Hello", he said politely. Mom beamed but Mrs Saxena frowned at him.

"What were you doing in there for so long?", she then gave us an awkward smile and rushed rather apologetically, "My son is rarely at home, obsessed with that band of his, always going out and mixing with everybody...people in the society know him more than they know me or my husband. Even today he was with some friend of his, when I called him".

Rahul and I carefully avoided each others' eyes.

Mom meanwhile eager to soothe Mrs Saxena said quickly, "Oh forget it, Mrs Saxena. These kids are like that. By the way Rahul, what do you do?"

"I'm the lead singer in a band called Enchanted Stone", Rahul said without preamble.

"Oh...oh that's.. that's very nice".

Mom clearly didn't seem very impressed by the fact that Rahul wasn't going to college.

Luckily, distraction arrived in the form of Rahul's sister who brought two glasses of orange juice in a tray.

"Meghna, this is Dr Shaheen Khan who works in Mumbai University and that's her daughter Zoya".

Meghna was different from Rahul and his mother. She was short, slightly plump and would've been very endearing like a teddy bear if she didn't move around in an insanely pompous way.

"How wonderful to meet you!", she said folding her hands imperiously, after placing the tray on the table. It was rather like being introduced to the prime minister.

"Er...it's nice to meet you too dear", said Mom looking slightly confused while I tried to stop myself from laughing.

"Now, now Meghna", Rahul intervened "It's wonderful to meet you too. How long has it been! Half an hour. What a time!"

By that time Mrs Saxena had come back from the kitchen and Rahul turned to her, "Mom! How delighting to see you!"

"That's enough Rahul", Mrs Saxena said though she was suppressing a smile and then turned to me and mom "Please come, dinner is ready".

Dinner was an extravagant affair with parathas, rice, two kinds of dal, two kinds of sabzi and a salad. Mom's phirni added to the table made it an eight course meal.

The Saxena couple, Meghna and Mom steered most of the conversation while Rahul and I stayed in the shadows, eating quietly.

"Rahul, do you know anyone in St Xavier's by any chance?", Mom asked suddenly, "Zoya goes there".

"Yeah she told me", Rahul said.

"What? You know each other?", Mom asked surprised.

I started blinking rapidly, avoiding Mom's penetrating gaze and trying to think of a clever response but Rahul was quicker.

"We've met in the park", he said shortly with a very casual air that broke the momentary discomfort.

"And by the way, Shaheen", Mrs Saxena mercifully intervened, "Meghna is getting engaged next week".

The exotic topic of an imminent marriage threw everything else out of focus and the rest of the dinner was spent discussing Meghna's groom-to-be.

"She met the boy when she was doing her post graduation. He's from Tamilnadu. We'll have the engagement in Mumbai but they want the wedding there. We don't have a problem with that..."

I zoned out and looked at Rahul who was gesturing at his phone and then at me. I eagerly took out my mobile and typed.

So you're sister's getting engaged!

He typed back immediately.

And going to Canada

Going to Canada? How come your mom hasn't mentioned that yet?

My mom likes her modesty. Just like me

Oh shut up!

But I'm not talking at all

Enough. So Canada. That's pretty cool. True love, huh?

True love, my foot. I doubt my sister would've agreed to the marriage if the guy wasn't good looking and didn't make big bucks.

I really had to struggle to fight down a laugh.

Oops. That sounds bad.

It is bad. But mom and dad are all for it.

Okay let's stop this before someone catches us.

Right.

But before I go, there's something I want to tell you.

Yeah?

I'm turning eighteen this Saturday.