Mukundo inhaled sharply. There! It had been said. And the world hadn’t come to an end. Mohima was right. He had trapped himself in unnecessarily precaution.

Outwardly he said, “Yes. That’s correct. And I don’t know if you have thought about it and know how you feel. If you don’t know, that’s fine. Take your time. You don’t have to reciprocate. Just know that I am an option.”

She gave him a look that protested this trivialization of his position. Then she asked what Mukundo felt was a silly question. “Would you want to marry me?”

She looked genuinely puzzled. That, in turn, puzzled Mukundo, “That would be the obvious thing to want, unless you have some revolutionary ideas about not believing in the institution of marriage or something.”

“I am not a revolutionary, Mukundo Babu. Not a rebel either. That’s the point. You might fancy going against Kaku or Kaki’s wishes. I can’t–”

“Why do we have to go against their wishes?”

“Don’t get me wrong. They have been nothing but kind to me and my family. But we are not your equals.”

Mukundo became somber, “In what way are you not my equal, Piyali? Except perhaps in age. But that works against me, not against you.”

“You are not such a simpleton, Mukundo Babu. You know very well what makes people equal or unequal in the society.”

Mukundo smiled at that. “Why don’t you let me know if you make up your mind in my favor? And then we can go to Ma and you can see for yourself how she reacts.”

His confidence gave Piyali a pause. And then she suddenly jumped out of the chair. “Oh. My. God.”

“What happened?”

“Kaki already knows, doesn’t she? Since when?”

Now, Mukundo grew worried, “Why are you asking that? Did she say something to you?”

“Every time I come back from Delhi–”

“What! What has she been saying?”

“She has been asking if I have a… if I am seeing someone. Sometimes I thought she worries that now that I am away from home something will go wrong. At other times I thought she was conniving with Ma to get me married. I begged her not to do that because I wasn’t ready–”

Here she stopped abruptly and looked at Mukundo.

“I am sorry, Piyali,” he said, “Yes. She knows. And I am sorry she bothered you–”

“That’s not–”

“Listen to me. She need not know that you know. Okay? Otherwise she will pressurize you–”

“She actually wants this?”

“That’s not your worry.”

“Mukundo Babu. I am not a rebel. But don’t you know me at all? I am not a pushover either. So just tell me, please.”

“All right. Yes, she wants this. I was also surprised when I learned of that. Not for the reasons you think. But I was surprised. And honestly, I don’t know why she wants this. May be, she is desperate for me. May be, she likes you so much. Or whatever else.”

“How long has she known?”

Mukundo hesitated before replying, “Since I returned from Delhi. After meeting you.”

“Makes sense,” she mumbled as she recalled that even during phone conversations since around that time Mohima had seemed curious about strange things and brought up the subject of Mukundo’s marriage more often than usual.

“What are you thinking, Piyali?” Mukundo’s nervous question brought her out of her reverie. She rushed back and took his place in the chair beside his bed.

“I am making you anxious; I am sorry, Mukundo Babu.”

“No, no, no. The one thing I can’t stand is to see you worried or unhappy. Please don’t be sorry. Just talk to me, if you can.”

“I am… I am baffled right now. Can you give me some time?”

“Take all the time you need. Just… Don’t worry. And I suggest that you don’t tell Ma. I know you are not a pushover. But I also know Ma. she can be annoyingly persistent once she gets an idea in her head.”

“I know something of that,” Piyali smiled, “Thank you. For being patient.”

“Piyali. There is no other way I can be, unless I want to be a complete jerk.”

—

It didn’t matter how much she had thought over it in last few days, until the conversation with Mukundo, it hadn’t become real. Now that it had become real, the only thing she wanted to do was to be happy, to jump headlong into it, throw herself in his arms, and not worry about anything else. But the only thing she was able to do was to worry. What would she not have given to have somebody who could advise her? But who could she go to? It was impossible to explain the situation to any of her friends. What would they understand of what her relationship with the Thakur household was and how complicated it made things? It wasn’t another affair with a potential to become a serious relationship. It was an all or none decision. And if she went for all, and something went wrong, she couldn’t even imagine what the world would look like then! She couldn’t have asked her parents. She was sure they would go berserk and run immediately to Mohima. And even though she had defended herself as not being a pushover in front of Mukundo, she knew that his concern about telling anything to Mohima was right. Whether it was about sending her to a music class, or buying her a dress, or paying her fees, if something had gotten into Mohima’s head, she had always known how to get her way by being persistent. Giving into someone’s wishes because she loved them or was grateful towards them was one thing. But this wasn’t a matter in which she could put blind trust in anyone’s judgement. No! She couldn’t speak to Mohima.

The only person she would have to speak to was Mukundo.

—

To be continued