Mahima: Of course I’m happy!
1976 and earlier
Home. Finally, she was home. Such happiness was pain. Her heart hurt from it.
The last time – the summer when Mallika had TB – it had only been for three days. As soon as she fell into Mummy’s arms, she had felt bereft because she was leaving in two days, and when she left, she and Mummy cried buckets. Even Daddy was tearful. She had slept with them for those three nights, in Mummy’s bed, Mummy’s body so warm and comforting against her own. From time to time, Daddy, who wasn’t usually demonstrative, would stroke her head as though he couldn’t believe she were with them again. And Randhir, who never saw Hindi films, had actually offered to take her for one. She had laughed, ‘No, silly, not when I’m home for just three days!’ She hadn’t been
