Ahilya is neither nice nor well-settled because her medical degree barely counts. But Shanti Ma loves to tout Ahilya’s six-figure salary in front of the well-wishing relatives who never fail to remind her of her daughter’s single status, and her father regularly repeats to anyone in his vicinity how several boys belonging to several family branches have failed to clear the medical entrance. One by one, he counts their names on his fingers, the ones who are now enrolled in ambiguous undergraduate programs while interning with him at the shop. However, that’s where the unorthodox buck stops. A family wedding, peopled by relatives, brings out Shanti and Kailash’s most conventional selves. Like the dandyish darbaan, they try their best to be their most sporting selves, but fail miserably at it. Perhaps she could hide with her brother and cousins, avoid running into her parents or any of her aunts or uncles today, long enough to stop matchmaking machinations in their tracks.

The door to Room 28 is slightly ajar, and Ahilya pushes it open. There is a card game in progress, and boys and girls of various ages are draped indolently over the enormous double bed. This is definitely the singles’ room....

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