'STALLING WAS THE ONLY SENSIBLE MOVE'

WHEN her mother called, Garima didn’t pick up the phone. It was Neil who gave her the news. ‘She says it’s an emergency. They are going to cut off her power supply.’

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Garima took a flight to Goa the next morning, expecting to spend the day talking to municipal officers. She was led to the garden instead. ‘You always keep things to yourself,’ Leela began, her face streaked with mud as she planted a line of sunflowers, ‘but, luckily, Neil had the sense to tell me what has happened.’ She wondered if he had told her mother the same things – he had not meant to cheat. He got carried away with his friends.

‘Leave it, Ma. What’s the problem with the municipal board?’ Leela held Garima by the arm and led her to a rickety bench. ‘First, I want to talk about you. Neil told me you stay awake all night, barely eat. You can’t torture yourself like this. Have you tried speaking to someone, a professional?’

She had found a therapist. Her anxiety increasing as she sat on the faux-leather couch in the reception. Garima