Oblivious of the independent, cruel plans time had for them, the un-informed kids, Kalindi and Savitri, dreamt of an unpunctuated future together where rainbows abound.

“I don’t mind a husband who doesn’t die,” Savitri confided in Kalindi.

“Me neither,” Kalindi dittoed, and before leaving for her boarding school, she promised Savitri to write to her regularly and come back for her with a firm, actionable plan.

Time, busy dotting the ‘Is and crossing the ‘Ts, seemed to have fallen in love with its cruel plan and was impatient to unfurl it without further ado. Much before the kids could exchange their first letter, their dream world somersaulted, crashed and was dispatched to unforeseen, deep and dark unrelenting confines of earth, personally guarded by Yama.

Kalindi did come back but without a plan as she had promised earlier.

Protected by her mother’s love shield, Kalindi returned to her school without saying goodbye, and buried herself in her books, charting a path of high education and a career in a top consulting firm in America, earning big dollars, and didn’t look back.

Recently, after repeated cajoling from her father, she moved back to India and travelled to Benaras.

The visit, to her, was a shock beyond her, and all she wanted to do was run away from Benaras as fast as she could.

But could she?