Hasta-prāpya-stabaka-namito bāla-Mandāra-vṛkṣaḥ

Chapter Fifteen

"Dādā, mājhyāmuḷe aḍaçaṇa hoṇāraça nāhī, śapatha!" Dādā, I won't be in the way at all, I swear! The plaintive tone in Nikhil's deep voice made Mandar laugh, as it brought back memories of his teenage years when Nikhil, a toddler, had insisted on spending playtime with his Dādā, ignoring playmates of his own age. "Mī kitī vazana uçalū śakato, he tulā māhītaça nasela." You may not even know how much weight I can lift. "Tū gelī aḍīça varṣe kuṭhe āṇi kasā rāhilāsa, tyāçā video kāḍhāyalā malā kadhī punhā saṃdhī miḷela?" When will I have another chance to make a video of where and how you lived for the past two-and-a-half years?

As soon as Mandar had cancelled the taxi and told his family that Farhad would be driving him and Vishnu to Vikarabad and bringing him back, Nikhil made clear his unwillingness to stay behind. Farhad's idea - that Nikhil wouldn't want to waste four hours riding in a car when he needed to catch up on work after taking time off for the pūjā that morning - had seemed sensible to Mandar, but he had forgotten that Nikhil was grown up now, and Nikhil would decide how to balance his responsibilities at work and at home. Mandar was impatient to figure out, with input from Farhad and Vishnu and Dr. Ramya, what had happened between his hospitalization in Hyderabad and his arrival at the clinic in Vikarabad, but he knew that anything that would implicate Sulochana Kākū could not be discussed in front of Nikhil. Farhad had changed his plans for the evening, just to talk with Mandar. How was Mandar going to tell Farhad that his time would be wasted; they wouldn't get to talk?

Sharada spoke up. "Are Mandar, zātānā zara tumhī cāra zaṇa gāḍīta basalāta, tara tumaçe pāya ākhaḍatīla kā?" Oh, Mandar, if the four of you sit in the car on the way there, will you not have leg-room? "Āṇi yetānā tīna zaṇāṃbarobara tujhyā sāmānālā zāgā nasela kā?" And on the way back, with the three of you, won't there be room for your baggage? "Nikhil-lā gheūna zā, āṇi tyācyā nazaretūna malā suddhā baghūde, mājhyā bāḷālā vanavāsāta kāya bhogāve lāgale!" Take Nikhil along, and let me also see through his point of view what my child had to endure in exile!

Mandar nodded. There was no way to leave Nikhil at home. On Mandar's first night back, fearing that he would be lost again, Bābā had made him promise not to go anywhere alone. And after what Āī and Bābā had heard about Farhad from his parents last night, Mandar thought, they might worry about Mandar in Farhad's company even more than with a stranger driving a taxi.

Farhad pulled up to the door in the car that he had borrowed from Raghav. Mandar sheepishly walked up to him, and said, "Nikhil is coming on this trip with me after all. I'm sorry, Farhad, we won't be able to talk privately. I shouldn't have wasted your time. If you want to back out, I should be able to find a taxi."

Mandar's sheepish posture and sorry face are irresistible, Farhad thought. "Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "Is everyone ready?" As he spoke, Farhad wondered if he had accidentally voiced his thoughts instead: I want to spend my time with you, Mandar, even if I have to watch what I say in front of your little brother.

By this time, Raghav and Kirti were back at home. Damayanti came bounding along from the living room to meet them at the door. Raghav bent down and took Damayanti in his arms. "Let's hope your Amma is safe now."

Damayanti licked his face. Raghav had an idea. "You haven't met your Māmayya and Attayya yet. We should have a video call with them, but they're both at work right now. Middle-class, you know. So, we'll have to wait. Let's go to the den and get some work done, ourselves." Raghav knew that Siddhesh Sawant wouldn't readily believe what he had to say, so he couldn't afford to touch the whisky right now.