The next morning, Raghav and Eshwar made it to the airport well before the stated time despite their traffic woes. As they stood waiting outside the Arrivals terminal, Bhuvana walked out of the block, pushing along just one huge hard trolley case and carrying a heavy backpack. She stopped midway scanning the place for her friends and then spotted them, beaming at her. She waved at them and walked to a side away from the crowd of other people waiting there, towards her friends.

“Hey!” Bhuvana greeted them as they gave her warm one-arm hugs.

“Tired?” Raghav asked as they walked out of the airport with Bhuvana in the middle and Eshwar pulling her trolley.

Bhuvana grunted a ‘yes’.

“You wanna come home first and rest for a while?” Eshwar suggested.

“No, that would be time consuming,” Bhuvana decided. Let's just go to my father first. You didn't tell anyone that I'm coming, right?”

“No. But, Prakash might have informed them yesterday.” Raghav seemed skeptical.

“No. I told him to keep my arrival a secret till I actually turn up. What good would it be if everyone knows? They will all be up in arms to strike me down.”

“They might even set up barricades all around the neighbourhood to stop you from entering,” Raghav joked.

Bhuvana and Eshwar chuckled, though all their faces clearly spoke how serious and painful that issue was to them in contrast to the jokes they were making.

Nirgala had had a tiring journey. She had been burnt out before starting her travel to India from Germany. It didn’t help her that her luggage was really too much for her. Her airport trolley was loaded with two big suitcases, a duffle bag, a carton box and she herself was carrying a heavy backpack. The only excitement that kept her walking was her wish to see her family again.

Her sister-in-law, Siri, was waiting with her two kids Harsha and Harini at the terminal. Spotting Nirgala in the crowd of arrivals, the three waved at her. Nirgala waved back and almost ran to them, barely held back by her luggage.

As the two kids ran towards her and hugged her before Siri could reach them, Nirgala muttered, “Oh god, I missed you guys so much.” She hugged them back tightly.

After the initial hugs and greetings, Nirgala stood scanning the crowd, looking over Siri’s shoulder and searching everywhere.

Siri understood who Nirgala was looking for. “Your brother is at the new house. He is rechecking the plumbing work in the kitchen. Went there early in the morning to sort everything out for tomorrow's ceremony.”

Nirgala smiled with relief. “I thought he was too pissed off to receive me.”

“No, not at all,” Siri clarified. “Your mother's a bit upset; as usual, you know. But, Abhi was pretty excited that you are coming. He gave me his car to pick you up.”

“It's okay,” Nirgala assured. “You will see his angry version by nightfall or tomorrow, now that I am here. Let's go.”

Raghav turned off the ignition of his car, parking it a street away from Bhuvana’s ancestral home. She was sitting in the shotgun, looking weary. Eshwar was in the back seat, putting away the newspaper he had been reading.

The three of them took a few minutes to study the surroundings outside the car and the neighbourhood.

“Not many people outside,” Eshwar analyzed. “Probably because of the heat. Most of them must be inside the house.”

“Bhuvana, are you alright? Do you want to go in now? We can wait for a while if you want to prepare yourself,” Raghav suggested.

Bhuvana sighed, looking ahead at the road and a couple of people walking down. She pondered for a moment, took a deep breath and then, spoke with her mind made up, “Let's go in. I have had twenty-four hours to prepare for this when I traveled here. Waiting is not going to make me any stronger than now.”

“We'll be there, okay,” Raghav assured. “If anything happens, just give a nod, say a word. We can come back again tomorrow.”

Bhuvana smiled wistfully at Raghav.

Eshwar prepped them, “I need to give you guys a heads-up. Raghav, your parents and mine would probably be here. My construction Supervisor overheard me yesterday afternoon when I called you about our travel plans. He definitely would have told my father. They might expect us here.”

“It's ok. We discussed this yesterday, right. Let's make it a team effort.”

The three gave assuring nods to each other before getting out of the car.