“Anyway,” said Arun. “Next was 10th grade, which in India, is the traditional end of high school.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” said Aarush, depressingly, who himself was entering 10th grade soon. Arun chuckled.

“But just before the year began Rani did something a little… crazy. Or at least, that’s what your grandmother thought.”

Aarush leaned in. Karthik smiled knowingly.

“Remember how I said that Sandhya insisted Rani had long hair?” said Arun. “Well, a week before 10th grade started she chopped it all down to shoulder-length. She was sick of all the maintenance, I think.”

“What did Avva think?” said Aarush, slowly.

“Oh, she was MAD,” said Arun. “‘But why do you want short hair??’ she’d keep yelling. As though she couldn’t even comprehend why a girl wouldn’t want longer hair.”

“As far as I’ve seen Rani-attha has always had shoulder-length hair,” said Aarush. “When you said her hair was much longer before I couldn’t believe it. I just can’t imagine her with hair that long!”

“Definitely,” said Arun. “Unless there’s a picture right in front of me I won’t even remember what her hair was like before.”

“Yeah, same,” said Karthik. “Anyway I’ve always thought she looked better with shoulder-length hair.”

“This hair thing came to a head before their 10th grade graduation ceremony,” said Arun. “Now as you probably know, boys should wear tuxedos and girls should wear white saris.”

“Yeah I knew that,” said Aarush. “I’m looking forward to it, I like suits.”

“Finish 10th first,” said Karthik. Aarush laughed.

“I thought both of them looked so grown up that night,” said Arun. “But Sandhya saw things differently.”

*******

Arun Shivaram, wearing a suit, was rummaging around all the closets and drawers of the golden hour-lit master bedroom desperately trying to find something.

“Where is it…”

This went on for a few more minutes until he opened a cupboard under the dresser and spotted a small digital camera.

“Ah! Finally.”

Arun grabbed the camera and walked out into the living room of their apartment. His wife Sandhya was sitting on the sofa wearing a crisp new churidar, waiting with increasingly less patience for her kids to finish getting ready.

“Got it,” said Arun, waving the camera. “Why was this so hard to find?”

“Because you never put away anything you take out,” said Sandhya, crossing her arms.

One of the bedroom doors then opened, and Ravi walked out wearing a sharp, black tuxedo with a little bowtie, hair neatly combed. Sandhya clapped her hands to her mouth.

“MY BABY BOY!!!”

“Mom…” said Ravi, embarrassed. Sandhya walked up to him and started adjusting his bowtie and jacket lapels.

“You look like a prince!”

A few minutes later the other bedroom door opened. Rani walked out wearing a glittering, perfectly draped white sari. She’d clearly taken a lot of effort in getting her hair, makeup and jewellery just right for tonight.

“You…” said Sandhya. Rani smiled awkwardly as her mother adjusted her sari.

“... you shouldn’t have cut your hair.”

“Yeah thanks Mom,” said Rani, frowning.

“Okay, we need a picture before heading out,” said Arun. “Smile…”

As they stepped out of the apartment Arun whispered into his daughter’s ear.

“You look beautiful, Rani. Really.”

Rani smiled.

“Thanks, Dad.”

*******

“She was literally glowing that night,” said Arun. “Even the boys in her class couldn’t keep their mouths closed when they saw her. But as usual the only thing Sandhya could see was herself.”

Aarush exhaled sharply.

“Avva doesn’t get worse, does she?”

Karthik slowly shook his head. Arun took a deep breath.

“Oh yeah. She gets much worse after this.”