“Then check under the sofa, beta. The sofa eats socks.”

“Both,” she says. “I’ll discover dinosaur bones and then do a bhangra on them.”

This is the real homecoming. Anya bursts through the door, shoes flying in two different directions. “Ma! I got a star in the science test!” She doesn’t wait for an answer. She dumps her bag, changes into shorts, and joins Aaji on the balcony. They don’t talk. They just watch the street below: the sabzi-wala yelling “ Tori, tori! ” the kids playing cricket with a taped tennis ball, and the neighbor’s cat terrorizing a pigeon.

Kavya smiles. “Only if you buy the good brand.”

The peace shatters. Anya, wearing one blue sock and holding a missing green one, announces, “I have nothing to wear for Sports Day practice.”