Hindi

Noah phones Priya at the end of her night shift on a foggy December morning: if the doctor comes by eight she'll be free, if the fog doesn't lift the auto takes an hour, if he's late he'll call, and if she comes out first she waits under the tree.

Eight in the morning at the hospital gate after Priya's night shift: shall I drop you home, shall we have chai here, should I make them strong, should I call Rohan, shall I tell you about my night, shall I cook for you tonight.

Midnight in the ward's corridor: the Doctor tells Priya she should go home after fourteen hours, Priya says the Doctor should take her own advice, and on the phone Noah agrees that she should listen, while Priya says he should be asleep.

Dilli Haat on a cold bright Sunday with Rohan and Neha, Priya called in to the hospital again: if only she were here, if only the hospital had more doctors, if only she'd listen, if only I could cook like the dumpling lady, if only Priya could see this shawl.

The hospital gate on a cold evening, Noah two hours into his wait and Priya's phone dead: if the battery hadn't died I'd have called, if I had known I'd have gone home, if you'd asked at the desk, if I weren't a doctor, if you came I'd cook fish.

The hotel kitchen in Connaught Place after the dinner service: Chef Khanna gives Noah the menu of a special week, on one condition, five dishes; Noah's condition is to choose the vegetables himself, and Dadi ji's recipes go on, on condition that he writes every one down.

A winter morning in the Lajpat Nagar kitchen with Noah's notebook open: Dadi ji's instructions for her pumpkin and her lentil dumplings, less sugar, a slow flame, soak at night and grind in the morning, write it and taste it, and the first plate is hers.

Khari Baoli, the spice market of Old Delhi, on a crowded morning with Rohan: don't buy the cardamom until you've smelt it, the price won't come down until you take two kilos, unless it's eleven hundred the next shop, as long as you're Rohan's friend, and no yes until the cumin is tasted.

The tasting in the hotel kitchen with Chef Khanna and the senior Waiter: the pumpkin would be better less sweet, the village's name on the menu, the fish hotter, the dumplings in a small bowl, the pudding with less cream; four pass, one again tomorrow.

The first night of Noah's menu at the hotel restaurant's kitchen door: perhaps table four will ask for the recipe, maybe for more sugar, it may be that they say nothing, perhaps they'll laugh, the dumplings may run out, and table four says exactly like my grandmother's.

At the Sharmas' table in January, a month before Rohan's wedding, everyone says what they want of whom: the shop makes every sweet, Papa ji must rest, Noah must learn a dance, everyone in the lane by six.

At a printer's in Chandni Chowk, Rohan and Noah order two hundred wedding cards, red and gold, and everyone asks for what they want with if possible and if you can.

In the trimmings lane off Chandni Chowk, Neha, Priya, Noah and then Mummy ji choose wedding clothes and tell each other what they would do in the other's place.

On the roof in Lajpat Nagar, a week before the wedding, Dadi ji tells the groom and his friend what to do, and what happens otherwise: eat before the procession, learn the dance, listen to your wife.

Lamps and music in the Sharmas' courtyard: Neha's hands are painted, Priya sits beside her, Noah carries the trays, and everyone says what they hope for, with hope is that and the future or the soft verb.

The music night on the Sharmas' roof, a crowd and a speaker: Noah must dance, and everyone says let me, let him and let them with the verb to give.

Seven in the evening in the Sharmas' lane, the horse, the band and Raju bhaiya's auto with flowers on it: everyone has a what if, and Papa ji has an answer for each, with in case and lest.

On the wedding lawn in Chhatarpur, after the ceremony, the guests come up to Rohan and Neha: congratulations from Gupta ji and Noah, the blessings of Dadi ji, and the groom's friend told he is next.

The morning after the wedding in the Sharmas' kitchen: Neha's first sweet dish, Priya with the ward at ten, Noah at the stove for Dadi ji's pumpkin, and Mummy ji welcoming her daughter-in-law home, with even if and even so.

A Sunday at the shop counter in Chandni Chowk, a month after the wedding: Rohan and Neha tell Papa ji they want a flat of their own, and everyone has a whether or and an either way.

A property dealer in Kalkaji wants an answer today, and Rohan and Noah learn what they'll have to do: decide today, fill the tank, pay a deposit and the dealer's fee.

A landlady in Kalkaji shows Rohan, Neha and Noah her second floor: no need to take off your shoes, the rent by the fifth, no need to fill the tank, and an eleven-month agreement.

Over chai in the landlady's sitting room, Rohan and Neha talk the rent down to twenty-six: why not twenty-five, why don't we paint the bedroom ourselves, why don't you sign today, and come with sweets.

Early on the first of April, Raju bhaiya's auto and a small truck take Rohan and Neha's boxes to Kalkaji: tie the fridge so that it doesn't move, the kitchen packed first so that there's chai, the ring road to miss the market, and who has the plug.

The first evening in the new flat in Kalkaji and no gas cylinder: Rohan, Neha, Noah and Priya say what they should have done, and the first dinner is cooked downstairs and eaten upstairs.

Noah's visa ends in June, and in the hotel kitchen before the lunch service he asks Chef Khanna for a letter: I don't know whether the hotel will renew my contract, ask the office whether it's ready, take everything whether they ask or not, and be back by lunch.

On a May evening Noah asks his landlady in Hauz Khas for a copy of the lease for the visa office: if you have a moment, if it's for the office, if you should need the original, if they ask I'll write a letter, and go twice.

Papers for the visa in Hauz Khas market: eight photos rather than four on a white background, chai rather than waiting, and at the bank across the road a stamped statement rather than the app, twelve months rather than six, and two copies rather than one.

A June morning at the foreigners' registration office: token forty-two, counter three, and the clerk says what each paper should be: the letter on the hotel's letterhead, the signature the manager's, the photos recent, the lease registered, and come tomorrow before ten.

The visa comes on the morning of the first rain, and Noah phones Priya at the hospital: when the rain started, when your parents come, if they come, not if, when, and when the rain stops, come to the gate.