ABSTRACT
Jayant put away his violin. He couldn't get the right note. He was not surprised. Everything he touched turned to dust and ashes. Treachery had been his companion as far back as he could remember. Everyone to whom he felt close ended up betraying him. He should be used to it by now; yet each time he was caught unprepared; each time it was a sudden rapier thrust. Jyoti had slung her denim jacket over her shoulder, and gone to the stairs, leaving Jayant amid his open suitcase and stacked T-shirts. Jyoti went to her room, and her fingers trembled as she tried in vain to shut the door on her memory. Jayant picked up the violin and ran his bow lightly across the strings. He tried an old melody, the very first he had learned. And he remembered. Jyoti parked her car near the Khoslas' driveway, even though it was the no-parking side.
