Shyam moved in to the house next to ours. I knew Shyam vaguely from a few company conferences. He used to work in the Ahmedabad factory, and had risen from being a common daily wage worker in the factory to manufacturing supervisor. He was about 40, older than me, but would be working under me. I showed him around the factory, explained him all the details and called up Bela to tell her he'd be dining with us tonight.

That evening when I reached home with Shyam, I saw that Bela was back in a sari after many days. She welcomed us home, and served us some drinks and snacks. After taking a few things off the stove, she joined us in the living room. The conversation between Shyam and Bela was very limited. She never really talked too much with men outside the family. Shyam too seemed like a conservative guy, and except for briefly praising the snacks, didn't even look at Bela, much less talk to her. Bela was back to her docile self, just sitting silently, while Shyam and I talked.