The dinner-table clash

Act II: dinner. After dinner Shruti sits lost in thought over the last bite of dosa. Her parents tease her, and she nervously says she has something to tell her father, asking him not to get angry.

The first no. When she mentions a concert next week, Nabin says no at once. His rule is one performance every six months, because, he says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’: an audience that hears you too often stops valuing you.

The second no. When she says it is a group performance of Indo-Western fusion, he is shocked: he never thought his own child would lose her sense of music this way. He mocks the idea of practising 'noise', and leaves.

Shruti's request. She begs him to attend one practice before deciding, but he is firm. Her mother, Leela, scolds her for doing all this without her father's knowledge, mocking the 'practice classes'.

Her fear. Shruti worries that the group cannot perform without her, and that all their practice will go down the drain. She apologises and promises not to hide things again.