The night the power went out in our chawl

We live in a chawl in Girgaon, where every family knows what every other family is cooking for dinner. My partner Ashwin and I have lived here for two years as "roommates". Everyone is polite. Nobody asks.

Last monsoon, the power went out for an entire night. The whole corridor came out with candles and mobile torches. The aunty from next door knocked on our door with a lantern and a plate of kanda poha.

We sat on the steps together, the three of us, listening to the rain. After a while she said, in Marathi, "You two don't fight like roommates. You fight like my husband and me."

Ashwin choked on his poha. I did not know what to say. So I told her the truth.

She nodded, finished her tea and said, "My brother was like you. Nobody in our family talked about it. He lived alone his whole life." Then she patted my hand and went home.

The next morning, there was another plate of poha at our door. Two spoons this time.