"But mom!"
Mukul protested.
"Nothing! I said you are not going, then you are not going." Madhurima replied calmly.
"But I want to make everything alright-"
"Really? Then why do you think that the circumstances deteriorated to such a level in the first place? If you have to mend anything, you have to do it when the first line of crack appears, or the place starts to soften; and not after it has broken or sunken completely. Because after that, it always hurts to go back to the previous state- if it can go back at all, which doesn't really happen."
'Madhurima tried to explain with an authoritative voice which was trying to balance the pain along with it. Even though she was Mukul's mother, Surbhi had never been any less than a daughter to her either; and if anybody had hurt Nitya like that, she wouldn't even have allowed the person to breathe in her direction! But at least she was allowing Mukul to stay friends with Surbhi, and that too, only if Surbhi wished so.'
