- 13 - When there was no news from Rani about her visit to Patiala a day before Basant Panchami till 5 pm, Alok started feeling restless. For once, he thought of calling her, but he remembered what she had said on 25th January, she had not refused outrightly but had not made any firm commitment either. Finally, her call came around 7 pm. Apologising for calling late, she said, “Around 4 o’clock, two of my neighbourly ladies came and started discussing the Punjab elections. One was predicting the ‘AAP’ (Aam Aadmi Party - Common man’s party) party’s majority and