INDEX the lights diminished to a low almost eerie, then were completely extinguished. darkness was all around. the hum of voices died down. stillness came and settled into the black quiet space. hands reached out and fingers intertwined, pens were put down on notebooks, fingers alert on shutter buttons took a break. people were mystified, even frightened. yet there was a waiting… bated breath… a hush of expectation. sound came first, then light, reversing the order of nature. feet…
INDEX the sand was still and smooth, a supple stretch extending all along and beyond. the water danced and gleamed. seagulls called out loud and almost demanding a ear. feathery white clouds roamed aimlessly about in the powder blue sky. a quiet lapping of waves could be heard along the shore. the edge of water was frilly and had a fine topping of white. khushi felt wave upon wave of feelings fall against her heart. not so peaceful these…
INDEX the alarm was strident and it wouldn’t stop. he reached out in his sleep, eyes still tightly shut, searching for his phone. where was that phone dammit! his fingers touched something soft. what was that?! he stretched farther. he felt a contour, sharp and straight… it was someone’s nose. asr’s eyes opened instantly and he sat up with a start. what the! who was in his bed… with him!! furrows rushed to his forehead knowing exactly where to…
INDEX “chhotey, where are you and khushi? hariprakash ji said you aren’t at home!” anjali was sounding worried. asr swung the suv into the driveway of shantivan. “di..” he began to answer… “kya?!” anjali practically shrieked at the other end. khushi, who was sitting in the passenger seat looking dreamily out of the window, jumped and turned toward asr, eyes very wide. “di!” she whispered. “om prakash ji says you haven’t even slept in your bed!!! chhotey… tum kahan…
INDEX “take it off,” he said softly placing her hand gently on the dark red fabric. khushi almost winced at the urgency in his tone, a demand yet a need that made her stomach muscles clench. take it off? what was he saying? the fabric was rough against her skin. she felt her fingers move and clutch a handful of red, she felt her breath shudder. his hand lifted languidly and went slowly toward her face, she could feel…
INDEX asr breathed in sharply. what was that? he’d felt something spike near the middle of his chest. a warmth seemed to be spreading in the centre of his throat. his eyes had gone still. she was standing there at the top of the stairs… stairs he had rushed up and down practically every day of his adult life… his stairs, dammit. and she was now there, adorned in layers of red that he had seen in his mind,…
INDEX he frowned darkly as he looked at the faint trace of yellow on the back of his right hand where mami had put a generous dab of the turmeric paste. di had smiled widely as she’d taken a little bit of the paste off his skin and scraped it on the edge of another bowl of the haldi ceremony turmeric she was holding in her hand. “ho gaya!” she had smiled, “now we can take this over to…
INDEX anjali woke up and grinned. chhotey was getting married today, in fact, this very evening. she lay in bed a moment longer to smile happily up at the ceiling while she patted her belly absentmindedly. suddenly she frowned and pursed her lips, as a sense of urgency came rushing over her. there was a shadi… no no no no… two weddings in their family today. what was she doing taking it easy and dreaming in bed! she had…
INDEX “how… could… you… even… think.. you could get away from me, dammit?” asr asked khushi in a voice roughened by need, rasping for it tries to hide hurt. the call to the guptas had been made. now he wanted to get back to doing something about that bright alive feeling he was assailed by after two nights practically of no sleep. he had paused between the words to kiss her on her eyes, cheeks, forehead… khushi’s eyes were…
INDEX the night was still, a quiet darknesss all around. the dogs hadn’t yet started howling as they often did around this time. khushi had no idea what the time was as she sat shivering on the floor, staring at the benignly smiling face of devi maiyya. her mind was in a blur, her gaze was blank, every once in a while her eyes welled up with unstoppable tears and she swallowed hard to hold them back, not let any tear…