A happy sigh.. a beating heart.. a rapid pulse.. glazed eyes.. .. sing out loud.. twirl all around.. watch dreams unfurl.. soar high on the magic dust dosed in love.. A list of my favourite animated dates.. 1.Beauty & The Beast – How not to fall in love when a mean, bad beast starts feeding twittering birds, and a captive girl starts blushing at his touch? To set the mood, is a curious chipped baby tea cup and a serenading steaming mommy tea pot. Hidden…
asr gripped the secateurs firmly. he looked at the tip of the stem, brow scrunched, lips pursed, willing his mind to focus. he was not going to think of anything else now. he would snip the stem just where he knew he must, he was… “am i speaking to mr raizada… mr arnav singh raizada?” she had a poised voice, he could tell from the way she said his name, especially the “r,” that she wasn’t indian. she sounded… asian?…
the jalebis were large with so many swirls in them, they were orange and hot and sticky. even though the tears blurred her vision, khushi was determined to count the number of spirals on the one right on top. a whole heap of jalebis sat before her. she could feel their sweet succulence, their crumbly crust she knew would crack under the most gentle pressure from her teeth and out would flow, no pop, the delicious… khushi swallowed… warm, perfectly…
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 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…
INDEX now there were two girls getting married in just two days’ time. bua ji mopped her brow with her faithful red towel and then tied it tight around her head… “hai re nand kissore!” she muttered under her breath and set to work. an air of frenzy gripped her home. there was a constant rush of people coming and leaving, endless rounds of tea, jalebi and samosa. some came to see the brides to be and the wedding…