her wrist felt tiny in his grip. and for a fraction of a moment he had the overpowering urge to stop right there, turn around and pull her into his arms. to hold her against him and feel her yield, adhere. to bury his face in her hair, to softly stroke her skin, to tuck back that always errant curl on her forehead, to brush his lips tenderly on her forehead and say, “shh… shh… don’t worry, i am here.…
INDEX The brilliance of iridescent white light strangely did not hurt the eyes. It was wispy, blurred and shiny all at the same time. Three woman sat in a wide semi arc. It was hard to focus, but even without actually knowing you knew, they had benevolent sparkling eyes and kind satisfied smiles. It you concentrated hard enough you could see the flashing silver payal on one ankle. The second woman held a cup. A pristine white cup from which…
INDEX Chapter 22 In her dream Khushi Kumari Gupta was busy eating from a plate full of crispy bright orange jiebis and a high heap of steaming hot crunchy samosas. Her brows furrowed. Vaguely she registered herself dreaming. Her last meal in Gupta house before her marriage, and even in her own dream she could not eat in peace! Buaji was shouting at her from far away. “Uff bauji humein shanti se khane do na“, she grumbled and decided to…
INDEX Chapter 17 A thick fog covered everything as far as the eyes could see. The rain from the day before had caused the temperature to drop sharply. Cutting through the mist a lithe agile figure sprinted through. Arnav Singh Raizada was out on his customary five mile run, a habit that he had developed during his years at Howard School of Business. For the past five years every morning he had woken up early and head out. He used…
INDEX Chapter 14 The Shantivan hall had a sprawling uncluttered feel to it, filled with echoes of laughter and chatter since morning. The lofty tasteful teak furniture had been moved against the walls to make space for the freshly starched sheet that covered the mattresses. The walls were covered with bright yellow and orange marigold garlands; Anjali had insisted that the decoration be traditional. Arnav Singh Raizada and Akash Singh Raizada were getting married to two sisters, Khushi Kumari Gupta and…
INDEX Chapter 13 A svelte figure clad in mehendi green hand woven cardigan leaned against the railing outside. Her hair was bound in a long thick plait with a small black band holding it at the end. A cup with a broken handle rested on the railing. Hot steam vapour was visible rising from it. Khushi Kumari Gupta picked her cup of tea and took a satisfied sip with a slurp. She then dipped her orange cream biscuit into the…