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 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 they glowed orange refulgent shiny, heaped almost a foot high on a large bell metal platter, next to that another sumptuous mound sat on a stainless steel plate, the largest in bua ji’s kitchen… there were a couple more formations of bright, crunchy, crisp, hot, freshly dunked in clear sugar syrup jalebis in other containers on the platform next to the stove. however, the mistress of jalebi making seemed not quite done, she had a large basin of…
INDEX “why, arnav ji? why can’t i love someone else?” khushi whispered trembling all over. her acidity had spiraled out of control. she was holding the espresso maker so tight, its heat was transmitting through her skin permeating to a place in her chest somewhere. hey devi maiyya, what sort of acidity was this! his eyes went molten brown, a fire leaping in them. he leaned toward her, in his hand a large blood red frangipani, and as she…
INDEX Chapter 26 Red.. Not crimson like jiji’s.. Not maroon like mamiji’s.. Red like devi maiyyas chunari.. Like the richness of rubies glittering under a blazing sun.. Like that very same sun when it starts to set after a scorching day.. Carmine like blood that flows in our veins.. throbbing of life.. Like the color of sindoor that was heaped onto the silver plate by her side.. Khushi Kumari Gupta saw her lehenga in the mirror. The golden threads, beads,…
INDEX Chapter 25 It was one of those rare moments when Arnav Singh Raizada was simply sitting. A laptop was not open in front of him. Neither was his bluetooth attached to his ear. His books lay neatly arranged in alphabetical order on the distant bookshelves. Even the bright green watering can remained by the rose bush, not in use. ASR did not believe in wasting time resting or in idle chatter. He throbbed with life. Even if his physical…
INDEX Chapter 23 It was promising to be one of those mornings where silver tufts of clouds peppered an azure sky. The leaves on the trees bristled in the gentle breeze. Dew drops clinging softly tot the blooming plush petals. Om prakash and Mohan had been delegated the work of draping satin curtains around the madap. Then the fabric would be pulled closer together and tied to the orante columns with crocheted lace ropes in the darkest shades of lilac.…