nainam chindanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah na chainam kledayanty apo na sosayati marutah” the soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. ~~~ bhagwat gita: chapter two verse 23 ~~~ khushi was standing at the poolside, amma had just spoken to rahim chacha, khushi could feel her mother’s tears still and the silent sorrow in the bent shoulders of the frail, elderly servant of…
tendidos en la yerba una muchacha y un muchacho. comen naranjas, cambian besos como las olas cambian sus espumas. stretched out on the grass, a boy and a girl. savouring their oranges, giving their kisses like waves exchanging foam. ~~~ octavio paz, los novios – a boy and a girl ~~~ “khushi, help me no… i want to bake a cake for asr… you know i have been going for these baking classes and learning all those eggless recipes…” lavanya…
the bus came out of nowhere. it hurtled down the narrow lane at reckless speed, weaving from side to side, a storm of dry afternoon dust in its wake, a frenzied behemoth on a rampage. he saw it before her. there was no time to lose. “khushi!” why did her name always sound so different on his tongue, a need in it, an excitement, a feeling like no other, that “kh” as he exhaled and carried her name on his…
INDEX paper scrunched up, crumpled into little balls, was strewn all across the carpeted gray office floor. the clock showed 12 midnight. silence all around. not a soul in the office. other than the man sitting there with his elbows on the desk, holding his head in his hands. arnav singh raizada was feeling restless. a terrible restlessness that wouldn’t let him be. he couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t turn it off and get on with what needed…
INDEX Chapter 18 Arnav Singh Raizada made another valiant attempt at concentrating on the newspaper open in front of him. Di had decided that breakfast at the poolside was the plan for the morning and for the last half hour he had been trying to ignore the constant excited conversations around him. He would have smoothly ignored it all, but a certain Khushi Kumari Gupta’s name kept popping into di’s, NK’s and sometimes even Akash’s sentences. And with that name in…
How exactly had he ended up here? At midnight, in Lakshmi Nagar of all the places. It had all started when Aakash had come back, over enthusiastic, after his chat with her.. Khushi.. Now why was she smiling and patting on that ridiculous rickety bench? Should he go sit next to her? His feet seemed to have taken over the decision as she continued talking nineteen to a dozen, even before he sat down next to her. Akash had said…
INDEX he snapped open his macbook and started punching keys, in seconds absorbed in work, his brown eyes fixed on the screen, their little movements indicative of a mind at work, assessing, evaluating, pondering. a tiny frown on his forehead as he worked with complete absorption. he had moved back to his window seat across the aisle. the cup of black coffee lay next to him on the wide arm rest. miss rao refilled it quietly every time it…
and let me talk to you with your silence that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring. you are like the light, with its stillness and constellations. your silence is that of a star, as remote and candid. ~~~ pablo neruda, i like for you to be still~~~ a gentle touch of water on her face… like drops of rain. wha…? her eyes flew open… where was she? out in the open, under the sky? she looked up…
INDEX she’d learned his name much later. when she and jiji were trying to explain to babu ji exactly what had happened, why there was a problem with the sheesh mahal job. the hotel had called babu ji and explained, despite the great inconvenience caused and the grave mistake committed by one of his daughters, the client had decided to make the payment, but really next time, mr gupta must make sure such things don’t happen. a bit of…
everything is more beautiful because we are doomed. you will never be lovelier than you are now. we will never be here again. ~~~ homer, the iliad ~~~ the suv shuddered violently as it hit a pothole. asr continued to stare ahead, his foot pressed hard on the accelerator. they raced down the narrow path as evening descended. it was a kutcha road, not paved with asphalt. that year’s monsoon had been hard on the surface and left it rough…