Chapter Fifteen The acclaim and the adoration was almost too much for the young woman, but on that memorable day something else happened that would stay with Chandraprabha forever. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy’s speech followed Chandraprabha’s, and she was spellbound,…
A SIMPLE REQUEST Lord, I know the duty of a hostess, but please let it be that this year either rain clouds visit me or my loneliness. OBSTINATE Why should I be the first to phone? He knows too: last…
THE SOFT FRAGRANCE OF MY JASMINE The soft fragrance of my jasmine Floats on the breeze Plays with the hand of the wind, Is setting off in search of you. The soft fragrance of my jasmine Has curled around my…
A man returning home at night from a simple cremation, having thanked everyone: we could simply call him Achhan. Because, only three children in the city know his value. They call him Achha. Sitting in the bus among strangers, he…
All the houses look terribly alike – I’m afraid I might end up in some other man’s home. That fear kept haunting me as they took me away from the hospital. The doctors at the hospital had said I had…
It was a night she would remember all the days of her life. It was the night before the day when the fate of the baby in her womb would be decided. As though it also sensed the turmoil in…
The rest house was on a rise, in the middle of a dense forest; below it, over a flat bed filled with purplish rocks, rushed the Kalini Ganga, filling the air with noise and spray. The birds returning to roost…
My darling Dadima, Namaskaar ! Today when after weeks I came back to Kabul, the post was waiting for me. Besides yours, I have received other letters from home: Mom’s, Brother’s, Uma Didi’s and Sushmita’s. But sweetest letter is yours,…
A never-ending funeral march Looping itself around the cluster of hijal trees, a hairthin line ran parallel to the riverbank, cutting across the ground. Inside it were a few derelict huts, an empty field, a few date palms and the…
ANOTHER POLISH FOR MY NAILS promises and promises give it a miss It’s unsure why you promised me the moon and, doted on my nails the black stain of your promises I live with the regret yet another five years…
“This year the grain harvest has been good. There are five bags more than in other years. This was possible only with the blessings of Eedamma,” Ellamma said as she gazed at the bags – nine rows of them –…
WHAT POETRY MEANS TO ERNESTINA IN PERIL What should poetry mean to a woman in the hills as she sits one long sloping summer evening in Patria, Aizawl, her head crammed with contrary winds, pistolling the clever stars that seem…
