A tear escaped her eye as she saw the pigeon and her broken eggs from her window. She believed in balance, she believed in justice, however tough it may be.

Her little cousin came and stood next to her at the window. Just then the gates opened and a gleaming car drove in.

The little girl whispered in Upasana’s ear. ‘Your grandmom is crying. It was a dead baby.’

‘It was a boy?’ Upasana whispered back, as her cousin nodded.

Upasana went back to staring at the pigeon hovering around the eggs.

Finally it flew away and disappeared into the foliage of the mango tree and the eggs were swept away. It was her secret, apart from the mango tree no one knew about it. Upasana smiled and shut the window firmly on the dark rustling tree.

4

4

THE hum of the powerful air conditioning in her Rolls Royce soothed her. Rajjo tried to calm herself repeatedly as her car swished through the lanes of Ahmedabad. The eagerness, the anxiety, the feverish desire made her impatient. She wanted to fly out of the window and be next to him. It was almost one month and twenty-eight days since she had seen him last. She brought the large brown hand mirror to her face and inspected herself yet again. Clad in a black hijaab, her entire body hidden behind the cloak, her eyes stared into the mirror like a stranger. Devi gaily pointed to the crowds, from the front seat. The crowds mingled outside shops selling kites and spools of kite thread, manja, laced with ground glass and bound by adhesive. The enthusiastic manja makers were dyeing kite strings with bright colours and ground glass. Customers were checking if the manja was sturdy enough to outlast the opponent in the kite fight!

‘It is the day when the sun starts to travel northwards, marking the decline of winter. The days become longer and the skies clearer, the breeze becomes cooler. Devi could feel the anticipation and joy mounting in her mistress’s voice.

Rajjo wanted to laugh and celebrate this festival with hundreds of people outside in the street. She could feel him tasting her and she shivered. She was going to see him in less than an hour. She wanted the time to run. ‘Uttarayan marks the awakening of the gods from their deep slumber.’ She sighed.

‘The kings and Nawabs had nothing better to do and they decided to fight with kites to entertain themselves.’ Devi jabbered playfully, happy to see Rajjo in a talkative mood.