The Gold-Digging Women of The British Raj*
Princess Brinda Devi’s heart was like the black hole of a coal mine—it was so dense that there was no room for light, and so deep she was afraid it would suck her in. She told herself she pitied Stella, but heard laughter answering her—how difficult it was to deceive yourself when you had known yourself a full thirty-nine years.
She had a servant summon Stella to her sitting room in the afternoon when the Prince had gone to a Royal Heads of State meeting. When Stella came before her, Princess Brinda did not speak, but rose from the Divan and removed Stella’s sari palav from her shoulder, as if in welcome, so she could study the girl.
Dressed For A Kill
Yay!!!!
Yippeee!!!
My short story titled Dressed for a Kill was recently published in Rigorous journal. This story is excerpted from my novel (The Awakening of Meena Rawat) to be released on May 27, 2021 by Black Rose Writing press.
Click on the link below for the story:
When the lights went out . . .
“Let’s play Dark Room, “ the cousin I’ve never met until today suggests with a wink. He’s fifteen, going on fifty—his greasy hair falling in untidy spirals over his glistening forehead, the sweat stains under his armpits visible under his cream polyester shirt, his fingernails colored yellow from the chicken curry he consumed at lunch.
I shudder delicately, turning away so that no one notices how I clench my palms together. How long are these relatives from Kanpur going to stay?
Yay!!!! My short story got published in the annual issue of Truman University\’s Literary Journal!
I don’t know whether to cry or sing for joy! I always wanted to get published in a literary journal and I did!! Truman University’s annual issue of Green Hills Literary Lantern is here!
Click on the link below for the short story “Grace and Mercy\’“:
http://ghll.truman.edu/ghll30/Judge%20Grace%20and%20Mercy.html
My Week at Hedgebrook . . .
“We began calling what we do at Hedgebrook—the practice of nurturing and nourishing women writers in residence—’radical hospitality’ about ten years ago because we needed a way to describe why we do what we do. To help others understand that taking care of a woman writer so she can focus on her work is still, even now, a revolutionary, radical act. As is giving her time to focus on her writing instead of taking care of others.” -Hedgebrook flyer
As a wife, a mother, a daughter to an aging parent, a daughter-in-law to another aging parent, and an active volunteer in the larger Indian community, the demands on my time are endless. I relish my role in my busy bustling life but my writing— a passion I discovered late in life—often falls by the wayside.