Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2020 (Judge's Choice) in the New Adult category.
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"The lights are cheeky, you can't live without them, and yet if you get too close, they'll blind you. Darkness? Well it doesn't cheat. It's cool and soothing. It's r...
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October 1981
The idea of summer not ending with rain was unheard of in Bhabra. Yet that year, the monsoons stayed for a while longer. A bit too long if someone asked Madhu.
She was sitting at the feet of her grandpa, who was in his usual rocking chair, her chubby face red and eyes swollen, fingers absently braiding her doll's hair. Papa couldn't come to visit in spite of the promise he had made to her, the beautiful Rangoli she had helped her Ma make in the courtyard had been washed away by the rain, and Grandpa had refused to tell her the story of the adventures of Lord Hanuman, too occupied with fiddling the knobs of his radio, trying to catch the news station. On top of everything, she couldn't light a single cracker, for the black sky won't stop crying.
Worst Diwali ever.
"Madhu beta, do you want more kheer?" her Ma called from the kitchen, finishing up cleaning the usual after-dinner mess.
She stayed silent, wanting to punish her mother by not replying. Pushing the doll aside, she picked at the shiny stones embroidered on her new pink lehenga, a bright traditional skirt. The one Papa had bought for her. The same one he couldn't give it to her himself. It was itchy and stiff. She hated it.
"MADHULIKA!" Ma switched to her roaring voice she reserved for when she was angry. "DO YOU WANT THE KHEER OR NOT?"
Madhu still didn't answer her. Above her, she heard a deep chuckle. "Give me all the kheer Mahima," Grandpa said. "Little Madhu here has lemons tucked in both her cheeks."
"I do not!" Madhu crossed her arms over her chest, or she tried to at least. She hadn't quite learned to do that as impressively as her mother.
Bending down, the old man easily lifted Madhu and made her sit on his knee. "Really? Then what is this?" he asked, poking her round cheeks.
"That's my face silly!" She giggled, her tiny hand swatting his wrinkly one.
"Oh yes that was silly of me," he said in a mock-serious voice. "I thought you were hiding lemons in your cheeks. That was what Hanuman ji thought the sun was right?"
"Noooo you're wrong again Dadu!" Madhu yelled, sounding delighted at the prospect of correcting her grandfather. "Hanuman ji thought the sun was a mango not a lemon."
"Ah right, he did, didn't he?" Krishna Ram Thakur tucked his granddaughter's hair behind her ear. "You already know everything about Hanuman ji, why do you want me to tell you his story?"
"Because I like the way you tell it," she whined. "Please Dadu, please please pleaseeee!"
At that moment, Mahima entered the living room with a tray in hand. Laughing at the sight before her, she settled on the sofa beside her father-in-law's chair. He lifted his sugarless cup of chai as she sipped on her own. Even Madhu happily snatched her bowl of kheer, forgetting all about staying angry.
