High and dry!

We have exhausted our bottle of Bril ink. One of us will eventually step out of the house, walk upto the 'round-tana' and purchase another one.
Until then, we recommend reading 'Chandamama's.
There is a 'potti kadai' on Village road, Madras, opposite Ananda Bread House, that still sells them.

The Kumaran incident

That afternoon at Kumaran, I was trying to select a salwar. Two men beside me were purchasing a saree, apparently for their sister. Since I was of a similar build and colour, they requested that I permit them to 'test it' on me. One man draped the saree across my shoulder, while the other ran around to the other side to adjust it. Then, just like that, their fingers began roaming over my chest. It took a few seconds before I realised what was happening. I wanted to scream, complain to the salesman; but I found I couldn't speak, just like before; and I stood there with tears in my eyes, staring at the floor, willing my body to move.
Probably it was the salesman's voice - mildly concerned, floating towards me - that jerked me out of my helplessness. I broke away from the counter then, running madly for the door, not caring if people saw my tears.

- what she said.

The "doom" light

I used to sit on the front steps in the evening when I was younger. Pati would spread her sari for me, and the two of us would sit there while the light faded from the sky. She would narrate stories of crows and sparrows while the evening wind wandered among the branches of the huge tree. That time, the car had not been bought; and so, from where we sat, we could see the front gate with its S-shaped bars, and the street beyond. Pati would often point out a familiar person on the road, but I would be gazing at the leaves fluttering against the garden fence. When it grew dark, mother would turn on the light in front, bathing us in a yellow glow. The bulb was inside a circular metal frame covered by a metal-glass dome that had four curved protrusions placed symmetrically. The frame was old and rusted, but it fascinated me. I held it in my hands just once, when they took it down and threw it away to a servant.

-excerpt from an unfinished manuscript.

Bangles

She says these bangles are causing rashes on her skin. It happens this way when they are not gold. She had found them thrown away in a corner of the almirah. She does not want to remove them and leave her wrists bare. People would talk. She had worn only one gold pair all these years; the ones that were so tight it hurt her everytime she had to slip them on. It was the only one that had been spared. He had said he would bring them back soon. She laughs, but her voice trembles.