The Pages from Divya's Diary

She was looking hesitantly at me. I smiled and she quickly asked –  Do we have a coffee shop nearby?  I realized something common between us –  The Love of Coffee . I introduced her to my favorite coffee shop, and she offered me to join in. She was in India for the first time on a six-month project. The coffee became a means to discuss our culture, art, language, and philosophy - finally something beyond the irritating girly gossips . Gradually over our discussions, a lot of myths were cleared and the differences admired. She became my door to another world, and I was her guide to a new country -  India . Though she had one of those thick ' A Visit to India ' sort of book with maps and details of the places to visit, still there were lot many things she was struggling with -e.g. catching the local transport or dealing with the hawkers.  She shared with me the experiences of her most difficult journeys. Her photographs were vibrant. Over our coffee, I ...

Mili -standing on her rooftop - is staring at the sky. The sky looks beautiful -filled with numerous kites of different shapes, sizes, patterns, and colors. It’s not a festival today but the daily scene of Mili’s locality. Mili -putting her palms on her forehead to avoid the sun- is busy watching two kites tangled fiercely. Mili loves to spend her spare time with the kites. Afterall, she is growing up in an environment where kite flying is a daily activity except in extreme winters when the fog doesn’t leave any visibility and the kites get drenched. Every afternoon, the neighboring kids gather on their rooftops and spend most of their evenings in kite flying – until it gets really dark to see anything in the sky. On Sankranti- a festival in which kite flying is a ritual- her uncle who is a dexterous flyer, flies a kite for Mili and let her hold the string for a while. She feels joyous and excited within those moments. Kite flying is an adventurous sport; it starts with mere f...