Twelve-year-old Sohel, and Dinesh, who is about ten, walked ahead of us, their wiry arms flailing and gesturing wildly. They smacked each other on the back and they giggled. We had just come from a small private hospital where we’d taken Dinesh’s ten-year-old cousin, Saeeda, to see about an ugly, bulbous sore sprouting in her little mouth. He had taken much delight in the back of the rickshaw on the way to the hospital telling Saeeda that most likely she would have an operation while he made a sawing motion with his hand. Saeeda, wide-eyed, looked at us for some denial. At that point we couldn’t give her much reassurance because we didn’t know what would occur once the doctor saw inside her
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Humorous moments of 2015 in no particular order because there is no order in India and I have come to some understanding of that fact on most days. - Awaiting our arrival back to Saki Naka, twelve-year-old Sachin placed rose petals on top of the fan blades in the tuition hut. We stepped inside, he turned the fan on and we were all showered with dusty red rose petals. - The joy and anguish of holding and spoon-feeding milk to tiny Riya, a four pound baby girl whose mother’s attempt to commit suicide succeeded a few days after her birth, but not before forcing Riya into the world two months early. Riya - No bulldozers or police with bamboo sticks arrived to
