The steady glow of seventeen fat sandalwood and vanilla scented candles was reflected in the mirrors hung evenly on the wall. The low hum of the air conditioner set a heavy bass note to the wail of the saxophone, picking up the elusive freshness of the first rain of the season. Plaid stilettos were discarded…

It was in the way she seemed to be unaware that the fourth button had popped open on her dull grey cardigan, the lush curve revealed as she fussily laid out her groceries for check out, the way she sucked on her little finger as she waited nervously, her cheeks molded by the force of…

The priest, potbellied and bald, was at least not one of those who preached by day and sinned by night. He didn’t sneak into the brothel once the evening puja was done, from the tiny doorway in the side of Sonagachi, and stand impatiently while one of the women relieved him of inconvenient desires. Free…

She was magnificent in anger, her eyes lit up with passionate fervor, her face bright with emotion. She would pace restlessly, her long legs taking ground eating steps, her hips in unashamed womanly sway, her torso tall and proud, her neck arched in arrogant challenge, her breasts heaving with outrage. Even her hair seemed electrified,…

The bell rang for recess and the kids erupted into excited cacophony, as though recess didn’t come every day, at exactly the same hour. But maybe for children only 5 years old, it did seem like a miraculous release from the tyranny of rules and desks and coloring within lines. Away from the anxious indulgence…

She smoothed down the sides of her loose, grey lace dress, aware that she looked just a bit older, a little fussy, somewhat frumpy in the roomful of other people her age, who were wearing brighter colors, shorter tighter dresses, jewelry, like vivid bursts of life as they laughed and chatted. She had always been…

She caught the admonishing eye of the woman sitting on the other side of the conference table and realized she had been clicking her pen obsessively. With a deep breath, she forced herself to focus on the presenter, trying hard to ignore the craving that was building up in her. She needed the job, it…