The fragrant cloud

It was a routine Friday morning. Routine for me meant getting up at 4.30 am in the morning, taking bath and changing into washed clothes to offer prayers to all the deities I believed in, preparing morning meal and breakfast for my family, preparing school tiffin for my younger son, ironing the clothes for everyone to be worn that day to school, office, etc, etc..  Suddenly, at 5 am, my elder son who is studying in a different state called up. I was surprised as it was earlier than the time he usually called. He told me he had not slept the night before due to diarrhoea and vomiting with fever. I was alarmed and decided I should visit him immediately.  I woke up my husband and younger son who were still sleeping and apprised them of the situation. My son would go to school as usual and my mother would come over and stay with him the rest of the time. My husband and I would immediately leave for Jaipur.  I called up my office to take leave for about 1 week as I did not kno...

It was on an official trip that we decided to take a short break at a Mandarmani beach. A taxi ride of about 4 hours took us from Kolkata airport to our destination. My husband and I checked in at a resort at the beachfront. It was already sunset by the time we were settled in.  So many families were staying at the resort. It was a lively weekend atmosphere. Kids were playing in the swimming pool with their parents watching from the lawn nearby. Adults were chatting over colourful glasses of drinks and snacks.  We decided to take a stroll along the beach and imbibe the pleasant evening. This was a Saturday evening, we had the Sunday too and on Monday we would be going back. So, it was better not to waste any time.  Mandarmani turned out to be a long stretch of serene and quiet beach... a sort of a virgin land where the din and noise of the city had not yet intruded. The white foam of the gentle waves of Bay of Bengal playfully touched the sands of the shore. The distant c...