Prologue Amodini looked at Mata. The pachyderm’s fear was palpable in her eyes making them shine with the intensity of two burning pits of fire illuminating the dark jungle surrounding them. Amu knew she could do it. She had done it before. Moreover, Shrikant’s trust in her abilities strengthened her resolve. Slowly and gently she placed her hands on Mata’s bristling trunk to calm the pachyderm. All the time her lips were moving silently but rhythmically, singing the loving lullaby that always worked its magic. Shrikant watched from behind the…
Tag: Novella
Chapter 1
“Amuuuuu!” Matongini scrunched up her aged eyes shading them with her hands to look into the distance as she called out for her granddaughter. The thin wrinkled skin on her throat stretched and the veins swelled up as she did she so. In her other hand she kept waving the red scarf that she usually used to attract Amu’s attention. “What is the point of shouting yourself hoarse Owui[1]?” said Shuddho her 20-year-old grandson lazily from one corner of his cot where he had been sprawled out since morning. “As…
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Hiraeth – where the heart belongs 11-year-old Amodini is bereft of the power of speech or hearing. She lives in Chilapata, a forest village in the Dooars region of North Bengal, India. Though deprived of these abilities, she possesses a unique power to connect with animals. When a forest fire breaks out leading to an elephant rampage which threatens to destroy her village, Amodini comes to the rescue. As the elephants leave for the forest, Amodini accompanies them. Shrikant, an investigative journalist, reaches Chilapata to scavenge the truth behind this…
