(Artwork by Ashwin Pandya)

Monal at age four had a few engagements in her mind. One was a radio.

The radio felt perched high up beyond reach but belted out songs in Hindi and Bangla. “Bindiya chamkegi, chudi khankegi” would be one she would remember later too to have heard there.

Also this was a song that Vibha her classmate could sing. Though Monal was the best in numbers and alphabets in her class Vibha knew how to throw her little weight around.

Monal was clueless about that and so thought Vibha to be cool with her fair skin and short curly hair that framed her face. And then there was “Anurodher Aashor.” It was a program of a string of Bangla songs that were played on listener’s choice.

Short Stories by Sushmita Gupta

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