“ I don't put much stock in remembering things. Being able to forget is a superior skill. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Would you like to come in? I said. My hands were sweaty. Inside my chest an ocean heaved and crashed and heaved again.I would, he said. I saw his Adam's apple jerk as he swallowed. Thank you.I was dis… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ But inside loss there can be gain, too,like the small silver spider Bela had discovered one dewy morning, curled asleep at the center of a rose. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Ebb and flow, ebb and flow, our lives. Is that why we're fascinated by the steadfastness of stars? The water reaches my calves. I begin the story of the Pleiades, women transformed into birds so Swift… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Bela had thought she knew what love felt like, but when she saw Sanjay at the airport after six long months, her heart gave a great, hurtful lurch, as though it were trying to leap out of her body to… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ My mother clutches at the collar of my shirt. I rub her back and feel her tears on my neck. It's been decades since our bodies have been this close. It's an odd sensation, like a torn ligament knittin… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Can't you ever be serious?' I said, mortified.'It's difficult,' he said. 'There's so little in life that's worth it. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ What is the nature of life?Life is lines of dominoes falling.One thing leads to another, and then another, just like you'd planned. But suddenly a Domino gets skewed, events change direction, people d… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Asif Ali maneuvers the gleaming Mercedes down the labyrinthine lanes of Old Kolkata with consummate skill, but his passengers do not notice how smoothly he avoids potholes, cows and beggars, how skilf… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ In the temple, I sit on the cool floor next to Grandfather, beneath the stern benevolence of the goddess's glance. Grandfather is clad in only a traditional silk dhoti--no fancy modern clothes for him… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Fennel, which is the spice for Wednesdays, the day of averages, of middle-aged people. . . . Fennel . . . smelling of changes to come. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ I listened mesmerized, visualizing the goddess with her divine mate, wondering if it was possible for humans to replicate this perfect relationship. Would I be blessed with such a love in my life? Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ She lifts her eyes, and there is Death in the corner, but not like a king with his iron crown, as the epics claimed. Why, it is a giant brush loaded with white paint. It descends upon her with gentle… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ But when I see Sudha, her face bright with a simple, generous joy, the walls I'd set up so carefully collapse around me like a house of cards. Inside my heart it feels like a wet, new rain. In spite o… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ Instead of consoling us, my mother spoke sternly. 'Pull yourselves together. Surely I've brought you up better than this? we come into the world alone, and we leave it alone. And in between, too, if i… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ She put on some music. Drum and flute, I think. She played it soft, because it was dreadfully late, a time when all good men and women, or at least the practical ones, had gone to bed. Then she danced… Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“ In the white marble hall of the hotel, I'm waltzing with Rajat. The music is a river and we're dancing in it. It winds against our bodies, muscular as a serpent. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
