Nervous laughter from one of the other women.
Butterflies danced in Nayna’s stomach.
The guide was clipping her by the harness to one of the ropes before she could have second thoughts. Once all four of them were clipped in, he gave them a safety briefing, then it was go time. All of them had to lean back against the very edge of the platform, their backs hanging out into nothing.
“Now, take one foot off the edge.”
Squeezing her eyes shut for a second, Nayna did as instructed, then hooked her foot into the rope as they’d been taught. She had her eyes open again by the time the guide told them to take the remaining foot off the edge. Which would leave her hanging over thin air, the next stop a loooooooong way down.
She glanced at Raj, her heart thundering and fear squeezing her chest. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she said to him.
A smile lighting up his eyes, he took his other foot off the edge of the platform but didn’t drop, controlling his descent with the ease of a man who’d obviously rappelled before. “Do it, Nayna with the pretty nayna,” he said. “I’ll be with you all the way down.”
Taking a deep breath, Nayna surrendered her last footfall on reality. And realized the hardest part had been letting go and leaving the platform. “This is so fun!” she said to Raj. “I’ll go rock climbing with you!”
Raj grinned at her reference to their first meeting and kept pace with her, both of them taking in everything around them as they rappelled down while calling out encouragement to one of the others—the most skittish of their group. The woman, a tourist from Norway, kept going, and then they were all on the floor of a huge subterranean cave twenty minutes after stepping off the platform.
Looking up, Nayna saw the sunlit circle of sky rimmed with hazy green from where they’d come. It felt like a haunting alien world down here, even the foliage unique and a little eerie in a beautiful way. And the adventure had just begun.
They climbed over rocks, scrambled down them, and crossed parts where it felt like they could fall into the darkness and never be found. Then they were in the most stygian part of the cave, an area so devoid of illumination that they had to flick on the lights on their helmets.
“It’s cold,” Nayna said, her breath fogging the air.
“Imagine what the water’s like,” Raj murmured, referring to the underground river they’d seen after they first landed. “We have to try the black water rafting.”
“Did you see some of those photos?” Nayna shuddered. “The roof of the cave was right up against that woman’s face.”
“We’ll work our way up to it,” Raj said, and she heard the anticipation in his voice.
Wonder and hope dawned inside her. Raj, she realized, wouldn’t belittle her need for a life lived beyond the borders of domesticity. He was a man who liked tradition and roots, but for the first time, she began to see that her needs could coexist with his.
“All right, team,” the guide called out, “this is the best part. I want you to come through the small passageway behind me. Be careful, it’s pretty narrow. Lights off soon as you exit the passage.”
Once on the other side, it took a second for Nayna’s eyes to adjust to the absolute blackness you would never find in the civilized world. Down below, far from sunlight, this pitch-darkness was unlike anything she’d ever experienced…
Then stars began to appear against the black. She gasped. “Glowworms.”
The others whispered around her.
Raj slid his fingers through hers.
After a while, everyone went quiet, all of them enchanted by the starlit sky deep within the earth, while their breath fogged the air and their chests squeezed. When Raj touched his fingers to her jaw, she angled her head so their helmets wouldn’t crash, and they shared a soft, sweet kiss under a subterranean sky.
Nayna was sorry to leave. “It was wonderful,” she whispered to Raj, astonished and full of a raw emotion aimed solely at this man who kept surprising her. “Thank you for organizing this.”
“We haven’t finished yet,” he said. “Let’s see if you thank me when we get to the end.”
She realized what he meant when they stood at the foot of a metal ladder that shot up and up and up and up into darkness. That ladder was attached to the wall and was a straight vertical climb. It didn’t look so bad—especially after the guide scrambled up, then called out that he was dropping the safety rope for the next person.
Raj had already volunteered to be the last one to go up, the one who’d be left in absolute quiet and silence. The first to climb was the woman who’d been the most nervous throughout. They all encouraged her with shouted calls as she began to climb. She disappeared into the darkness at a certain point, and they watched and waited for the safety line to be thrown back down.
It took a lot longer than it had with the guide.
By the time it came to her turn, she and Raj were the only two left at the bottom. She hooked herself up, and Raj checked to make sure everything was secure. Then he kissed her, their helmets banging this time, and they laughed before Nayna began the climb up rungs slippery from the boots of those who had gone before.
Her muscles began to quiver halfway up.
Pausing, she glanced down. Raj was just a pinprick of light below her, but he called out, “Go, baby! You’re over halfway up!”
She smiled, feeling young and pretty and Raj’s girlfriend, and carried on. Her helmet hit an edge of rock at one point, and her light went out, pitching her into complete darkness but she didn’t panic. She just wiped one hand against her coveralls and turned on her light. Her muscles were beyond quivering by the time she hauled herself up over the edge to join the others.
“Your boyfriend’s brave,” the Norwegian’s Australian friend said. “It must be creepy as hell down there.”
“He’s amazing,” Nayna said, her attention on the safety rope that was being curled by the guide as Raj climbed. Predictably, he arrived far faster than the rest of them, but for the guide. The other man gave him a fist bump, and then they all took turns getting photos. Raj kissed Nayna in theirs, and it was the best thing.
And that night, as Raj moved in her slow and deep, Nayna had the thought that freedom wasn’t a sensation you could only experience alone. With the right man, it’d be with her all her life. Part of her wanted to blurt out her love for Raj then and there, but more than two decades of watching her mother bow down to her father’s will held her back.
Madhuri’s terrible experiences held her back.
The memory of Anjali Kumar’s bitterness with her squash-playing and unhelpful groom held her back.
Raj was her boyfriend now.
Would it be the same if he was her husband? Would he take her on dates full of adventure and make love to her with naked passion? Or would everything change, the weight of expectation and culture forcing her into a mold she would never fit?
38
Son of an Owl
Most of the next three weeks were swallowed up by the manic preparations for Madhuri’s wedding. The most important of which, of course, was Madhuri’s wedding suit. Her sister drove Nayna crazy waiting for the shipment to arrive—and then it did, and Madhuri organized a viewing party. Her, Nayna, their mom, Aji, and two of Madhuri’s friends.
Anjali was one, Madhuri’s university friend, Jaci, another.
“Can I bring Ísa along?” Nayna asked her sister.
Butterflies danced in Nayna’s stomach.
The guide was clipping her by the harness to one of the ropes before she could have second thoughts. Once all four of them were clipped in, he gave them a safety briefing, then it was go time. All of them had to lean back against the very edge of the platform, their backs hanging out into nothing.
“Now, take one foot off the edge.”
Squeezing her eyes shut for a second, Nayna did as instructed, then hooked her foot into the rope as they’d been taught. She had her eyes open again by the time the guide told them to take the remaining foot off the edge. Which would leave her hanging over thin air, the next stop a loooooooong way down.
She glanced at Raj, her heart thundering and fear squeezing her chest. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she said to him.
A smile lighting up his eyes, he took his other foot off the edge of the platform but didn’t drop, controlling his descent with the ease of a man who’d obviously rappelled before. “Do it, Nayna with the pretty nayna,” he said. “I’ll be with you all the way down.”
Taking a deep breath, Nayna surrendered her last footfall on reality. And realized the hardest part had been letting go and leaving the platform. “This is so fun!” she said to Raj. “I’ll go rock climbing with you!”
Raj grinned at her reference to their first meeting and kept pace with her, both of them taking in everything around them as they rappelled down while calling out encouragement to one of the others—the most skittish of their group. The woman, a tourist from Norway, kept going, and then they were all on the floor of a huge subterranean cave twenty minutes after stepping off the platform.
Looking up, Nayna saw the sunlit circle of sky rimmed with hazy green from where they’d come. It felt like a haunting alien world down here, even the foliage unique and a little eerie in a beautiful way. And the adventure had just begun.
They climbed over rocks, scrambled down them, and crossed parts where it felt like they could fall into the darkness and never be found. Then they were in the most stygian part of the cave, an area so devoid of illumination that they had to flick on the lights on their helmets.
“It’s cold,” Nayna said, her breath fogging the air.
“Imagine what the water’s like,” Raj murmured, referring to the underground river they’d seen after they first landed. “We have to try the black water rafting.”
“Did you see some of those photos?” Nayna shuddered. “The roof of the cave was right up against that woman’s face.”
“We’ll work our way up to it,” Raj said, and she heard the anticipation in his voice.
Wonder and hope dawned inside her. Raj, she realized, wouldn’t belittle her need for a life lived beyond the borders of domesticity. He was a man who liked tradition and roots, but for the first time, she began to see that her needs could coexist with his.
“All right, team,” the guide called out, “this is the best part. I want you to come through the small passageway behind me. Be careful, it’s pretty narrow. Lights off soon as you exit the passage.”
Once on the other side, it took a second for Nayna’s eyes to adjust to the absolute blackness you would never find in the civilized world. Down below, far from sunlight, this pitch-darkness was unlike anything she’d ever experienced…
Then stars began to appear against the black. She gasped. “Glowworms.”
The others whispered around her.
Raj slid his fingers through hers.
After a while, everyone went quiet, all of them enchanted by the starlit sky deep within the earth, while their breath fogged the air and their chests squeezed. When Raj touched his fingers to her jaw, she angled her head so their helmets wouldn’t crash, and they shared a soft, sweet kiss under a subterranean sky.
Nayna was sorry to leave. “It was wonderful,” she whispered to Raj, astonished and full of a raw emotion aimed solely at this man who kept surprising her. “Thank you for organizing this.”
“We haven’t finished yet,” he said. “Let’s see if you thank me when we get to the end.”
She realized what he meant when they stood at the foot of a metal ladder that shot up and up and up and up into darkness. That ladder was attached to the wall and was a straight vertical climb. It didn’t look so bad—especially after the guide scrambled up, then called out that he was dropping the safety rope for the next person.
Raj had already volunteered to be the last one to go up, the one who’d be left in absolute quiet and silence. The first to climb was the woman who’d been the most nervous throughout. They all encouraged her with shouted calls as she began to climb. She disappeared into the darkness at a certain point, and they watched and waited for the safety line to be thrown back down.
It took a lot longer than it had with the guide.
By the time it came to her turn, she and Raj were the only two left at the bottom. She hooked herself up, and Raj checked to make sure everything was secure. Then he kissed her, their helmets banging this time, and they laughed before Nayna began the climb up rungs slippery from the boots of those who had gone before.
Her muscles began to quiver halfway up.
Pausing, she glanced down. Raj was just a pinprick of light below her, but he called out, “Go, baby! You’re over halfway up!”
She smiled, feeling young and pretty and Raj’s girlfriend, and carried on. Her helmet hit an edge of rock at one point, and her light went out, pitching her into complete darkness but she didn’t panic. She just wiped one hand against her coveralls and turned on her light. Her muscles were beyond quivering by the time she hauled herself up over the edge to join the others.
“Your boyfriend’s brave,” the Norwegian’s Australian friend said. “It must be creepy as hell down there.”
“He’s amazing,” Nayna said, her attention on the safety rope that was being curled by the guide as Raj climbed. Predictably, he arrived far faster than the rest of them, but for the guide. The other man gave him a fist bump, and then they all took turns getting photos. Raj kissed Nayna in theirs, and it was the best thing.
And that night, as Raj moved in her slow and deep, Nayna had the thought that freedom wasn’t a sensation you could only experience alone. With the right man, it’d be with her all her life. Part of her wanted to blurt out her love for Raj then and there, but more than two decades of watching her mother bow down to her father’s will held her back.
Madhuri’s terrible experiences held her back.
The memory of Anjali Kumar’s bitterness with her squash-playing and unhelpful groom held her back.
Raj was her boyfriend now.
Would it be the same if he was her husband? Would he take her on dates full of adventure and make love to her with naked passion? Or would everything change, the weight of expectation and culture forcing her into a mold she would never fit?
38
Son of an Owl
Most of the next three weeks were swallowed up by the manic preparations for Madhuri’s wedding. The most important of which, of course, was Madhuri’s wedding suit. Her sister drove Nayna crazy waiting for the shipment to arrive—and then it did, and Madhuri organized a viewing party. Her, Nayna, their mom, Aji, and two of Madhuri’s friends.
Anjali was one, Madhuri’s university friend, Jaci, another.
“Can I bring Ísa along?” Nayna asked her sister.
