Realm of the Goddess by Sabina Khan

Author:Sabina Khan [Khan, Sabina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sabina Khan
Published: 2014-11-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The next morning found me full of resolve. It felt good to be proactive and I was looking forward to spending more time with Aruna. After a hurried breakfast, I went to find her in the back of the house. As I walked out the French doors of Uncle Suresh’s bungalow, I was greeted by a fragrance that took me back to my grandmother’s blooming garden. There were madhumanjari creepers, their tiny trumpet-shaped flowers in varying shades of pink and red. Then there was my favourite, the champa, its cream-colored flowers spreading their sweet scent. I took a deep breath and walked over to where Aruna was practicing in solitude. She had hitched the lower part of her sari up and tucked it into her waistband, a common practice for Indian women when they needed to allow their legs free movement. Practicing martial arts while maintaining the elegant drape of a sari could be hazardous.

Unaware that I was watching, Aruna moved with the grace of a classically trained dancer, her sword cutting the air effortlessly in a smooth motion. Her intricate steps belied the danger that I knew her opponent would face. Her arms swung the sword overhead like a feather while her legs moved to the rhythm of an unheard melody. Wanting to get a closer look, I stepped forward. The crunch of a twig underneath my feet alerted her to my presence and her head shot up. She looked startled, almost as if she’d been lost in a world of her own. Then her face lit up with a smile of recognition as she realized it was me, and her demeanor underwent a subtle shift, from fearless warrior to submissive girl. It bothered me, although I wasn’t sure why. I had spent the first few years of my life surrounded by domestic help; it was the norm here. So was the blatant division of social classes. I decided that because I’d been away for so long, the reality of it jarred my senses.

I walked quickly to where she was waiting in the center of the garden. On my way I passed a koi pond filled with large lotus flowers with fish darting about underneath them. Tall betel nut trees stood like sentries all around while palm trees competed for airspace. In a far corner mango and tamarind trees formed a cluster, creating some nice shade from the powerful sun that was already evident even this early in the day.

Aruna held out a long stick, gesturing for me to take it. It looked like a baton, and any delusions I had of doing the graceful warrior dance today were shattered in minutes. I spent the next couple of hours learning how to twirl the baton over my head, under my legs and around my body. Even that was a challenge since I dropped the stick every few minutes. By the end of the two hours I had managed to master it to some small degree, but I needed a break.

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