Soon they were alone at her place, a tiny flat in Andheri. Her flatmate was working late and wouldn’t be home till morning. After talking and smoking cigarettes for nearly an hour she began massaging his shoulders. He asked her to trace circles on his back while he lay on his stomach. When Anush closed his eyes he could almost smell the coconut oil in his mother’s hair, hear her singing:
Kabhi kabhi, mere dil mein, khayaal aata hai . . .
After a while, Priya excused herself to the bathroom.
Anush turned on the TV. It was a news channel with footage of the ’93 Bombay riots. The presenter said, “Charges might be brought against the BJP and the Shiv Sena for inciting sectarian violence. There is little proof but some speculation. Did the BJP filter money to local politicians to distribute among poor Hindus to foment this violence? Is this why poor Muslim tenements were burned down? Or was it also because the property was worth a lot more razed? Did real estate investors have a part to play in this?”
Anush considered if the old man was partly responsible.
“Unfortunately, there is little chance any of this can be proven in court.”
Anush still wondered if what the old man had blurted out that night on the balcony was true, about killing his own father all those years ago. Had the old man just said that, knowing it would confuse Anush enough to not throw him over? And yet the more Anush tried to convince himself of this, the less sure he was.
The picture on the TV went out all of a sudden. Satellite channel disturbance. Snowy fuzz filled the screen, making Anush think of the Canadian prairies. Thank god he didn’t live there. Paresh’s parents had called recently, saying they were concerned about their son. The idiot had dropped out of his MBA program and wanted to write a novel about India.
The satellite signal returned. On CN, a news anchor reported, “In minutes now, we should know the results of the Senate vote on President Clinton. Will he be acquitted on impeachment charges?”
Priya emerged from the bathroom in a sheer black bra and skimpy panties. She was statuesque. Anush turned the TV off and tossed the remote aside. Priya got on all fours and prowled towards him like a jungle cat. They kissed and Anush’s hands travelled all over her smooth bronze skin, caressing her supple curves. Despite the whisky earlier, he got a rock-hard erection and asked her to put her hair up, the way Nasreen wore it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the following for their advice, assistance, and support: my wife, first-reader and inspiration, Paula Ayer; my publisher, who saw the potential in this manuscript, Taryn Boyd; my story editors for their invaluable insights, Colin Thomas and Pam Robertson; Kate Kennedy; Andrew Riley; my entire family in India with whom I lived for a year, especially Chika and Chiki, whose generous hospitality knows no bounds; and my mother, Bharti Paleja, who helped me with Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi translations of poems and songs over various drafts, and for her endless love and support.
The following sources were helpful with my understanding of modern Indian politics: Warriors in Politics: Hindu Nationalism, Violence, and the Shiv Sena in India by Sikata Banerjee; Snakes and Ladders by Gita Mehta; and the BBC2 four-part documentary Wonders of the Universe by Brian Cox, which illuminated my understanding of the cosmos.
Permission to reprint lyrics for
Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
Words and Music by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
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SHEKHAR PALEJA graduated from the University of Calgary with his BFA in Theatre, and has many film and theatre credits to his name. A resident of Vancouver, he has also published two children’s books, Native Americans: A Visual Exploration and PowerUp! An Extraordinary Destiny is his debut novel.
Copyright © 2017 by Shekhar Paleja
Brindle & Glass
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For more information, contact the publisher at brindleandglass.com.
Edited by Colin Thomas
Cover design by Tree Abraham
Interior design by Pete Kohut
Author photo by Emily Cooper
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Paleja, Shekhar, author
An extraordinary destiny : a novel / Shekhar Paleja.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-927366-59-2
I. Title.
PS8631.A43E98 2017 C813'.6 C2016-908157-5
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and of the province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An Extraordinary Destiny Page 30