Some had monstrous bellies, hanging breasts,
Projecting teeth, and crooked thighs.
Others were exceedingly beautiful to behold,
And clothed in great splendor. 
—Ramayana

If you live with the fear of death, Ishvari squinted down at the curling sheet of birch bark in her hand with glazed eyes, why were you given life? “Why indeed!” she echoed mockingly. Leaning forward, she flipped the bark right out of her open window, chuckling as it sailed upward on a gust of wind to land precariously on an aerial root of the regal banyan standing sentinel outside her window.

The banyan had grown steadily over the past three hundred years, spreading majestically over the inner courtyard, stately witness to the trysting of a successi...

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