The Woman Who Climbed Trees

Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Contents
 Author’s Note
 Prologue: The Woman Who Climbed Trees
 Book One: The Color of Bidai
 
 Split Ends Are Nothing but Bad Luck
 Pukka Majnu
 Checkered Feathers
 The Color of Bidai
 A Quaint Train
 Birdcage Jhumkas
 Stolen Moments
 Whore
 Your Name on My Arm
 Gold
 A Torrid River
 
 Book Two: Manmohan
 
 The Highs and the Lows
 Marsiya
 Silver-Screen Goddesses
 Manmohan Meets Mr. Kajra
 
 Book Three: Preeti
 
 Jai Santoshi Maa
 The Queen’s Lake
 The Smell of Harvest and Hay
 Love
 How Many Children Do You Want?
 The Royal Procession
 
 Book Four: Nani
 
 Pigeons and Parrots
 Love Is a Thing of the Cities
 One Step, One Step, and a Limp
 Old Iron Trunks
 Yellow Frock
 
 Book Five: The Tragic Meena Kumari
 
 Green Suitcase
 Leave-Taking
 
 Book Six: His Majesty the King
 
 Dazzle-Badazzle
 Grilles
 Monster
 
 Book Seven: Secretive Houses, Tight-Lipped Streets
 
 The ADC Gurung and His Wife
 Black
 Jwala and Agni
 
 Book Eight: The Monkey
 
 A Dot of Infinity
 A Slow Return
 Farewell
 Birthday Party
 
 Epilogue: The Woman Who Climbed Trees
 Acknowledgments
 A Note from the Cover Designer
 About the Author
 Copyright
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Contents
 Prologue: The Woman Who Climbed Trees
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Dedication
 For my mother 
 
 
 Contents
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Author’s Note
 Prologue: The Woman Who Climbed Trees
 Book One: The Color of Bidai
 Split Ends Are Nothing but Bad Luck
 Pukka Majnu
 Checkered Feathers
 The Color of Bidai
 A Quaint Train
 Birdcage Jhumkas
 Stolen Moments
 Whore
 Your Name on My Arm
 Gold
 A Torrid River
 Book Two: Manmohan
 The Highs and the Lows
 Marsiya
 Silver-Screen Goddesses
 Manmohan Meets Mr. Kajra
 Book Three: Preeti
 Jai Santoshi Maa
 The Queen’s Lake
 The Smell of Harvest and Hay
 Love
 How Many Children Do You Want?
 The Royal Procession
 Book Four: Nani
 Pigeons and Parrots
 Love Is a Thing of the Cities
 One Step, One Step, and a Limp
 Old Iron Trunks
 Yellow Frock
 Book Five: The Tragic Meena Kumari
 Green Suitcase
 Leave-Taking
 Book Six: His Majesty the King
 Dazzle-Badazzle
 Grilles
 Monster
 Book Seven: Secretive Houses, Tight-Lipped Streets
 The ADC Gurung and 
 Author’s Note
 An image lives in me. It is a green and flat image. There is grass everywhere, and tufts of shrubs grow beside a stream. The day is transparent. Clouds swim like swans in the sky. On either side of the stream there is a horse. Each horse carries a couple, a man and a woman married to each other. The women are traveling with their men to inhabit their husbands’ homes. At one point the horses stop for a drink and once they finish drinking, they cross the stream and exchange countries. One of these horses has crossed into Nepal from India, and the other from India into Nepal, but neither the horse nor the woman it carries realizes a transition has taken place. After all, not much shifts with the crossing. For an extended distance the landscape remains the same. The