Kismat Connection

Ananya Devarajan is in her fourth and final year at the University of California, Irvine, where she is pursuing a major in Neurobiology and Behavior as well as a minor in English. After graduation, she will be attending medical school at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, New York. Like many of her characters, Ananya is a second-generation Indian American young adult. Her love for storytelling began on Wattpad, where she grew her audience as a featured author, and she later went on to win first place in TeenPit 2019. In her free time, she can be found watching her favorite Bollywood movies or studying for yet another Anatomy exam. This is her debut novel. Praise for Kismat Connection “There’s something about a headstrong girl and a soft boy who falls first that is my book kryptonite, and Kismat Connection has it all and then some. A gorgeous debut about self-acceptance, love, and finding your own path.” —Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners “Kismat Connection’s nuanced approach to Desi destiny shows that Ananya Devarajan is an author to watch.” —Award-winning author Nisha Sharma “Ananya Devarajan affectionately explores the complexities of the Indian American experience in this wholesome celebration of family, cultural pride, and first love. A heartfelt debut.” —Michelle Quach, author of Not Here to Be Liked Kismat Connection Ananya Devarajan to Appa, Amma, and Anushka my words would not exist without you Contents CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CHAPTER ONE Arjun “The stars are absolutely in your favor.” A smile twisted Arjun Mehta’s lips, his cosmic black eyes twinkling at the middle-aged woman sitting with her legs crossed in front of him. A fresh set of scratches blossomed on his skin, thanks to the mangled mat they sat on. Every year he’d have his astrological chart read, which meant pulling out the neon orange rug beforehand. He called it his good-luck charm. “You’re sure, Auntie Iyer?” Arjun asked, leaning forward with interest. Auntie Iyer wasn’t actually his aunt, but rather a next-door neighbor turned family friend. Like most Indian children, Arjun was raised to refer to the elders in his community by either Auntie or Uncle. The title was often used as a sign of respect, but Arjun saw it differently. Auntie Iyer was as much a part of his life as his own mother, and referring to her as an Aunt made their connection feel more concrete, even though it didn’t stem from a pure blood tie. “Have I ever been wrong?” When Arjun clicked his tongue in defeat, Auntie Iyer laughed. “Your senior year is characterized by one word: balance. Your hard work will be rewarded in the fields of education, athletics, and love, though there will be multiple obstacles in your path.” Arjun’s heart slammed exactly twice through his rib cage. Once in fear. Once in hope. “Love?” he sputtered. “We both know I’m not the most eligible bachelor in town.” That was a lie. A total of fifteen thousand people lived in their town. His graduating class consisted of 122 seniors and Arjun knew from experience that a majority of his classmates did not find him attractive. That was, until his junior year of high school, when his culture became a trend. In elementary school, Auntie Iyer would pack him lemon rice for lunch whenever his parents forgot, and his classmates would bully him half to death about its neon yellow color. Now they asked if he could make them “Golden Milk,” a newly trademarked Starbucks drink born from the same yellow turmeric that stained his rice. The girls that once scorned his bronzed skin, calling it a tan that had somehow lost its way, now attached themselves to his arm. They marveled at his curly black hair as if his features had transformed from uncomfortably alien to fetishizably exotic. His town had expanded its palate to include him last year, but that didn’t mean he wanted to appease their picky taste buds. “You know better than anyone that the stars never lie,” Auntie Iyer said as if she could read his mind. When he didn’t respond, she placed a hand on his cheek. “Are you okay, beta?” Arjun was suddenly overwhelmed with heartburn so severe it scorched his intestines to a crisp. He wondered if his body was trying to distract him from what the stars could mean for his relationship with a certain someone... Who just so happened to be Auntie Iyer’s beloved daughter. He knew better than anyone that Madhuri Iyer couldn’t give two shits about astrology, or about anything Indian, for that matter. Himself included. Even if his prophecy indicated romance and even if that involved her, Madhuri wouldn’t let it happen. As much as he hoped otherwise, Arjun knew that if it was Madhuri versus destiny, she’d win. Hands down. “I’m alright,” he responded after a beat of hesitation. “Do you know any more information? Anything concrete I can keep an eye out for?” Auntie Iyer scanned his charts from the past seventeen years, breathing life into the stacks of paper littering the floor. He was overwhelmed by the memories flying out of the pages, their edges frayed and made brittle by time. He saw the first time he scored a goal as the varsity lacrosse team captain, his school cheering his name louder than any sound he’d ever heard before. The first time his teammates lifted him on their shoulders when they won the state championships. The first time Madhuri lunged at him to celebrate, clinging from his shoulders like she was meant to be wrapped in