I listen hard… what’s he doing?And I hear nothing, just my breathing and the pounding thud of my heart as blood pulses furiously against my eardru...s.Abruptly, the soft silent hiss and pop of the iPod springs into life. From inside my head, a lone angelic voice sings unaccompanied a long sweet note, and it’s joined almost immediately by another voice, and then more voices – Holy cow, a celestial choir – singing acapella in my head, an ancient, ancient hymnal. What in heaven’s name is this? I. "Whatcha thinking?" Alice looked at me and snuggled closer for warmth."Nothing much. Just wondering how long it will be before we can't stand snake. We have enough God damned reptiles back there to feed us this winter and half of the next." I pointed to the cave behind us."Yuck! Just shoot me now," Alice stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. "We gotta have a variety, or our taste buds will die of boredom," she sighed."No shit. How many flavors of pine needles can there be?" I. After everyone’s is completed, they asked my nephew to come and apply. He too had changed his dress as per the instructions that were given by the pandits. He was not wearing any shirt. He was wearing a dhoti.When he came near me to apply, I became more nervous. Pandits asked all others to close their eyes again. I felt like pandits were fixed by my nephew and it was a setup by him. I closed my eyes when he came to me. He took some powder given by pandits and started rubbing my shoulders.I. One evening, i was sitting next to her, and i thought she was asleep. Suddenly, she took out her hand from underneath the cover and held mine warmly. “you know. I have fallen in love with you. And i don’t even know much about you.” I squeezed her hand and then told her about myself. When i told her i was yet single, her face lit up. Till then, as she was under a blanket, i couldn’t see much of her except her lovely dark face, her curly shoulder length hair, and the large liquid eyes, and a.