wondered. Aloud, I said, "Though we have lived through different circumstances, it seems as if I
know you. How might we become acquainted?"
A coy smile slowly crept across Neeha's face. It lingered as we walked out the door.
"So you want to write a story about me?" she said still smiling. I did not answer. I was beginning
to question my desire to use the outrages of her life to raise my own status, to wonder if debasing
her in such a way might debase me still more.
She bent down, picked up a stone and cast it out toward the dark waves.
"What odd chaps you writers are," she said. "You sell the afflictions of people and gain
reputations. Then you die and other writers sell stories about your miserable life. First you talk
about others, and then others talk about you. What a foolish desire to be known. I learned a long
time ago that we should walk away from this life silently. Remember, all roads lead to the dark
grave."
Her talk of death fascinated me, frightened me, and confused me. I lost all desire to exploit her
for gain. My mind returned to the group of men who had exploited her so mercilessly, a group I
no longer wanted to join.
How could she have put up with so much? I wondered. She was smiling, but I was sure that deep
in her heart she was aching with sorrow.
She looked me in the eyes and in a most delicate tone she said, "Do you hear the sound of the
sand constantly running? Do you hear the waves splashing against the cliff?" She hesitated, ever
so slightly. "Do you hear steps creeping around the wet road on a stormy night? Do you hear the
songs of a traveler singing in the vast desert? Do you hear the tragic music of falling leaves in
autumn? Do you..."
I stopped her and said:
"Yes, yes, you are like me, a child at heart, even in this commercial society where feelings have
become commodities. You love nurture and the arts."
My heart was developing feelings that I had never thought it could contain. I felt free, totally lost
in the moment.
The waves had thrown a fish upon the sand. Neeha noticed this and ran to throw the helpless
creature back in the water.
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