That night, I lay in my bed thinking of Ma, Nani and her bowls of milk laced with cream and almonds. And my stern mamus. How foolishly I had stepped out of the house that fateful night, blissfully ignorant of the consequences.

But if I hadn't, Rab knows where I would be today! Still, I longed to see my uncles and aunts. Good or bad, all said and done, they were my kin, my own.

Memories of early childhood spun before my eyes. Grandmother changing my clothes after giving me a bath. Uncle patting my head affectionately and saying, look at her sitting quietly like a doll, like a little goddess from paradise.

The day my ears and nose were pierced, Mamu saw the plain black thread in my nose and immediately called out to Nani, Put black sapphires in her nose and ears Ma, they will set off her milky-white complexion to perfection!

But grandmother had stopped him in mid-sentence, Speak auspiciously son! Why black sapphires, may pearls and diamonds always adorn this beauty! I remember Mamu affectionately pulling my plaits and tickling me till I gurgled with laughter and hid my face on his shoulders.