Placed third in the Torrevieja: Another Look 2005 Contest (Spain); reprinted in Nethra Review (Sri Lanka) in December 2007; A Stranger Among Us: Stories of Cross Cultural Collision and Connection (Pub. OV Books), 2008; and One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories(Pub. New Internationalist, UK) 2009.

Ishwari was the only river I had ever really seen, and the truest. Some people called her Isri as well. My grandfather explained it to me one day. It was Allah above and this goddess down below. Her names were for her power and her beauty. Dadajan wove fantastic tales around her – her rage, her sorrow, her bounty, her greed inundated the rhythms of his speech and invaded my boyhood imaginings.

 

Here’s a little information about the context of the story itself: OW Extension Doc_Jan26