Sthani

Sthani is taller than me, and the first word that she uses to describe herself is 'mixed-breed'. Which is not a single word per-se, and I remind her, but she slaps me on the nose and tells me not to be such a snob. I feel she meant 'pedant' but I know better after that tearful nose-beating. She also has a noticeable mole under her chin, about which she is protective and 'proud'. She gets angry when someone talks to her about the mole.

Her parents did intercaste, and so did both her grandparent pairs. For such a diverse and accepting family, they are a conservative bunch. She tries avoiding touching guys a few days a month because she doesn't want them to get 'cursed', she goes to temples more often in a month than I go in five years, and she considers Baba's bibhutibi as a possible source of infinite food during famine and has seriously offered me bibhuti as a staple food on days I have missed lunch on several occasions. She thinks she's very modern though-- she's the only girl I know who has a large tattoo on her belly(see? Are YOUR parents so open-minded?) that shows well in a Sari (when the Sari's on Sthani, not when the tattoo is wearing a sari. Besides, tattoos cannot wear saris. Not usually). She puts on black bangles, for the Goth look. They have tantric chants written on them. And she often walks around in Kurta-Suruwal. Green. Her name is Swasthani with 'Swa' cut off because her parents thought Swasthani would be too difficult a name to pronounce... And Sthani rolls right off the tongue, like ghiu. She reads Swasthani to her family.

That is Sthani, my friend, for you. She has permitted me to tell you stories about her, so you will hear more about her in the future.