Librería Samer Atenea
Librería Aciertas (Toledo)
Kálamo Books
Librería Perelló (Valencia)
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Donde los libros
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
Among the girls born in India’s Bangla Villages, one of them was Amena. Encouraged by her lodging teacher, she wanted to make a name for herself by acquiring higher education. She was inspired by the daily sight of her lodging master, the head teacher of the primary school. She studied with pride in the classroom, where she was rivaled by her best friend. Their rivalry was only in the fields of study; outside the classroom, they had developed a great friendship. A lodging tutor was also kept for her friend by her friend’s father. After they graduated to high school and became matured girls, her best friend ran away with the lodging master in search of a new life. At that, Amena’s father, thinking of his daughter’s reputation, got her married somewhere as well. When the just-matured girl reached her husband’s house, before evening, she understood the full meaning of a family. Her husband showed her what the body’s hunger actually meant, but he left and went to another country before she was fully satisfied with what she understood. In her husband’s house, only her shadow felt like her own. On one side was her mother-in-law’s strict behavior; on the other were the dirty sights of men and an allure toward them. Even her brother-in-law got married and openly romanced with his wife in front of her, which burned her heart further within. One day, she learned how to satisfy one’s lust by oneself, while watching a blue film with her brother-in-law’s wife. And thus began the torture to her body, along with the pleasure she felt. Once in a while, like the talons of a hawk, she bruised and got scars on herself and had to seek help from a doctor. Her son, in the name of education, got mixed up with a spoiled bunch of children. Her daughter’s husband left her daughter with Amena because he could not get honesty or purity from her daughter. It was like salt to her gashes. Meanwhile, when she was in the hospital, she got to meet with her long-lost best friend who, due to marriage to a man who was thrice her age, applied the art of self-satisfaction using her fingers to satisfy herself and similarly hurt and bruised herself by the scratching of her nails, which became infected and, upon further carelessness, developed into cancer. The doctor had even given her a timeframe of her remaining life. Amena’s best friend went away forever right in front of her eyes. Her daughter walked around like a widow right in front of her. Her son was advancing toward an unplanned and unpredictable future right in front of her. She thought to herself about what she got out of life and why she kept on living such a life. Amena searched for the meaning and value of her life, but even her brain did not help her on her quest, for which she now had to live a numb life with the aid of others, to such an extent that she needed help even in the loo.
