Not Everything Beautiful Should be Possessed

There are two things I remember distinctively in my great grandmother’s house—a red oxide floor, gleaming like water, cool and unmarred by tile-style boundaries, and a squawking parakeet in a cage next to the kitchen.

- Neha Sinha

The parakeet, large-headed and loud-voiced, would often be provided with scraps or whole food—chickpeas, chilies, fruit, vegetables, He would in turn feed the family with his wisdom—words and phrases, some decidedly undecipherable. In the unbearable humidity of Bengal, I'd lie cheek-pressed to the coolness of that water-like floor, looking at the parakeet.

My great grandmother cooked for everyone. Perhaps the parakeet was the only creature that did not receive her cooking, but she loved him the most.