Kalpana woke up groggy, sticky, sweaty again. It was Ganesh Chaturthi today and she felt like fate had dealt her a nasty blow yet again. All that she wanted was to have a normal day… but perhaps the definition of normal was this, for her! She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself with the warm smell of karpoor intermingled with the Chafa flowers. The ring-ring of the bells and the jingle-jangle of the aarti cymbals did nothing to elevate the intensifying pain from the pit of her stomach. “Why today?” she muttered as she jumped out of under her blanket and checked the bed for stains.

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