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Sister of my Heart Somehow I cannot be upset with Anju when she is in temper like this, for I can see that behind the anger, her eyes are bright with tears she will not let fall. Dear Anju, for whom love means that we must want the same thing, always. That we must be the same. She has not yet learned that ultimately each person - even Anjali and Basudha - is distinct, separate. That ultimately we are each alone. The thought catches me by surprise. When had I realized this? Was it on that afternoon of secrets, that afternoon of new blood and old tears? Was is on the day of the diamond earrings when I asked Anju why she loved me, and she gave me her answer, sweeter than a sudden spring in the desert of my heart? When had I made the decision not to burden her with the terrible knowledge that ate me like a canker bug? When had I promised myself that I would spend the rest of my life making up to her for the way in which my father had deceived hers? The way he had tempted him to his death? Ah, how much older than Anju my promise makes me feel. "Sudha," Anju hisses, and I turn to her to say - what? What words can I speak with my throat, which has turned blue as Lord Shiva's from the poison I've swallowed so that Anju might continue to laugh and love and quarrel and make up? So that she might take for granted the surety of our intimacy the way I no longer can? But I am saved by Sister Baptista, who announces in her sternest tones to the entire room that Basudha Chatterjee is to move to the troublemaker's row in the front of the room, this instant, for talking in assembly. As I walk forward, feeling the prick of a hundred eyes on my face, the smirks that say, Ah, finally one of the Chatterjee girls gets what she deserves, I hear Anju say, very softly, "If you were my true, true sister, you'd come with me." My friend Ashlie recommended Sister of my Heart to me and I drank it up. I liked the author's style, I loved the story, I enjoyed the characters and I kept wanting to read the book even though we were on vacation when I started it. I think all signs point to good.

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