Excerpt; Souwester essay

I was watching my wife draw feet. Bent over in her pajamas, Anupama dipped her thin, artistic
fngers in a steel bowl of rice paste and traced white footprints that resembled the number eight
with a fat top and fve toes. They started outside the front door of our house. Gaining entry into
our hallway, the thickset designs snaked through the formal living room to the dining table
where it stopped near the credenza on which rested our idols of Hindu gods. Outside, the lone
tree in our front yard stood silhouetted against the gloaming.
Will Krishna come during the night? asked fve-year-old Noopur, younger of our twin girls.
Crouched next to Anupama, she had been constantly changing positions, her gaze closely
following the growing chain that she was forbidden from approaching since the paste took time
to dry.
Yes Noopur, my wife replied without turning, brushing aside a lock of hair that fell over her
face. Krishna is a Hindu god, attractive and astute, his dark complexion almost always depicted
in blue in comic books. Creating impressions of Krishna's feet during Janma Ashtami is one way
of welcoming the Lord home. Being US citizens, our twins frst exposure to Krishna was much
later than that of children born in India: it came while watching an Indian cartoon with other
kids at a friends house where the protagonist was little Krishna naughty, doe-eyed, round-
faced, wearing a yellow dhoti, and peacock feather on his head. When they had remarked that
blue skin was weird, we explained to our girls that it was merely symbolic to show that he was
darker than normal.
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Excerpt; Souwester essay
Will he be able to enter our house if it is locked? Noopur asked. Anupama nodded absent-
mindedly as she stared at one of the footprints, which was slightly out of shape. Uh-huh.
Is Krishnas skin color toast or cookie-dough? Noopur asked. This time my wifes head jerked
in Noopurs direction. Then she turned to me as I leaned against the wall equally stunned by my
daughters question.
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