Sum off, thank you for not having a female antagonist in this story. i meant to thank you, but i didnt because Nirmala and many others like her deserve to be written, and not only because i said so. I will tell you why i comment on your stories, sometimes to the point of nitpicking. Because it gives me confidence. I dont think I can read a published writer (except for Samrat Upadhyay, who i think doesnt deserve the hype) and then say, 'that was bad'. S/he should have said such and such in such and such way. But with you, I have read you since your 'days in Nepal'. So, more than critically appraising your writing, what I am doing is trying to see if I know anything about literature and writing.....if i can read a great writer (you) and still point out things. You said: “Like a fist of a frustrated mother running after her four-year-old, Nirmala’s thumb, instead of being on the top, hid beneath her clenched fingers.” When you read that sentence, if you subconsciously did not make a fist with your ‘budhi aulaa’ beneath your other fingers, I failed. You don’t have to go as far as doing psychoanalysis on Arjun. I very consciously made a fist......when i was young i used to learn martial arts....and one of the first thing they did was teach us how to make a fist (punch)...the difference between your thumb inside and outside :) I am mighty glad you are a Nepali. Because our stories are so worthy of being written!