Famous Quotes & Sayings

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes & Sayings

Enjoy the top 38 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.

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Famous Quotes By Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1973843

Kavita's arms are still outstretched, but they hold nothing. After the metal gate clangs shut behind them, Kavita can still hear Usha's piercing wail echoing inside. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1215342

She knows if the test shows another girl growing in her womb, all of the possible outcomes are wrenching. Jasu can demand she have an abortion, right there at the clinic if they had the money. Or he could simply cast her out, forcing her to endure the shame of raising the child alone. She would be shunned, like the other beecharis in the village. But even this, becoming an outcast from her home and community, would not be as bad as the alternative. She cannot face the agony of giving birth, of holding her baby in her arms, only to have it taken away again. Kavita knows in her soul she simply will not survive that. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 326052

Sometimes, as she has well learned in life, one's actions must precede the emotions one hopes to feel. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1960968

He opened his heart to me. He wasn't afraid to show me his weakness. It was a remarkable thing, in that time, for a man to do that. That's the key thing about a strong marriage. It gives you a safe place to be yourself, entirely, even the weak parts. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 126622

Those memories and his feelings for her, had lain dormant but not forgotten. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 97204

Love the way you know me better than I know myself. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1914584

He stole a glance at her profile, the soft curve of her nose, the sharp angle of her chin, the glint of yellow gold against her dark earlobe. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1466848

a girl you still could not forget? — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 124929

If the mother falls, the whole family falls. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 94228

She goes through the same motions as every other day, but something has shifted. It feels as if someone has picked up her world and tilted it off its axis. Everything familiar to her is slipping away. Kris and Asha not only don't need her, but they also can't seem to tolerate her in their lives any longer, betraying her to make their plans. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 124597

But most of all, when Somer closes her eyes, she imagines the moment she will hold her baby for the first time. She keeps Asha's photo in her pocket and looks at it often. That one photo vaporized her doubts and made everything come to life. She lay awake at night, picturing her daughter's sweet face. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1839003

Everyone has been overjoyed with the birth of their first son, bringing celebratory sweets, new clothes for the baby, fennel tea to bolster her milk supply. They have showered on her all the traditional gifts, as if this is her first baby, their first child. What about the other times I've carried a baby in my womb, given birth, held my child in my arms?
But no one acknowledges this, not even Jasu. Only Kavita has an aching cavity in her heart for what she's lost. She sees the pride in Jasu's eyes as he holds his son and forces herself to smile while saying a silent prayer for this child. She hopes she can give him the life he deserves. She prays she will be a good mother to her son, prays she has enough maternal love left in her heart for him, prays it didn't die along with her daughters. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1821272

Why not?" Trey shrugged. "I owe you, man. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1800762

At some point, the family you create is more important than the one you were born into. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1799790

Now, her mother lifts Kavita's head up out of her lap and holds her face, hot with tears, in her cool hands. "I am glad it is you who is going," her mother whispers.
Kavita looks up at her with shock.
"I won't worry about you, Kavita. You have strength. Fortitude. Shakti. Bombay will bring you hardship. But you, beti, have the strength to endure it."
And through her mother's words and her hands, Kavita feels it - shakti, the sacred feminine force that flows from the Divine Mother to all those who have come after her. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1732532

It has been more than twenty years since she lost her two daughters here, the one who was never given a name or a life, and her precious Usha. With thoughts of Usha comes the physical ache in her heart. There has not been a day since Usha's birth that Kavita has not thought of her, mourned her loss, and prayed for the hollow feelings of grief to melt away. But God has not listened. Or else he has not yet forgiven her. Because the heartache has endured. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1724692

At some point after Asha went to college, the distance between her and Krishnan grew. By the time their daughter left for India, they were too far apart. It was as if they stood on opposite sides of a lake, neither of them having the ability to cross the distance between. The angry words they hurled fell like stones to the bottom of the water, leaving ripples of sadness on the surface. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1700368

Sometimes she wishes she could return to the naive happiness of their life. But mostly, she aches to go forward, to a place her body doesn't seem willing to take her. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

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Americans are so tightly wound, the way they kill themselves to get ahead. It's no way to live, — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1618719

Still others, like Kavita, just sit and sit, sometimes for hours. They are the ones, she now understands, who are mourning. Like her, they mourn a loss so wide and sodeep and so all-encompassing that it threatens to wash them away with grief. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1536537

There were two dials: one set to the time here in Panchanagar, the other to the time in Dallas, — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1279910

Then she rushes to pick up Asha from school, where she is known only as "Asha's mom" by the other mothers, who seem to all spend a lot of time together. Somer has no time for the PTA and bake sales. She has no time for herself. Her profession no longer defines her, but neither does being a mother. Both are pieces of her, and yet they don't seem to add up to a whole. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 158094

Oh my gosh," Somer whispers, one hand flying up to her mouth. "She's beautiful."
Krishnan fumbles with the papers and reads, "Asha. That's her name. Ten months old."
"What does it mean?" she asks.
"Asha? Hope." He looks up at her, smiling. "It means hope."
"Really?" She gives a little laugh, crying as well. "Well, she must be ours then."
She grasps his hand, intertwining their fingers, and kisses him.
"That's perfect, really perfect."
She rests her head on his shoulder as they stare at the photo together.
For the first time in a very long time, Somer feels a lightness in her chest. How can it be I'm already in love with this child, half a world away? The next morning, they send a telegram to the orphanage, stating they are coming to get their daughter. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1199209

You know," she says softly, "what I've learned is that everything's more complicated than it seems. I'm so glad I came here, got to know my family, learn about where I come from. India is an incredible country. There are parts of it that I love, that really feel like home. But at the same time, there are things here that just make me want to turn away, you know?"
She looks to Somer.
"Does that sound awful?"
"No, honey." She touches Asha's cheek with the back of her hand. "I think I understand," Somer says, and she means it.
This country has given her Krishnan and Asha, the most important people in her life. But when she has fought against the power of its influence, it has also been the root of her greatest turmoil. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 1094151

He can't recognize when his own body needs to go to the toilet, but he notices the first night in fifty years his wife is not sleeping beside him."
Rupa shakes her head.
"I don't quite understand it, but that is a powerful love. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

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Wedding was quiet and small, home they shared was soulless, their food bland. Sarla and her husband felt like guests in that home rather than family. They wondered what had happened to their son. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 997763

Notice if you are holding your breath after inhaling, and if so, what are you afraid of letting go. Or are you holding it after exhaling, and what are you afraid of letting in. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

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It has been an assault on her senses: smells that suddenly overpower her, and heat she can taste, thick as dust on her tongue. Not only does she feel powerless in the face of Indian bureaucracy, but as further punishment, the torrential downpours also keep them trapped inside Krishnan's parents' flat. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 685962

Somer reclines in her airplane seat, watching through the window as the glimmering lights of Mumbai recede into the darkness of night. In the seat next to her, Asha is already asleep, her head and pillow resting on Somer's lap, her feet in Krishnan's. They should both try to sleep as well, but she knows Krishnan, like her, is reluctant to disturb Asha. He extends his hand to Somer, and she takes it. They rest their interlocking hands on Asha's sleeping body between them, just as they did the first time they made this journey. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 634927

Always so eager to achieve the next milestone on her path, she has neglected to question that path or to look ahead. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 578825

Tried to be faultless as a parent, but still she worries that in the end, all her love for her daughter will not compensate for the loss she suffered as a baby — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 520260

Or does she still come here simply because it's become a habit, like a scar etched onto her body, one that she can't help but think about, scratch at, pick at, all the while hoping it will miraculously heal one day? — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 513648

Most people, including Ma, preferred to brush unpleasantness away, as if, by sweeping it outside with the dust, it could be forgotten. As if, by acknowledging the existence of something unsavory in their community, they might be tainted by it themselves. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 429295

Not only was it impossible to truly belong in America, but he didn't fit in here anymore either. He was a dweller of two lands, accepted by none. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 141531

Survival rates for breast cancer are relatively good, but Krishnan has been around illness enough to know there is usually a cruel injustice about the way it strikes. Cranky patients defy the odds, while the kind ones, the ones who bake him cookies or bring him tomatoes from their garden, always seem to die early. Mortality rates utilize the law of averages without consideration for who is most deserving. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 224695

I love your smile, that smile. Don't cover it up. It's the best part of you. The — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 182722

It seems as if everything she's cared about over the past twenty-five years has disintegrated, oblivious to the time and energy she has invested. She can call herself a physician but can't take the same pride in this she used to. She is not really a wife at the moment, not much of a mother. Somewhere along the way, Somer realizes, she has lost herself. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Shilpi Somaya Gowda Quotes 164524

Being a woman in India is an altogether different experience. You can't always see the power women hold, but it is there, in the firm grasp of the matriarchs who still rule most families. It has not been easy for Sarla to navigate the female path: she has become a master traveler, but one with no pupil. She thought she might develop this relationship with one of her daughters-in-law, but the others, like Somer, didn't quite fill the role. And when they had babies, they relied on their own mothers, leaving her once again in the company of men. But now, Sarla muses as she glances at the clock, anticipating Krishnan's arrival, she will finally get her granddaughter. — Shilpi Somaya Gowda