Shutters down, dealings done for the day, village folk shelter indoors from the
winter chill. Seated on cloth binnas on the mud floor, they warm their rough
hands around wood fires in the kitchen.

Outdoors, a full moon climbs the ink-blue firmament, while huddled homes, lit byyellow streetlights, rest like an anklet of marigold adorning the foot of the
Dhauladhar. This is the last tranquil night.

Tomorrow, a Smart City will storm the Himalaya; its monstrous multi-lane
highways will ascend the sacred mountain. In the blink of an eye, its LED-lit
brilliant high-rises will meld clamorously with the star-spangled sky: like fairy
lights, they will link, magically, lowly earth with lofty heaven. And, earthlings, at
long last, will revel like the decadent devas.

…

Rinku Dutta lives in Sidhbari, at the foothills of the Himalaya. She is glad to have found a landscape that resonates with her soul.