HUNGRY LOVE (1)

The jatra was over,the were backstage removing their makeup. The band had disbured,with theirt
Tablas and ek-taras. Only drunk men lingered by the abandoned bamboo stage under the
moonlight,waiting for a glimpse of the starlet.
Shirina sat in front of a mirror and lamented about her performance, but realy she was upout because she was longly. Saleh,the backstage helper,heard her woes and told her she was brilliant, as luminous as the sun. His words fell upon the indifferent wind and were carried off to the Bay of Bangal.
For eight years Shirina had played Radha, traveling from village,to share with others the ultimate love story,but it was not expect divinity,just a spark of affection from a Krishna of her own ,not a man in a mask,not a make believe show,something real.She decided that night,she would tun away from the gypsies.This village seemed anice place to settle down,with the stream running through it and the mango groves.
Saleh,who had spent eight years hungering for Shirina’s love , sensed something was amiss the next morning when she,the light of his life,lingered at the tail of their procession.He stepped out of line and waited ,hidden in the trees.It was a lucky thing too because latter when Shirina finally gave the group a slip and began wandering back to th e village,she took a wrong turn and found herself lost in a forest that enveloped her in its menacing darkness.