A wish for those born on the margins

India exists on so many levels that one runs the risk of generalisation

Sometimes two Indias collide — surprisingly, giddily, happily. Case in point: When one woman gave another a hug and a peck on the cheek, a simple, spontaneous gesture of affection as we looked on. Except: one was a royal dowager, regal in her chiffon and pearls; the other a dancer, part of a troupe to entertain wedding guests. As receptions go, it was an intimate affair, ridiculously small by Delhi standards, making up in bonhomie what it lacked in numbers. That odd bonding warmed our hearts more than alcohol that cold night. Where, once, women of the zenana would look