Heart Lamp: Selected Stories

The narrator, Safiya, is awoken in the middle of the night by a telephone call from her mother, who informs her that Abid, the mujawar of the local Sufi shrine, is seeking someone to represent their family for the upcoming Urs festival at their ancestral village of Malenahalli. Safiya has been nominated for this purpose, so she reluctantly agrees to see Abid in an hour. 

Through an extended flashback, Safiya recalls how her father used to force their family to attend the Urs festival when she was growing up. Their family would stay with Safiya’s grandmother, who, because of her role as boobamma (traditional healer), was considered an affluent and influential member of her community. Safiya remembers how she and her cousins used to play with whatever items they could pull from her pockets. Safiya was favored by her grandmother because she was the daughter of her only son, who lived away from the village. 

In the flashback, the day before Safiya’s eighth birthday, Safiya’s mother laments that her husband won’t be around to celebrate since he works in a government role that makes his commute to Malenahalli very long. When Safiya’s mother expresses her disappointment that her husband did not send Safiya a new frock for her birthday, Safiya’s grandmother reassures her by commissioning one from a tailor.