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The God of Small Things - Get a Free Blog

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Heel and Toe<br />

Heel and Toe<br />

Long flatfeet<br />

Airport garbage in their baby bins.<br />

<strong>The</strong> smallest one stretched its neck like people in English<br />

films who loosen their ties after <strong>of</strong>fice. <strong>The</strong> middle one rummaged<br />

in her pouch for a long cigarette stub to smoke. She found an old<br />

cashew nut in a dim plastic bag. She gnawed it with her front teeth<br />

like a rodent. <strong>The</strong> large one wobbled the standing up sign that said<br />

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Welcomes You with a<br />

kathakali dancer doing a namaste. Another sign, unwobbled by a<br />

kangaroo, said: emocleW ot cbt ecipS tsooC fo aidnI<br />

Urgently, Ambassador Rahel burrowed through the press <strong>of</strong><br />

people to her brother and co-Ambassador.<br />

Estha look! Look Estha look!<br />

Ambassador Estha wouldn‟t. Didn‟t want to. He watched the<br />

bumpy landing with his tap-water Eagle flask slung around him,<br />

and a bottomless-bottomful feeling: <strong>The</strong> Orangedrink Lemondrink<br />

Man knew where to find him. In the factory in Ayemenem. On the<br />

banks <strong>of</strong> the Meenachal.<br />

Ammu watched with her handbag.<br />

Chacko with his roses.<br />

Baby Kochamma with her sticking-out neckmole.<br />

<strong>The</strong>n the Bombay-Cochin people came out. From the cool air<br />

into the hot air. Crumpled people uncrumpled on their way to the<br />

Arrivals Lounge.<br />

And there they were, the Foreign Returnees, in wash‟n‟wear<br />

suits and rainbow sunglasses. With an end to grinding poverty in<br />

their Aristocrat suitcases. With cement ro<strong>of</strong>s for their thatched<br />

houses, and geysers for their parents‟ bathrooms. With sewage<br />

systems and septic tanks. Maxis and high heels. Puff sleeves and<br />

lipstick. Mixygrinders and automatic flashes for their cameras.<br />

With keys to count, and cupboards to lock. With a hunger for

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