Kalyana Read online

  I flew back to Canada a week later. This time, along with a few of my old poems, books, and short stories, I carried my mother’s memories close to my heart. I sat down in front of my computer at home and began to type. If a pen could be mightier than a sword, then my keyboard could be stronger and faster than a machine gun, firing words like bullets onto a bloodless white page.

  I wrote the stories my mother had told me: of the great journey of the Indians across the seas; of the mighty gods and goddesses; of the myths and ancient legends; and the tales of women and men. I wrote because I could and I wrote because I must.

  The four old women sprang out of nowhere, giggling and dancing, urging me to go on, the colors of their auras once again melding and merging beautifully. And then I felt my mother’s warm hand on my back as my fingers flew over the keyboard. The four old women banged the drums and sang the songs of my lost childhood dreams. As words flooded the white page before me, I saw the caterpillar morph into a butterfly.

  A little bird was soaring to the skies.

  Acknowledgments

  I cannot express enough thanks to Patricia Kennedy and Christina Frey, my most amazing editors, for their honesty, patience, and attention to detail. It was such a pleasure to work with both of you.

  I also express my deepest gratitude to Margie Wolfe, my publisher, for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to introduce Kalyana to the world; and to Carolyn Jackson, for championing my work and overseeing everything, even while on vacation. I am sincerely appreciative of the whole team at Second Story Press for doing such a wonderful job.

  Secondly, I am thankful to my whole family in Fiji and my daughter, Laila Blue Khelawan, for always supporting my voice, and encouraging me to write about things that matter to me. To Carmen Wittmeier, I say thank you for the initial feedback on my manuscript. I am fortunate to have friends such as Duchessa Mettimano, Shannon Summers, Hubert Byletzki, Rick Grol, Rudy Friesen, and Shannon and Steve Gaudry—for always believing in my abilities.

  Last but not least, to my mother, I say my biggest thank you, for without her educating me on my Indian heritage, and telling me the stories of Krishna and Rama, Kali and Draupadi, Maharajah Akbar and Birbal, and the elephant and the little bird, there would be no Kalyana.

  About the Author

  RAJNI MALA KHELAWAN is an emerging Indo-Fijian Canadian writer. In addition to being a visiting writer at The University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands in August 2011, Khelawan has been profiled on TV and radio shows such as Bollywood Boulevard, CBC Radio, Omni South Asian News, Asian Magazine TV, and NUTV. Her first novel is The End of the Dark and Stormy Night.