UDAIPUR

Nothing in my repertoire of color palettes to paint the light that stretches from Jaipur to Udaipur. No words to describe the hues swirling past me. How do I capture the beauty of these moments?

It’s a young man’s lips whispering in his brand new wife’s ear, her long lashes brushing against her translucent cotton veil while she tilts her head toward him.

It’s a naked baby boy running wild across a barren field as two women covered in yellow headdresses lean against each other laughing, the wind lifting their satin saris like twin kites.

It’s the way the sun peeks out from behind shrubby trees, playing with long shadows that sweep across the dry plains of Rajasthan.

It’s the way my heart aches for the smell of home, the touch of those dearest to me, the mannerisms of passersby. With all of the peculiarities that make me who I am and shape what I see. The questions that wake me in the middle of the night when all familiarity is stripped away.

My small idea of what’s beautiful goes up in flames and the tears come slowly, blurring my vision, stinging my eyelids.

And my world that went up in flames is washed in watercolor. I see it now for what it is, not what I want it to be.