Page 210 of The Circle of Exile
“It won’t be one way — this recovery, Atharva.”
“I know. I feel like I have been here before.”
“When?”
“When I was leaving SFF. I did not identify it then and just climbed mountains. And magically, meeting people, doing things for them, building homes, repairing shelters, being resourceful and helpful cured me. I remember it now.”
“Purpose,” Iram mouthed.
“Purpose. Maybe it won’t be as big again, but it will be good. Whatever it is.”
She held his face and ran her thumbs under his eyes again. That place was alive again. Her nose came to his and she nuzzled it.
“You are going to be ok.”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
He had been slumbering these past months. Now he was wide awake and ready to touch the sky when asked to only reach for the tree.
“I’ll do you one better,” he pulled her flush against him, the V of her lap over his. “I am going to get through this.”
40. The Secretariat has moved on but Srinagar hasn’t…
“The Secretariat has moved on but Srinagar hasn’t,” Noora reported, solemn for a change as they sat in the library room of the bungalow. There was no desk or table, nothing except a long, ancient divan and empty bookshelves.
Atharva wanted to fill the space up, start living here.
“Did you get Iram’s books?”
He nodded. “Adil sends these for you,” Noora reached inside his bright orange bag and pulled out a nondescript plastic folder. It was thick. Atharva knew what it was.
“What else?” He accepted the folder and set it aside.
“Law and order is not under complete control. Kupwara is buzzing again but Qureshi sahab does not let any recce happen.”
“Hmm.”
“Inside news is that Momina Madam has to pay back the debts.”
“Money she got to fuel my campaign,” Atharva guessed.
Noora snickered — “You are still smart, huh, Big Brother.”
“From Pakistan. Can you trace from where?”
He shook his head vigorously — “Not only from Pakistan. That was peanuts. The bigger chunk is routed through Kuwait.”
“China.”
“You were planning to do something anti-China in Ladakh or what?”
Atharva’s mouth compressed.
“Naughty Big Brother, two hammers on one foot.”
Atharva stared at him. “What else?”
