Girls have to be toughened so they can survive a world that presses harder on women.

Fenugreek, Tuesday's spice, when the air is green like mosses after rain.

Tomorrow is another day. I've got plenty of things to worry about right now.

Often, others see you, as you see yourself

Chili, spice of red Thursday, which is the day of reckoning. Day which invites us to pick up the sack of our existence and shake it inside out. Day of suicide, day of murder.

Sometimes -- she knows this from her own life -- to get to the other side, you must travel through grief. No detours are possible.

After the fire, when I'd tried to express my gratitude for their kindness to our customers, they'd been awkward, uncomfortable. My father had had to explain to me that giving thanks is not a common practice in India. 'Then how do you know if people appreciated what you did?' I'd asked. 'Do you really need to know?' my father had asked back.