Blind Faith. Sagarika Ghose

me.’

      ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I should have told you. My name is Mia. Mia Bhagat. My parents are both from India. I was born and raised here in London.’

      ‘Mia?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Don’t say Mia. Say Maya. Maya. Mia is a pretty Hollywood heroine. But Maya is much more profound. Maya is god’s dream.’

      ‘Maya is god’s dream?’

      ‘Yes,’ he smiled. ‘Maya is god’s dream.’

      To my dearest little Maya, love from Papa. Mia was a Hollywood heroine, but Maya? Maya was god’s dream.

      How could Karna know Anand’s name for her? His black eyes were sharp but without clues. Something her father and he had perhaps planned when they had met in secret somewhere? Anand had painted the festival painting when he had visited the last Kumbh Mela in ‘89, over a decade ago. She had been sixteen at the time and vividly recalled his excitement. Karna looked as if he was in his mid to late thirties, he would have been in his early twenties, perhaps, when he met Anand. Or perhaps Anand had seen one of the Brothers from the Purification Journey. But how would he know about her name?