Shekina Kaneez

I met Shekina at a panipuri vendor's stand in front of a little restaurant in Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, over 30 years ago.  Trying to hide her face from passers by, Shekina was eating panipuri and catching the dribbles in a little dried leaf cup.  I waited patiently for the vendor to serve me, when Shekina asked him to serve me first before her next helping.  I noticed that her Hindi had an accent, and asked her where she was from in Hindi. 

"So where are you from, Kolkata?" she asked me in English.

I asked her what gave me away.

She said "Your Bengali accent..." and smiled.  "My name is Shekina," she said, "I am from Bangladesh."  Before I could respond, she continued "But I live in Malaysia." 

I mumbled through the tamarind water that I was indeed, from Kolkata. I invited her to join me as I was just about to have tea in the little restaurant.  Shekina said, "Well...hot tea on a hotter day...what could be better for the soul?"

Shekina's page is coming soon. 

And laughing dust, born once of woman on this earth, now freed to dance!

Eugene O'Neill

Last Updated 11/05/2010