Zana’s Reviews > A Burning > Status Update

“He watches his wife’s legs opened by the true men of this country, and he appears to die before we can kill him.

Anyway, we stomp on his skull so that the cream of his brain splatters on the floor. Teach him to have ideas about killing our holy mother cow, whom we love and respect.”

Omg

Noooooo girl I told you not to talk to the media 😩

“Rainwater has flooded the underground dens of cockroaches, and now the insects emerge from cracks in the pavement. On land they dash, alarming girls who yell and stomp them dead....”

Things I don't miss 🤮

‘In the outside world, I was wearing boy’s shorts and a boy’s haircut, and playing cricket. But secretly, at home, I was trying lipstick. I was wearing my mother’s saris once, twice, thrice. The fourth time my uncles were persuading my father to kick me out of the house. “What dignity will we have with this unnatural boy in the household?” they were shouting. “Our children are normal, think about them!”’

🙁

‘Later, in the quiet of the kitchen after we had eaten, she said to me, “The system doesn’t always work for us. But you see that, now and then, you can make good things happen for yourself.”

And I thought, only now and then? I thought I would have a better life than that.’

😞

“I grew angry—why wasn’t my father telling the doctor the police did it? Catch the police! Put them in jail for hurting him like that! How would he drive the rickshaw again with such pain?”

Oh baby girl

“...My father, whose calves had carried three people at once up slopes in his rickshaw. My father, whose back leaned forward in strength as he pedaled, up and down, up and down, for twenty-five rupees per ride.”

🙁

“THEN THE POLICEMEN CAME to evict us. The company wanted to mine the land on which we lived, rich with coal. Why should the company let some poor people sit and bathe and sleep on top of vast sums of money?”

Oh no

‘...When the language teacher reappeared after a long absence for her wedding, she chewed a paan stuffed with lime and betel nut, and told us to write our names on the tests. One day, she reminded us, “Stick five rupees to the page if you can.”

She would fill in the rest of the test if we did.’

👁️👄👁️

“...I only look at cooking videos. It’s a totally different part of Facebook. People abroad make such nice things, you don’t know—like apple pie with ready-made whipped cream! I have never seen such things. The cream comes out of a can.”

👁️👄👁️