Alka Joshi - The Henna Artist

Escaping from an arranged and abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone from her 1950s rural village to the vibrant pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the henna artistand confidantemost in demand to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own...

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in towa sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one womans struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Praise for
The Henna Artist

Romantic, old-time Rajasthan leaps to life in skilled hands... I can hardly wait for Alka Joshis next masterpiece.

Sujata Massey, internationally bestselling author of The Widows of Malabar Hill

Alka Joshis superb first novel is unforgettable... Read this book slowly and savor it: Every page is rich with intricate pleasures for the mind and the heart.

Anita Amirrezvani, author of The Blood of Flowers and Equal of the Sun

Like a brilliant, magical kaleidoscope, bursting with color... Kept me riveted from start to finish.

Lauren Belfer, New York Times bestselling author of And After the Fire

A world so vivid, so filled with light and sound, so rich with the intoxicating scents and sights of India, you want to live in its pages.

Janis Cooke Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue

A delicious, old-fashioned tale about timeless heartaches.... Im in awe of her storytelling!

Laura McNeal, author of The Practice House

There is so much to love herethe characters, the evocative settings, the hard-charging plot. I loved being led through India by someone who knows the way by heart.

Tom McNeal, author of To Be Sung Underwater

A lush, gorgeous journey that any reader will be sorry to see end.

Erin McGraw, author of The Good Life

A bold, ambitious, beautifully written novel.

Tom Barbash, author of Stay Up With Me

Alka Joshi is a graduate of Stanford University and received her MFA from the California College of the Arts. She has worked as an advertising copywriter, a marketing consultant and an illustrator. Alka was born in India, in the state of Rajasthan. Her family came to the United States when she was nine, and she now lives on Californias Monterey Peninsula with her husband and two misbehaving pups. The Henna Artist is her first novel.

TheHennaArtist.com

The Henna Artist

Alka Joshi

For my mother, Sudha Latika Joshi, who championed my independence

For my father, Ramesh Chandra Joshi, who sang me the sweetest lullaby

Contents

The traveler has to knock

at every alien door to come to his own,

and one has to wander through all the outer worlds

to reach the innermost shrine at the end.

From the poem Journey Home by Rabindranath Tagore

When the Goddess of Wealth comes to give you her blessing,

you shouldnt leave the room to wash your face.

Hindu Proverb

Lakshmi Shastri: 30-year-old henna artist, living in the city of Jaipur

Radha: Lakshmis 13-year-old sister, born after Lakshmi left her village

Malik: Lakshmis servant boy, 7 or 8 years old (he does not know which), lives in the crowded inner city with his Muslim auntie and cousins

Parvati Singh: 35-year-old society matron, wife of Samir Singh, mother of Ravi and Govind Singh, distant cousin of the Jaipur royal family

Samir Singh: renowned architect from a high-caste Rajput family, husband of Parvati Singh and father of Ravi and Govind Singh

Ravi Singh: 17-year-old son of Parvati and Samir Singh, in boarding school at Mayo College (a few hours from Jaipur)

Lala: long-serving spinster servant in the Singh household

Sheela Sharma: 15-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. M. Sharma, a wealthy Brahmin couple of humble origins

Mr. V. M. Sharma: official building contractor of the Jaipur royal family, husband of Mrs. Sharma, father of four, including his youngest daughter Sheela Sharma

Jay Kumar: bachelor school chum of Samir Singh from
Oxford days, practicing physician in Shimla (at the foothills of the Himalayas, an 11-hour drive from Jaipur)

Mrs. Iyengar: Lakshmis landlady in Jaipur

Mr. Pandey: Lakshmis neighbor and another tenant of Mrs. Iyengar, Sheela Sharmas music tutor

Hari Shastri: Lakshmis estranged husband

Saas: means mother-in-law in Hindi; when Lakshmi refers to her saas, she is referring to Haris mother, and when addressing a mother-in-law directly, a woman would call her by the respectful Saasuji

Mrs. Joyce Harris: young Englishwoman, wife of a British army officer who is part of the transition team in Jaipur for the handover of the British Raj

Mrs. Jeremy Harris: Joyce Harriss mother-in-law

Pitaji: means father in Hindi

Maa: means mother in Hindi

Munchi: old man from Lakshmis village who taught her how to draw and taught Radha how to mix paints

Kanta Agarwal: 26-year-old wife of Manu Agarwal, educated in England, originally from a literary Calcutta family

Manu Agarwal: Director of Facilities for the Jaipur royal family, husband of Kanta, educated in England, related to the Sharma family

Baju: an old family servant of Kanta and Manu Agarwal

Maharaja of Jaipur: a figurehead post-independence, the highest ranking royal in the city, wealthy in land and money, possessing multiple palaces in Jaipur

Naraya: the builder of Lakshmis new house in Jaipur

Maharani Indira: the maharajas stepmother, married to the late Maharaja of Jaipur, childless, also referred to as the dowager queen

Maharani Latika: the current maharajas wife, 31 years old, educated in Switzerland

Madho Singh: Maharani Indiras parakeet

Geeta: widow, Samir Singhs current mistress

Mrs. Patel: one of Lakshmis loyal henna clients, proprietress of a hotel

A glossary of Hindi, French & English terms is listed in the back.

Her feet step lightly on the hard earth, calloused soles insensible to the tiny pebbles and caked mud along the riverbank. On her head she balances a mutki, the same earthenware jug she uses to carry water from the well every day. Today, instead of water, the girl is carrying everything she owns: a second petticoat and blouse, her mothers wedding sari, The Tales of Krishna her father used to read to herthe pages fabric-soft from years of handlingand the letter that arrived from Jaipur earlier this morning.

When she hears the voices of the village women in the distance, the girl hesitates. The gossip-eaters are chatting, telling stories, laughing, as they wash saris, vests, petticoats and dhotis. But when they spot her, she knows they will stop to stare or spit at the ground, imploring God to protect them from the Bad Luck Girl. She reminds herself of the letter, safe inside the