Fiction: Will Ashima reunite with her long-lost daughter, whom she was forced to give away at birth?

When Ashima saw the envelope, she burst into tears. There was no need for grief because it did not contain a card announcing someone’s funeral. It was an invitation to her sister’s daughter’s wedding. She had not seen her sister for almost fifteen years. This daughter must be nineteen years old now; nineteen years and three months exactly. Her name when she was born was Parul but now they called her Mondira.

Ashima wiped the tears from the wedding card, which was red with a huge gold and pink lotus in the centre. It was wrapped in gold tissue paper and tied with red and green silken thread. It looked expensive and gaudy. She would have never chosen a flashy card like this. She would have chosen a simple design, maybe a tiny garland of red flowers on pale cream paper.

But she was not the mother – not anymore. She had given her daughter away. No. They had forced her to give away her baby girl nineteen years and three months ago.

Ashima tried hard not to think about her lost child. She had her sons to take care of, her lazy good-for-nothing husband to worry about and the household to manage. But...

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