Zerafa
A Modern Fairy Tale
by
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On a wintry dark night a woman of great luck and fortune gave birth to a girl who had an unusual charm that sat upon her face all around and endorsingly so at the corners of her mouth. ... The baby in her arms was a mark of the fact that she was capable of shaping, sustaining and simulating a life. The charm of the baby was characteristically unusual that caught her in such a manner that she exclaimed “Zerafa!” The name didn’t only literally mean ‘charm’ but had a proportionate impact on the persona of the baby. Thereupon, Zerafa not only started showing the charm she inherited but with age a new prismatic spirit of her name showed forth. ... Zerafa grew like magic, a spell with an unbound spirit of a free bird, the depth of an old wise soothsayer, and the vision of a sea voyager to whom sea is the home and land a sojourn. Her company included no boy… no girls either. She played with butterflies the run and chase, with glow worms the hide and seek and with bats the blind man’s bluff. ... Her small hands captured the insects in the grass that tried to mount each blade and unmount it with great efforts, offering them a smooth plane to enjoy but slip. Such is the law of physics and the principles of philosophy parallel it. The smoother the plane of life looks, the harder it gets to go against its frictions!
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About the Book
Parenting is one heck of a task whose heady highs and mortifying lows have a profound influence on the lives of children. Parenting mistakes however minor need to be realized and rectified before they leave permanent scars. Zerafa, the first born to Omar and Zareefa is a special child whose specialty keeps her from normal schooling. Zerafa manifests her ability not through the use of words but colors, avant-garde. The coming of Zunaira, their second child, alleviates the suffering of the parents for she conforms to the normal in every possible way. She is schooled but soon Zerafa’s influence begins to tell. In order to save their normal child, the parents take a hard decision to separate the two; one of them is sent to a boarding school. While Zerafa’s talent is unleashed with time, Zunaira unable to come to terms with the separation withdraws into a shell. She rebels against her studies only to be mistaken by her mother as being pampered. The mother-daughter relationship soon turns sour. The story delves deep into a child’s psyche to unveil parenting mistakes. Read on to know how the parents realize their mistakes and whether the scars get permanently sketched onto the psyche of the children. Or is there any mystery revolving through the plot that sets the fairy tale in motion and settles it on that score?
About the Author
Tooba Rasheed (b. 1991) from the troubled lands of Kashmir, works for Cenveo Publisher Services at its Delhi office. A graduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University with degrees in English and Sociology, she is into feminism and writes passionately about family issues. Brought up during the decade of turmoil in Kashmir, she is a keen observer of the effects K-issue has brought on the psyche of children in particular. This is the maiden’s maiden attempt at novel writing. Tooba also likes to put her anguish on canvas and in rhyme.