A Handful of Shuilis Quotes

“The Howrah Bridge
swallows the train whole.
I wave at no one.
No one waves back. In my pocket:
a shiuli petal,
pressed flat,
still holding
the scent of your goodbye. The city shrinks.
The heart expands.
This is how
we become
the places
we leave.”
― Avijeet Das , A Handful of Shuilis

“Morning finds the shiuli
fallen,
white stars on wet earth.
I pick one—
its fragrance
is a memory
I cannot place. A child laughs nearby.
The flower wilts
in my palm.
Everything beautiful
has an expiry date.
I learn this
again
and again”
― Avijeet Das, A Handful of Shuilis

“Dust dances in the light
like tiny ghosts of stories.
I open a yellowed page—
your handwriting
from another lifetime. The shopkeeper pretends
not to see my tears.
He wraps the book
in silence.
I carry it home
like a wound
that refuses to heal”
― Avijeet Das , A Handful of Shuilis

“She arrives with the first thunder—
hair wet with sky,
eyes holding storms
no one has named. I offer her tea.
She drinks the rain instead.
The cup trembles
in my hands
like a secret
I was never meant to keep”
― Avijeet Das, A Handful of Shuilis

“The train whistles at 2 a.m.
cutting through fields of sleeping rice.
I press my forehead to the glass—
villages blink, then vanish. Somewhere between stations,
I write your name
on the fogged window.
By dawn,
it is gone.
Like you.
Like me”
― Avijeet Das, A Handful of Shuilis

“The road remembers
every footstep I left behind—
some in haste,
some in love,
all in search of you. Asphalt cracks open
like old letters,
revealing dust and distance.
I keep walking.
The horizon keeps moving.
That is how we stay alive”
― Avijeet Das, A Handful of Shuilis

“Shiuli blooms in the rain,
white petals kissing mud,
like forgotten prayers
on a monk’s lips. I stand barefoot,
letting the downpour
wash the city from my skin.
You are not here,
yet your scent
lingers in every drop”
― Avijeet Das, A Handful of Shuilis