Star-Crossed Lovers in the Blue by Rajesh Talwar is the story of Utir, a mermaid and Arj, a merman who reside in the Newada Sea. They meet by chance, fall in love, and begin loving each other deeply and passionately, until Utir, the mermaid, ends up having an arranged marriage. The two lovers lead separate lives, beset with heartbreak, hardships and trouble, for many years before they encounter each other again. And, then a corona-like epidemic raises its head. Will the two star-crossed lovers be reunited? Will a cure eventually be discovered that will save the world’s most marvellous beings from dying?
An excerpt from the book
A young merman called Arj lived in an area of the ocean that was not far from the Indian subcontinent and was known as Runwa, mapped out by the town planners into different sections. There was, for instance, section 37 of Runwa, an upmarket area inhabited mostly by retired army officers, which was where the young Arj lived with his family. Not far away, in section 29 – another posh area – lived a beautiful young mermaid called Utir.
As a result of this proximity, it was inevitable that Utir and Arj should encounter each other at some point in time. One day it so happened that Arj was swimming in a part of the ocean that bordered a small island, studying the green weeds that grew there, when he decided to swim up to the surface of the water and have a look at Outer Space. Arj had an adventurous soul, and one of his favourite and secret pastimes was to pop up to the surface of the water and have a look at the world outside just for a short while. All merfolk were severely discouraged by their governments from attempting these kinds of experiments.
‘Believe you me,’ said a fat merman politician, while addressing the press. ‘I have absolutely reliable information that some of our merfolks have been caught by a strange, gigantic beast that lives above the waters!’
‘Can you tell us more?’ asked a mermaid reporter, scribbling on her pad furiously. ‘What does this beast look like?’
‘I understand from my sources,’ said the politician, ‘that it has two large stumps poking out of its stomach instead of gills on the side and a tail.’
‘How ghastly!’ said a mermaid socialite, seated in the front row.
An excited murmur went through the gathering. Several of the merfolk nudged each other with their fins.
‘Just imagine! No tail!’ A young student merman whispered excitedly to the mermaid sitting beside him.
‘That’s all you think of the entire day,’ she scoffed.
A hoary old merman who had seen a lot of life raised a fin to ask a question.
‘It is true,’ he said, upon getting permission to speak, ‘that the beast has the ability to change its colour. I have heard this from my buddies over the years.’
‘You are perfectly right,’ said the politico. ‘In some parts of the ocean it has been reported to have a brown skin, in other sightings it had appeared with pink, black or even yellowish skin.’
Once again, a murmur went through the gathering. Merfolk across the world’s oceans were all extremely fair and light skinned as far as their upper human half was concerned having received practically no sun in their lives. It was true at the same time that their lower fish like body was often a riot of colour.
In Arj’s case, his curiosity generally won over his fear. On that particular occasion, his curiosity was more than rewarded for not only did he get a glimpse of the sky but, as he turned his gaze, he saw Utir nestling in the shallow portion of the ocean just near the edge, also looking into Outer Space. So, there were even brave mermaids who dared to venture near Outer Space as he did! He saw that Utir’s body was almost, but not quite, out of the water. He, too, made sure that his gills remained immersed, for gills are the breathing apparatus of merfolk to draw out oxygen from the water. For all her feminine ways, Utir also had a bold and adventurous spirit and longed to explore Outer Space. Often, she would come up to the surface of the water to take a tiny peep at the outside world. This was primarily to look at the sky and the sun, which the merfolk talked about but few dared to see.
Arj had found a kindred spirit at last. Not only was he impressed with her courage and swimming skills, but on that day when he saw her, he thought he had seen a phenomenon even more stunning and radiant than the sun that he had gone up to look at. It was a vision of shining loveliness that set his heart pounding. Utir didn’t want to get blinded by the sun, so with her feminine wisdom she had fashioned a pair of blue goggles out of some leaves taken from the underwater plants. When Arj saw her for the first time she was wearing these shades while enjoying her view of the sun. He thought that she was the coolest mermaid he had ever seen in his life.
Published with permission from the author and the publisher, Bridging Borders
