Issue 12 of Mascara Literary Review: Soft Things by Sushma Joshi

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Issue 12 ~ November 2012

Soft Things by Sushma Joshi

“We are looking for some komal maal,” Sailesh says. Sailesh, a journalist from the local newspaper, who’s been recruited to take us along and act as our guide in the redlight district. In the words of international journalism, he’s a fixer. And that’s precisely what he’s doing right now—asking for a soft thing with the casual inflection of a man used to asking for soft things. I don’t think he necessarily frequents child prostitutes. But his tone makes it abundantly clear that whatever we are after, he’s willing to procure for us—and if it’s a soft thing, he’ll get us a soft thing. 

Click here to read the essay.

Sushma Joshi is a writer and filmmaker from Nepal. Her book “The End of the World” was long-listed for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. Her short film “The Escape” was accepted to the Berlinale Talent Campus. She has a BA from Brown University.

 

 

 


 

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