Beloved strangers

"One of Maria Chaudhuri's early memories growing up in Dhaka was planning to run away with her friend Nadia. Home was not an especially unhappy place, but in Maria's family, joy was ephemeral. With a mother who yearned for the mountains and the solitariness and freedom to pursue her own dreams and career, and a charismatic but distant father who found it difficult to express emotion, they were never able to hold on to happiness for very long. Maria studied the Holy Book and said her daily prayers, yet struggled to reconcile her inner self with her faith and her family. She dreamed, like her…