I am sure you know that singing in the bathroom is a very satisfying experience. It probably has something to do with the way the voice is tossed around in the small space. I was experiencing that satisfaction on a Monday morning. I was singing a popular Hindi number, which when translated runs something like this," Look how spray of water just glides over my smooth and shiny body". Mind you, though I sing in the bathroom, I am not a bad singer. My ability to sing simultaneously in female and male voices had made me very popular among my schoolmates at my senior school.

The loud banging on the bathroom door interrupted my singing. I closed the shower to listen to Anu, my elder sister, " Kamal, I am going now. Please lock the front door properly when you leave". I assured her that I will do just that and told her to have fun during the day.

Ours was a typical Bombay house. My parents left around 7 o'clock in the morning. My sister was studying English Literature in a college and she left around 10 o'clock (That day she had left around 8 a.m.). I normally left for school around noon. That gave me enough time to be myself at home.

As I heard Anu closing the front door, I resumed singing and started soaping myself. At the age of 17 I had a body which I was proud of. There was hardly any hair on it. Just on that day, I had also gone through my weekly ritual of hair removal.

The hair on my head was fairly long in the style of the seventies. I had just then shampooed it and it was plastered against my smooth cheeks and the nape of my neck. I was now soaping my chest and I noticed that my nipples had hardened. I had smallish breasts that I was ashamed of. I had read somewhere that it would become okay with time. As I continued to soap myself, I felt proud of my flat tummy. Then I lifted each of my legs in turn, placed my foot on the toilet seat and soaped my long, smooth and not too muscular legs. Now I turned on the shower and did a little jig as the cold water hit me.

As is usual with me, I stepped out of the bathroom fully naked and went to the full-length mirror in our room. After admiring myself for a few seconds, I switched on the hair dryer and started brushing my hair. On a whim, I parted it in the middle and curled it over my ears and the back of my neck. I was happy with the way my hair looked.

Now I went to my cupboard to take out my clothes. Unusually, it was locked. Then I realised that I had locked it, to prevent Anu from finding out what I had bought for her birthday. I went looking for the key at the dressing table and it was not there. A little later I found it on the floor. But the key could not open my cupboard. Suddenly I understood what had happened.

My sister and I shared the room. We had identical cupboards. She would always lock hers while I would leave mine open. Today her keys had fallen down and she had walked off with mine kept on the dressing table. Then I went looking for my old clothes. They had already been soaked for wash. In desperation I opened my sister's cupboard to find something to wear. While searching I found a few gifts, photographs and notes for Anu from Roshan. He was quite a handsome guy. In one photograph he was hugging Anu passionately and their lips were sealed together. I was sure that Roshan had developed the black and white photograph in his garage lab.

The photograph strangely excited me. I wondered what Anu must have felt at that time. She looked calm and contented. I felt somewhat jealous of her and I then decided that I would be Anu for the day.

The decision, in a way, had already been made for me! But Anu's cupboard was full of salwar-kameezes (Loose-fitting tops reaching up to knees worn with harem pants; both the top and pants are generally made of thin translucent materials) and sarees (These are six meters of thin silky cloth, wrapped around a long skirt twice, first time without pleats and second time by creating fanfold pleats and tucking-in the pleats into the skirt at the belly button and finally, taking it around the buttocks and passing it over a tight fitting short blouse and pinning it on the blouse at the shoulder- phew! Do you want to try it!)

At last I located some of her skirts and tops. Anu did not like to wear trousers as she felt that they made her seat look large. In fact she did have big round bums! Her breasts were rather small in comparison. She wore padded bras to look proportionate. I took out one of her skin-coloured padded bras and matching panties and placed them on the bed. Then I took out a short skirt with checks and a full-sleeved cream coloured shirt with frills at the collar and the sleeves and placed them on the bed as well.

If you decide to do something you must do it as perfectly as possible. Now I went to the mirror and started working on my face. After applying light make-up on my face, I traced a line on my outer lip with a fine brush and coloured my lips with a dark pink lipstick. I drew a thin line over my lashes with an eyeliner. A little mascara added volume to my lashes. I wore clip-on earrings which had tiny birds as danglers.

Though I did have small breasts, I had to fill the padded bra with cotton-wool before I could wear it. Once worn, it looked and felt quite natural. Then I took out one more pair of panties, sewed both the panties together at the edges, taking care to fill the in-between space with cotton-wool at appropriate places to give myself nice buttocks. Once I wore the "doctored" panties I realised that I had a hip much larger than my waist. I measured myself with a tape and was pleased to know that now I had a figure of 34-24-34. Next I wore the shirt and buttoned it. Then I pulled up the skirt along my smooth legs and zipped it up at my waist after tucking-in my shirt. (Dear reader, considering the climate, garter belts and stockings are not generally worn in our part of the world)

Now I went to the mirror to look at myself. I was quite pleased with my image. I looked as beautiful as Anu. In fact I had better proportions than hers. My legs were more shapely and smoother. I was sure that Roshan would love to hold me tight and kiss me. It was with this thought that I started reading Roshan's letters. It was then that I realised why Anu had left the house rather early on that day. She had gone on a picnic with Roshan and not for her classes.

Though I was a little disappointed, I decided I would be her proxy at the college. It was almost ten o'clock. I decided to skip the breakfast kept for me. Instead I just had some orange juice and decided to leave the house.

I am about two inches taller than Anu. She wore heels to look taller. I decided to wear her flat leather shoes along with white cotton socks. Then I picked up a gray denim bag; tossed a few books, a few make-up items and a little money into it; and stepped out of the house, after locking the front door carefully.

When I reached the bus stop the city bus was just coming in. I got into it and offered the conductor a twenty-rupee note rather sheepishly. Surprisingly, he did not grumble and gave me the ticket and the balance money with a smile. I was standing in the crowded bus and as the bus moved a man in the seat next to me started tapping my legs with his knees. First I did not understand what was happening. Then I understood that my look and my dress were 'affecting' him. You know that some men will go for anything in a skirt and I was certainly much more than 'anything'. I moved away as is the best policy in such cases, but I was not displeased with what had happened. I reached the college without any further incident.

When I checked Anu's schedule, I knew was just in time for her Shakespeare 'lecture'. I rushed to Room No.69. The lecturer was just about to start the session. I slipped into the front row and sat next to Uma who was a good friend of Anu.

Uma looked at me strangely; wrote something on a slip of paper and passed it to me. Two things were bothering her. 'Why have you cut your hair and why didn't you go on the picnic?' I scribbled my answer and passed it back to her. ' My hair had split ends so I cut it. I did not tell Roshan before I cut it. So we quarreled and cancelled the picnic'.

By then the lecturer had warmed up to her topic. She was discussing "As you like it". During Shakespeare's time boys used to play the female roles in plays. While playing the role in "As you like it" the boy-actress playing the female role would pretend to be a man for the story. A boy from the back of the class asked a question," Madam, are there any instances in history of a woman passing off as a man for a long time". The lecturer responded," Oh yes Roshan! A french lady served for a very long time as a male army officer…."

I did not hear anything more. My heart started pounding; my legs felt like jelly and blood rushed to my face. I was sitting in the class pretending to be Anu and Roshan was in the same class. I was sure to get caught and provide Anu with a wonderful chance to make fun of me for a long time. I pretended to listen to the lecture, while I worked out my strategy. Another question was bothering me. If Roshan was here, where was Anu? Maybe she will turn up any moment.

Suddenly I heard the lecturer asking," Where has Roshan gone?" One of the boys replied that he had been called up to the college office for an urgent message. The lecturer nodded her head and turned to write something on the board. Fear gripped me. I was sure Roshan was trying to get in touch with Anu to tell her about her 'double' in the class. How could I just sit around do nothing about the impending danger. As soon as the lecturer's back was turned I slipped out of the class with the sole aim of rushing back home.

I had to cross the parking area to reach the main gate. Roshan was right in my path. He was sitting on his mobike with his feet resting on the ground. He had seen me approaching even before I saw him. The bike was alive and ready to go. Roshan smiled at me, revved up the engine just a bit and with his eyes asked me to get on to the pillion seat.

I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me. But all I could do was walk up quietly and get on to the bike and my short skirt rode all the way up revealing my legs.

The bike started moving even as I was settling down. As my body moved backwards, I put my arm around Roshan's stomach to balance myself. Then the bike approached the gate and Roshan suddenly applied brakes and I collided against his strong body. My heart skipped a beat, while my breasts were crushed against his back. I held on to him tightly. My other hand that held my bag was trying to push down my skirt to prevent it from flying up in the rush of air.

About 100 meters from the gate, Roshan halted the bike at a traffic signal, lifted the flap of his helmet and said to me," Darling, hope you are no longer angry about the cancelled picnic. I had to renew my driving licence today. It could not be postponed". I smiled at him and said in my girl's voice, "It is ok Ross", while I managed to remember Anu's special pet name for him.

Now I knew why the picnic had been cancelled, but still I did not know where Anu was. I thought God was with me and things will work out. I was feeling relaxed now that Roshan was accepting me. So, when Roshan pulled out first, as the signal turned green, I chided him gently," But I am not renewing your licence for driving fast". My man just laughed from inside his helmet and continued to nurse his machine towards the speed limit.

As we turned into a long empty road apparently on the way to his house the hum of the four-stroke Royal Enfield engine was music to my ears. The movement of the bike with both of us on it was almost like a dance.

It took us almost twenty minutes to reach the nice little bunglow by the sea. When the bike halted, I jumped down and opened the front gate for Ross. He moved in and stopped with a screech at the portico of the house. I closed the gate and walked up to him, trying to smoothen my skirt as I walked. " So, how was that for a ride," Roshan asked me as he took off his helmet and patted his longish hair into place. I rolled my eyes, pretented to shoot him with my fingers and smiled. He came forward, playfully slapped me on my buttocks and hugged me. We were in full view of the road, so he let me go when I struggled a little. Then he saw that I was blushing because of what he did. He smiled and patted my cheeks playfully.

Roshan opened the front door and stood aside to let me pass into his house. As I passed he said," Welcome darling". As we moved into the cool tastefully decorated living room, Roshan asked me sit down while he went up to his room. I was left alone for a few minutes. It was a room with a high ceiling. There was a huge poster of a pond full of lotus flowers on the wall opposite to me. The dining hall on one side with its large table was partly visible. The other side had an angular staircase leading to the bedrooms upstairs. I had sunk into one of the soft sofas dragging inwards the small cushions kept on it. The low hum of the air-conditioner was the only noise in the room.

In a few minutes my darling appeared on the top of the stairs. He had a shopping bag in one hand. He came down briskly handed me the bag and said," Happy birthday, my dear. This is a small gift for you. Sorry, I could not pack it properly. I want you to wear it now and then we will have lunch together. Ok!"

The bag contained a lovely chiffon saree with white background and pink and green floral designs on it. There was also a pure white petticoat (long skirt) and a white blouse. There was also a box, which I opened and found to contain a set of pearl jewelry. I placed my gift on the adjacent sofa, got up and moved into my man's open arms. While he hugged and kissed me I was in heaven, except for regret that he assumed that I was Anu. I hoped against hope that the day would pass off without his finding out that I was not Anu.

I was lost in my thoughts. I took me a few moments to realise that Ross had moved back and was holding my shoulders and looking at me looking at me with a quizzical smile. I face turned pink and I lowered my eyes. When I raised my eyes I saw that Ross was grinning mischievously. " Why do you blush so much. Your colour is like that of the lotus flowers on the poster," Ross said, while pointing to the poster on the wall. " I think I will call you Lotus girl…."

While Ross teased me I picked up my bag to hit him. Ross moved quickly climbing the stairs two steps at a time with me in hot pursuit. He stopped suddenly in front of his room and I collided into him. He held me and said, " Ok! Cool it baby". " See! You left your gift on the sofa. Why don't you go and get it" I steadied myself said " Ok" a little gruffly and went down to get the gift.

While I climbed back to reach Ross, he stood watching me from the top. He was looking handsome in his blue jeans and a white army-style shirt. His hair was combed back without a parting. He was wearing black pointed leather shoes with extra heels. He smiled lovingly as he saw me studying him.

I was looking forward to wearing what he had given me. But when we went into his room he asked me for the shooping bag, took out the saree and gave me back the bag, saying," You change into rest of the things and then I will tie the saree around you". Once again I blushed! I will soon be standing in front of him in a tight blouse and petticoat, while he tied the saree around me.

Seeing me blush, Ross said, " Lotus girl, Lotus girl" and started laughing uncontrollably. I picked up my denim bag and tried to hit him on the head. He dodged and started falling. He held on my legs to steady himself. While he held both my legs a shiver ran through my body. My arms would not move to hit him and he understood the pause and started caressing my legs.

" Hey! You really have smooth legs. Let me feel them before you hide them in your petticoat" said Ross as he moved his hands up my legs. I was sure we will end up on the floor, if I allowed him to continue. So I shouted, "No", pulled myself away, picked up the shopping bag and ran into the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, I took off my clothes.I wet a towel in cold water and started wiping my body. I felt aroused thinking of Ross, waiting for me on the other side of the door. I did not want him to wait for long, so quickly refreshed my makeup.

Then I wore back my bra and took out the blouse. I put my arms through it and moved it up to my chest. I clasped the hooks in front. The blouse hugged my body and left my arms exposed. Fully aware that I was not wearing panties I wore the petticoat at the level of my navel. The petticoat reached my ankle. As the blouse ended at the ribs, my flat tummy was fully exposed. My breasts looked nice and full and the petticoat hugged my shapely buttocks.

Now I removed my earrings and opened the bathroom cupboard to keep them in safely. Inside the cupboard I saw a wig of long jet-black hair. I had to wear it. My newfound hair covered my back and almost touched the top of my petticoat. As I combed the hair, it gained volume and each strand stood out with a silky shine.

As I came out of the bathroom, I found Ross sitting on the bed, wearing a brown dressing gown and thumbing a magazine. He had washed his face and neatly combed his hair. His forehead was suggestive of future baldness! When he saw me, he whistled and got up in a huff. Just then the doorbell rang and I froze in my tracks.

" Relax, my Lotus-girl. I think I know who has come. I will be back in a moment. You just remain here" saying this Ross left the room, closing the door behind him. I suddenly realised that I liked being called Lotus-girl. This was much better than being Anu. I had my own identity now.

While Ross was away, I went to the dressing table in the room, touched up my face and applied fresh lipstick. Then I did my lashes and tied my hair into a ponytail with a hair-clip. The long hair moved like a pendulum on my back as I moved my head. That felt very nice. Since I was to wear a saree, I wore a red sticker bindi (3mm dot) between my brows on my forehead. Then I took out the pearl set. First I wore the double strand necklace. The necklace had a pendant with a red stone in the middle, surrounded by small pearls. There were matching earrings and a bracelet. Having decked myself with all the jewelry, I stood admiring myself in the mirror. I was startled as Ross came in and hugged me. As his arms tightened their hold on my waist, I leaned forward to rest my head on his left shoulder. He kissed me lightly before releasing me.

" LG you are looking beautiful. I can't believe that such a lovely girl is all mine. Am I not lucky, my darling!" Before I started blushing again I stopped him with the question," Who was at the door?" He smiled and said, " Your birthday lunch has been delivered. But you need to dress up to eat it". Saying so, Ross picked up the saree, inserted one end into the petticoat and started tying it around me. I admired his skill in doing it. When done, the saree pleated well at my waist and over my breasts. It also draped well over my buttocks and sides. I went to the mirror to admire myself.

My lovely hair, my shiny face, my shapely figure, the beautiful pearls, the well fitting blouse and the skillfully tied saree were enough to turn on anybody. I tore myself away from the image in the mirror to look at my sweetheart. He clicked the camera as I turned and my beauty and happiness were captured for all time to come. Ross then set up the camera on a table, came over gathered me in his arms and kissed me. As our tongues explored each other, the camera clicked us. Ross released me slowly and said," Happy birthday LG".

The sight, which greeted us as we moved to dining room, was straight from heaven. The curtains were drawn, a solitary candle lit the dining table set for two, pink roses were arranged in a tall vase and the aroma of the hot food filled the room. Soft south Indian violin music was playing in the background. Tears filled my eyes as I took the scene in. I said in a hoarse voice," Thank you Ross. I love you ..I love you ..I love you ...and I love you". He took out his kerchief and patted my eyes before the tears could roll down. " Silly girl", he said," When you can look so beautiful for me, can I not do this much for you". Saying this he led me to the table and made me sit in his lap, ignoring the second plate that was set up.

He served some food on the plate and started feeding me. I tried hard to hold back my tears of joy as I swallowed some food. In a while, I eased off him and kneeled down besides. He wanted us to truly share our food. So I gripped some food between my lips as he bit into it. What was left, I swallowed. I had to stand up to feed him. He started to caress my buttocks and squeeze my breasts. Occasionally he would tickle me on my waist. We soon abandoned the food and started kissing passionately. His hands pinched my buttocks and my arms were around his neck. After a while, we disengaged. He passed his finger over my cheeks and said," Your cheeks are like soft petals and now that you are in an Indian dress. I am going to call you Kamala (meaning lotus and also the feminine gender for my name Kamal)". Hearing this my heart first skipped a beat and then started beating wildly.

Did he know all along that I was not Anu but Kamal???

Seeing my bewilderment, my sweetheart smiled at me and said," I guessed the moment I saw you in the college. You know, I had seen off Anu and my brother Roshan this morning. Roshan had asked me stand proxy for him at the class. So I understood who you were. But relax my dear. I too have to confess something.." Saying this my lover took my hand to the junction of his legs. Everything was clear now. Just as I was not Anu's sister, Farida was not Roshan's brother. But all the same, I had become a girl and I was with my man.

With the air cleared between us my man lead me to the bedroom and made me sit on the bed, with my feet up and back resting against the headrest. He moved up my saree and petticoat and started kissing my leg; starting from my ankle, moving to my knees and then moving on to my thighs. He stopped suddenly, asked me stand up and slowly removed my saree, petticoat and blouse. I now stood in front of him in my bra and turned pink to my roots. He stood back to admire me while I started fiddling with and removing my jewelry to avoid looking at him. He now let his dressing gown drop to the floor and his muscular body was revealed to me. He beckoned to me.
I kneeled in front of him, took him in my mouth and used my tongue skillfully. His fingers dug deep into my shoulders as he reached his climax.

He now took off my bra and made me lie down flat on the bed. Again he started kissing me right from my legs and fondled my rather large clitoris. He could see that I was ready. He climbed on top of me and started squeezing my breasts. I really wished it was larger for his pleasure. He then made me spread my legs and moved his sex in a circular motion over mine. I started shaking uncontrollably as I reached my orgasm.

At that moment I was truly reborn. It was really my birthday.