Not all lives are patterned the same. Not every breath grudged. Not every effort rejected. Not every attempt thwarted. Stupid girl chanted this mantra every day of her life. Her special little prayer. Her little affirmation of faith. In anticipation of the deluge of change, she knew awaited her. Stupid girl stood by the door, […]
Amma sat chewing on her customary paan, betel leaf and nut, till her mouth and teeth turned a crimson red and fragments of green nestled in the gaps between her teeth. She grinned and her mouth was a festive Christmas theme all gone wrong. I looked away and cleared the table after dinner. The Lord […]
The piercing whistle of the departing train recedes reassuringly. In the background, as she lights the lamps, crickets begin chirping. Night draws on, a tangible blanket, soothing her with pure darkness. The peace crawls under her skin like a millipede makes itself comfortable under a rock, nestling in the moist darkness. Three nights and days […]
There are many ways of attaining salvation. Various paths lead to redemption. The catch is what kind you are looking for. You are a successful physician waking up in the morning, in the middle of the night, whenever duty calls. She walks into your clinic with a huge belly and tells you, ‘No, I am […]
Warp. Yes, I am the warp. Taut and unyielding. There is nothing distorted or twisted about me. Truth be told, I have been distorted and deformed by an act of depravity. To suit a skewed mind. I gave up on freedom to be stretched, to be tortured into this flow of perfect tension. Never had […]
Look at this picture. What do you see? You don’t need to be an expert to say- This is a family. This family is out on a picnic. Daddy, Mommy and Lil’un. This is Daddy. Daddy looks impatient. All he wants is to get back home Slump on the couch and watch boxing […]
You spoke to me? Me? Ok, give me a moment. Yes? Home? Huh? What’s that? Where do I sleep? When it isn’t raining, the trees there form a perfect canopy… When it rains, you ask? The priest at the temple allows me to shelter under the old stone ceiling of the mantap, the porch. A mattress? […]
“The ocean sleeps. The ocean wakes. And the waking of the ocean is the waking of the soul. At midnight wakefulness springs from within the ocean.” – Wasif Ali Wasif, Dil Darya Samandar. Darya sat there, as calm, deep and still as an ocean on a beautiful day. The restful waves she created droned on, […]
The shroud of mist lifted halfheartedly and the house, reluctant to reveal itself, appeared in patches of brown and dark green, till finally it stood, mute, glowering down at the intrusion. I looked up at the sheer, imposing walls and breathed in the magnificent splendour of it all. Fell in love with it, again. I […]
Nagpur. The oranges. Little bursts of sunlight frozen in pulp, waiting for sweet release. The train chugging into the station. Being greeted by vendors selling the finest ‘Santra’ as oranges are called. The freshness of the leathery skin loosely holding the segments together. Collecting the seeds and planning to plant them in the garden at […]
