The Subversive Samosa

As I completed my check-in formalities, depositing my overnighter containing some meagre paraphernalia into the belly of the luggage hold, my stomach reminded me once again that I'd overlooked my solemn duty to feed it its due lunch. With meetings stretching unendingly and then the rush for a flight to catch, it was well past …

The Bus Stop

The second sip of the piping hot, sweet, milky tea seemed to do the trick, conveying a much-welcome warmth to all my extremities and giving me some respite from the strong, chilled, moisture laden breeze that Monday morning. As I took yet another eager sip from the simple ‘tapri’ glass, Babush brought forth his battered, …

Yours Lovingly…

He was at his routine yet again as he had been for the past month – or more, he couldn’t tell – to him it seemed like an eternity. Ever since he had set his eyes upon her, he knew he wanted nothing else in life – just her to befriend. So there he was, …

The Passenger

(Prologue: It was the month of September in the year 1998 that I was at Willingdon Island, Kochi for official business on board a ship bearing an Indian flag. It was here that I met Anbu the auto driver who narrated this incidence to me.) “Cannot go, my dear friend”, Anbu was quite adamant; and …

The General Manager

He slid back the stiff cuff of his white shirt to glance at the watch on his wrist, the prized watch which he had received upon completion of 25 years of meritorious service. The solid glistening hands of gold set against a dull silver dial reported the time as well past midnight. It was a …

The Awakening

He missed her. It was a month after her passing away and he longed for her so badly. He would have traded his life if he could see her, talk to her, just be with her one more time. Without her he was a mess, his whole life in disarray, even the smallest of things …

One Last Pudding

He felt the usual sense of pride as he looked around his small yet bustling sweets and treats shop. Though the paint had faded and the plaster was chipping away in places, the dull unpolished wooden racks that lined the back had turned wearisome and the glass panes of the display case at the front …

Terror

He woke up with a start, an immense pressure on his chest, both without and within, his heart thumping madly as if someone had been hammering at it from the outside synchronous with his pounding heartbeats. Strangely however, he felt cold – ice cold – limbs numb and lifeless, his extremities fallen asleep as if …

Hunger

His eyes glistened – though it would have been difficult to say whether it was a glimmer of hope or shimmer of wetness – as he crouched behind the tree trunk, focused on the activity of the Samaritan who had just opened a packet of Tiger biscuits and was emptying the contents onto the pavement. …

Devastated

The steps of the ghats were cold from the winter chill, even more than the nip in the air. But he was numb to either bite, sitting there eyes focussed into infinity. Within his gaze were the leaping flames of the funeral pyre, burning brightly, the blaze slowly growing into a firestorm in his mind, …