The Lady of Light - Part I

I stepped out into the garden, looking up at the stars, the hazy clouds drifting like veil, and the crescent moon engraved against the black sky. The night wove its magic around me as I drifted towards the fragrant magnolia tree in the centre of the garden. My heart was brimming with a mix of emotions - joy, anticipation, apprehension, excitement - I had just turned 18. The age when I would know if I was worth anything. It could be revealed to me today, or any day in the next six months. If nothing happened, I was doomed to a life of ordinariness, serving the more privileged.

The Song of Silence

On 22d March, when the curfew was announced for the first time during this Corona virus crisis, I woke up and what hit me was the silence. Not even birds chirped. No dogs barking or cats mewling. Of course, there was no vehicular noise, which was to be expected.

Fight for the Right to Live

"What shall we do?" they despaired. "Can God really accept this? So much suffering?"

"God helps those who help themselves," one rebel said and a few others nodded in agreement.

An elder was offended. "Do you think we have not done enough?"

"The world wouldn't have come to this state if you had done what you should have!" the rebel protested vehemently.

Miss Calculation

Ranjana looked through the file and glanced up at Jha, her PA. "Who sent this request?"A diminutive figure, the large chair in the Ministry of Home Affairs of the state vested in her authority that she seemed quite capable of handling.

"Madam, the state head of the Nation First party," the PA replied deferentially.

To Be Still

Waves after waves
of one thought or another
animated and excited
strike me in succession.

My Beauty Queen

Every time you looked at me, I thought, ah, you love me. Love at first sight, it was, wasn't it?

But you were only seeing yourself. Did you like what you saw? That smile that caressed your lips, so slow, so full of love, admiring... Wasn't it me who made you feel that way? Made you feel like a queen? As if the world began and ended with you? Don't you owe it to me?

And Thus Flows Life

Radhika and Satvik looked at the antique showcase they had just bought with immense satisfaction. Rearranging the room to make space for it had been challenging, and it was with great regret that they gave away two low chairs to accommodate this giant piece.

"All your books can come here," Satvik said pointing at the two sides. "All my showpieces can take the inside shelves. We can keep the big Nataraja idol here in the centre."