No. 101

Shraddha looked at the message from her brother Shankar with a frown. "Paapu is unwell, it seems. Mom told me today. Please visit, if you can."

She was puzzled that her mom had told Shankar this but not her. Was it because it had slipped her mother's mind that she also knew Paapu; was it because her mother didn't think the news would matter to her; or did her mother think that she couldn't be bothered with it? Why tell Shankar the news? What could he do, either? He had simply passed the buck to her, after all.

The Flipped Image

Ragini put the book down, a certain melancholy settling in her heart. Memories chased each other, leading to that moment of nothingness - the anti-climax when truth came calling, when reality proved to be far simpler and much farther than her imagination. Staring at the emptiness ahead, she had wondered at the power of her own mind in projecting a future that had no basis on the present.

Obituary to a Tree

With a resounding sound
More overpowering than the drill
That finally cut you down
Shaking the earth you fell

Behind Closed Doors

The moment Raksha entered the house, her two aunts who were visiting her parents slunk out of the house. She turned to look at her mother askance. Her mother slapped her forehead and went in. Her father sighed and said, "It looks as if we are keeping you getting married... So that we can enjoy life from your income."

Raksha didn't bother to reply, knowing how far she had travelled and how she had to just ignore these petty insinuations.

The moment flashed before her eyes, when she had stood alone, trembling, facing her greatest dread.

The Infidel

"What!!!!" squealed the girls. Reema sat with a smug smile, accepting the congratulations. "How? Where did you meet him? You dark horse!!! Sankalp! The hot actor! God, how, how, how?" They demanded that she share everything from the first meeting to their becoming a pair in great detail.

Reema obliged, adding all the little nuances - real and imagined - that she knew would gratify her friends' curiosity and also increase her popularity. The evening stretched but the questions remained unending. Still, mindless time compelled them to finally call it a day and leave. Reema walked with her friend Sahana to the two-wheeler parking and sat behind on the pillion. She had observed that Sahana had remained silent throughout and now couldn't help egging her friend, "Are you jealous?"

Written in Stone

It was a piece of rock
Standing atop a hillock
Surveying the lands below
Silent, with a majestic brow

The Poster Boy

Govind walked down the lane a couple of times, working off the steam of disappointment. He had been rejected yet again for the job he had applied because he did not have the right qualifications. And any attempt to start something on his own also became difficult due to the lack of the right papers and permissions.

As he took a turn, he felt hungry. He looked around to see if there were any food stalls and could find none. He stood at one corner and observed the people who passed by. He did the same at various points. Finally, he felt he had found what he could do - set up a food cart that would cater to the workers of the nearby mall. He started offering a simple fare, expecting only the cleaners and helpers to use it from. But as even the white collar employees started frequenting his stall, he added dishes and found his clientele increasing even further. He had to extend hours, as now people working on all three shifts sought his stall out. He employed two boys to assist him with the expanding business.