Curfew is never over
Curfew is never over Review of ‘The tree with a thousand apples’ by Sanchit Gupta Who would contest the idea of the ‘beautiful but tormented valley of Kashmir’ not being a part of India? But when Safeena, one of the prime characters in the book talks ‘about the people’ and asks if ‘the land...
There is no space without adventure
My kid is grown-up. He is an architect and stays in London. But at home in Delhi we always have a lot of kids coming in and going out yelling, shouting, playing hide-and-seek, pretending to be imaginary characters, and writing. Writing? Well, yes, I ask them all to sit with their notebooks and pencils and...
Six word stories
Stories happen everywhere, all the time. In homes, out on the road, inside an office cubicle, on a roof-top, in a room… and they are not always that go on and on page after page. Some do, of course. But most finish rather unexpectedly. Many leave you with your own interpretations and some just tell...
The visible is the mystery
No, there is no cellar in our house and no attic, no hidden cupboards and no passageways opening up when you strike the wall in a particular way. I remember there was a time when all this troubled me a lot… but I was in school then and was reading a lot of Ellery Queen...
Stories Within Us Wish to Live
NOTE: This story was first published in ‘Open Road Review’ dated 01 August 2015… . My father is 83 and still goes on his morning walks. He is fond of solving Sudoku puzzles and calls up long distance to remind me to get newspaper clippings with these puzzles. ‘We don’t get this newspaper here in...
Raindrops on paper
‘Another wayward white strand into the bin,’ he muttered, as he stretched his right hand to throw in the bin whatever it was that he held between his index finger and thumb. I was sitting right behind him and could see and hear what Param was doing. We shared the same room in the hostel....
More Black Dog stories
Well, Specky and I keep playing games where intrigue becomes an integral part of the entire process. We had started a game where we began searching for the various avataars for the term ‘Black Dog’ and were able to find quite a lot in the previous post. These games are as vital as the characteristics...
The Black Dog stories
‘What are you so busy with these days?’ asked Specky as she came in after a busy day in the office. Being a Taurean, I gave her a single word answer, ‘Black Dog.’ ‘Black Dog?’ she echoed. ‘Yes, I am writing a few researched posts on this wonderful brand of Scotch whisky.’ ‘Black Dog?’ she...
The Megma Dharma
What’s ‘Megma Dharma’? Before I tell you what this means, let me just say that there are other words that could easily have replaced ‘dharma’ when it converged with Megma. I’m sure there will be people who’d call it the ‘Megma Trauma’ or use even ‘stigma’… life is so full of interpretations that each of...
The lost truth
The artwork was finally approved and sent to the agency. My design team had left and I was waiting for any last minute query coming from the publication and one that needed to be solved speedily. The phone rang and I asked, ‘All well? Has the artwork reached the publication? They are holding the dummy...
Why do rivers run? — The poem
A story… mythology… in poetry… I know why the roots go down I know why the rivers run I know why even rocks frown I know what they search as one. They were once like you and me And even had a King Trees and plants walked free Even rocks stopped to sing! And this...
You make me nervous, dear
‘No, don’t… please don’t look this side now… I really need to get over my awe of you and get some exercise,’ whispered my gorgeous girl-friend, ‘But you… you make me nervous, dear.’ ‘Me?’ I rolled my eyes and swiped my tongue in ecstasy, as all lizards are fond of doing. ‘Not you, you useless...
