Avni heaved a sigh of relief as she got off from the crowded bus and stepped on to the pavement adjusting her off-white dupatta over her blue kurta. She checked her watch and smiled. There was time for a short visit to 11 Fern Place, her aunt Madhurie’s residence. She had made it a point to dress traditionally since her aunt, though the owner of very progressive thoughts had one weakness. She had a very conservative sense of dressing and disliked women strutting around in western attire. Therefore, unlike her…
Tag: short stories
A Walk in the Hills
Revathi walked down the cobbled path of the little hill station looking at the colourful shops lining the pavement. Trinkets, bags, curios and leather shoes were arranged enticingly on the shelves in the shop windows. School girls in their yellow check shirts and brown tunics stood sucking ice lollies in ice cream shops. Their little pigtails bobbing up and down as they nodded their heads in animated conversation with their friends. Lost in her thoughts, she jumped at a loud snort right behind her. She quickly made way for the…
Aparna – The Lover
“Neela! Wait!” The little girl stopped in her tracks and swirled her navy-blue skirt as she turned around. She was around 6-years-old, with a small round face, bright mischievous eyes and a head of curly black hair that were tied into two tight little pigtails that hung behind her ears. Her impish face brightened as she pressed her hand over her mouth to hide her giggle. The object of her mirth was a little boy of around the same age as hers. He wore a pair of shorts of the…
Kali – The invincible
Heer was born in a land where daughters were considered a curse. They were either throttled in the womb or stifled to death if they dared to be born. However, Heer’s ray of hope was her father, Mahender Singh. Belonging to the farming caste of Haryana, Mahender was a strapping tall Jat who was a lively and happy person. He believed that life was not to be wasted in mean thoughts and small acts of depravity. He had a large heart and a just mind. Unlike most men of his…
The Wings of Freedom
“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare” The lilting strains of the bhajan filled the air as Soham waited outside the small makeshift temple, busy sketching. He desisted from entering the temple as he did not believe in the idol worship that his mother devoted herself to. As for Soham, he revered his mother more than any idols worshipped in temples. She was the only one before whom he was willing to bow. The other God in Soham’s life was – Art and he was devout in his penance…
The Gift
The gift arrives The gift managed to change Sudha’s world as unexpectedly as it appeared on her tea tray. It came in a brown envelope and lay innocuously on the tray where Rita, her full-time maid had placed it. Sudha sat staring at it and finally decided to open it. Stirring her tea distractedly, Sudha held up a birthday card that came out of the envelope. Her mouth relaxed in a smile as she realized it was from her son and daughter-in-law wishing her on her 60th Birthday. Sudha had…
The Accident
Rati and Rohan are driving down the Mumbai-Pune Highway on a rainy night when a woman who has met with an accident approaches them for help. Who is she and should they help her? What if the accident costs them more than they can afford?
