"Come -on ! choose ! Big or small?" Her fingers wagged under my nose second time in as many hours that day. " Honestly, Mufs ! Can't you stop now that we are in our IXth?" "I would always need you to decide Rams," she said simply. Succumbing to her pressure as I...
I stood sleek and tall as the last of the nut and bolt was driven home. I occupied the pride of place in the living room, displacing or re-arranging many other furniture and knick-knacks. The end result was a cluttered, messy room. I puffed up with pride and...
‘Thank God it’s Friday’, the thought crossed Charu’s mind as she entered her apartment complex balancing her laptop bag, a lunch bag, and the ubiquitous and voluminous handbag wondering for the nth time, why women couldn’t carry just a wallet. Despite having her...
The men came as they usually did. The father knew that he would be picked today. So, he called his family close to him to bid them goodbye. The youngest clung to his spindly legs. He still was raw to the world at just one day old. His brother and sister laughed...
Nilesh absent-mindedly smiled his thanks as Anil, his co-worker, placed a glass of tender coconut water by his side. He played around with the Excel sheet, inserting a few formulas until the errant error was ferreted and rectified. He took pride in maintaining the...
“Shilpa’s concepts are like the muddy waters collected under the subways post a downpour. IX standard would be tough,” the teacher said with all the solemnity of announcing an impending disaster. Shilpa’s and her mother Aarti sat and poured over the mathematics books,...
Tara applied the kohl. She tapped gently the hanging flesh below her eyes, the puffiness was all too evident. Well, I can’t do much about that, she thought to herself as she used her compact to touch upon them. She sifted through her collection of Bindis and took her...
Shilpa had few vices and one of it was her morning chai. She had to have it at 6 AM and it had to be the Lasa-Lamsa Chocolate Tea. She had lived in Hyderabad all through her growing years and it was the tea that she swore by. She had a lot of “ought to” and “should,”...
Smita was in a tizzy. The maid, as usual, had passed on the information that she wouldn't be in today. Really! Shanti had a penchant for choosing the most awkward of days. She wished she could do without her, but she sighed knowing that it was only wishful thinking....