Snacking

“#MeToo movement is not over yet, and here comes the drug-peddling scandal…” “Why does it bother you?” “Some of us are being victimised…..” “Are you sure you’ve never done it to others?” The big time film director looked flustered. He is not used to this kind of a response. “Well, it affects the manner in …

Now why?

The road trip was taken against her wish. A sense of foreboding descended on her, as they drove on the same zig-zag roads climbing up the mountains, but she controlled herself. Teenage children don’t listen anyway. The familiar refrain of a song brought her out of her reverie. “OMG! This is not possible. It’s the …

Landscapes

My heart aches at the thought of what could have been. I woke up with a dream on the morning of 1st January, like many others, and prayed for a more sane and sensible world. I am a doer, not a vanilla dreamer. There was an action plan in place, in process of implementation.  And …

End of a dream

A vision in pale yellow floated through the park. This is my new neighbour, Miss Daisy. I would’ve named her Sunflower though. As if on cue, she turned towards me and smiled. I guess I missed the acerbic expression in her eyes. “I heard some noise yesterday, and your house help sneaked in on the …

Discomfort

She cringed on seeing the large number of people who had come to see him off. Well, it was nice that his employers were sending him abroad at a raw age of 23, and he was the first in the family to fly abroad, but the crowd was kind of too large for comfort. It …

Gifts

“The Gift of the Magi” by O.Henry was a lesson in gifting. The writer’s intention may have been completely different. It is difficult for a girl to give up her crowning glory to buy a gift, more so than it is for a man to give up his inheritance. I think about the story more …

Plastic

Julie holds my hand, as I’m about to fling the empty water bottle away.  “Let’s walk a little more. There must be a recycling bin somewhere.” “Bottles are picked up to be refilled and sold again.” “Crush it as much as you can. Do you remember how my sister could not receive medical help during …

Silent Screams

The sketch-book revealed a life full of woes. There were heart-rending scenes of abuse. The victim was seen pleading for mercy, but kicked around into submission. The Smiths had been lauded for adopting a deaf-and-mute girl. It was the suicide of the girl which threw light on bizarre happenings in the house. Mary wondered how …

Rainbow

What was so pathetic about her, that most people turned apathetic? She silently suffered the punishment for being different. Her skin color and facial features all resembled that of the family, but the mind was different. Her mother often made these remarks, that her brain on a petri-dish, would look green or black or some …

Deep waters

The widow did not shed a tear, and the world was aghast. They were such a happy-go-lucky couple. She was labelled as stoic, determined not to display emotion in public, cold, manipulative and whatever they could think of. Nobody knew she was breathing free for the first time. Nobody knew the mental torture she had …