There’s something about continuity. It’s always welcome.
It’s predictable…mostly.
My father isn’t an easy man to deal with. Sometimes I wish I was
comfortable with the idea of being gay. Just to rattle his cage. So I
had to settle with being a sewage disposal consultant (everybody’s a
consultant).
He was very unhappy with me, to say the least. When I get home in the
evenings, he’d say over his shoulder,”Don’t forget the disinfectant!
And shower outside!!”
It’s how he runs me down. It’s cool. It’s worth every moment of
watching him squirm when we have guests. Naturally they ask …

The Indian Railway train #2032 down Raajdhaani Express slowed down and finally stopped at a railway station. There were very few people on the platform. A frail man stood on the platform, facing the train. He was doing small magic tricks. He pulled out a scarf from nowhere and his wand vanished into thin air! Inside the train a ‘man of science’ and an author of romantic novels sat by the window seats, facing each other. He relied on logic and she (the author), relied on her heart. The two …

I wake up with a start. It had to be a nightmare.
What else can possibly explain it?
Dazed, I glance at the clock. 4am.
Waking up scared, night after night, how long will I suffer?
I snuggle under my sleep-warmed quilt and my hand reaches out
to stroke the cold half of the bed-Empty since the last month.
All I want to do is curl up and weep.
But the tears have all dried up, sucked out from me by the same dark
angel that crushed his skull to unidentifiable pieces that evening.
I feel cold inside, without …

Even in the dark, I could see, the end was near, death was throwing open it’s arms to me. I could feel my pulse ticking, my heart was drumming in my ears,” any minute now” I thought to myself.
“Chikne!! table saaf kar” the man in blue loongi yelled at me.
I hurried to dutifully do the same, after all Anna bhau’s eyes were on me. I had come to Mumbai a day back, the last train from the village left at 3 am, I with the unerring logic of a 15 …

Akash’s diary
January 01, 2010
I woke up wishing I was dead. If dreams come true then why am I not an actor? I dream that I win awards, I’m a star and I’m married to the superstar Antariksha. And then I wake up.
My current job is so unglamorous, it’s ironical. I’m an accountant. Accounting has set rules; certain items can only be debited. If an amount meant to be debited is credited, the account won’t balance. But once everything balances, I can go home knowing that everything is in order. Except …

I studied the world outside the frosted glass, hoping it would distract me from the wrapped present in my hands. The refrigerator hummed, the logs in the fireplace crackled as the heat deemed too much on the chunks of wood, and the rush of holiday traffic buzzed by in a hurried frenzy. Even with all that went on around me, the absolute stillness within the walls of my once home pierced my ears and rattled me to the core.
Don’t go there.
I brought my attention back to the present. I couldn’t …

Esmay sat crying on the porch steps, thinking with dread at what her daddy had planned.  At first she thought it was all a sick and cruel joke; his way of paying her back for something she wasn’t quite sure she had done.  But as the days had wore on things became obviously clear that it was as real as the tears that filled her small hands.  She had planned to run; hide anything to avoid the terror not moments away.  She was an only child and the betrayal she …

My back ached on the rough gravel as the acrid smell of rotting foliage wafted up my nose. I opened one eye and snapped it shut as I swallowed back the lump in my throat. The slate structure loomed over my head like a behemoth monster from a dystopian universe. A pulsation began, humming through the ground and up into my spine, increasing in volume, the irregular thumps creating a disjointed beat. I raised my hand to my head to find a lump at the bottom of my skull.
Who or…what?
The …

She has been with me for last 3 years. She follows me wherever I go. It started on that day when I had visited her for the last time to convince her of my love and innocence.
I had gone here to talk to her, to plead her to come back to me. I had been trying to get back with her for several months. I had been begging her, following her everywhere, trying to reason with her. I had apologized many times, but she never gave me a second chance. …

“Do you speak Spanish?”  Christina, the nursing home administrator asked at the end of the interview, as I was applying for a position as a social worker
“Yes, I do. That’s my native language.” I proudly replied.
“Great! We need help with a Hispanic resident. No one speaks Spanish here, and we have problems communicating with him.”
The exciting news was not only being offered the job, but also the mission of assisting José, the Hispanic resident.
Someone I can speak to in my native language, I mused.
I met José, a thin man in …

Rap, rap, rap!  “What the…oh shit.”  I awake to the cop’s knocking on my car door window – I knew this was not a safe place to park, why did I stop here!?  The squad car is parked toward me, the citizen’s volunteer patrol vehicle is not far beyond.  I roll the window down.
“Take the keys out of the ignition and open the door!” I comply and am ripped out of the car forcefully.
“Let me see your arms!” The officer pulls my long sleeves up, revealing tracks and a small …

Rita knew that it was high time she had a serious word with Vicky. He had been returning every other day with interesting antiques.
So while having dinner, she asked Vicky about it. “Vicks, where do you get these antiques from? They seem expensive. It must be costing you a fortune.”
“It doesn’t cost me anything. Six months back, I came across this antique shop. The owner Jack seemed excited to see my interest in antiques. I like him cause he’s my treasure trove,” said Vicky.
“Why doesn’t he charge you,” Rita asked. …

Summer vacation had been half way through by now. Just another month and all surrounding hills of their town would be desolate again. With all campgrounds empty, life would be boring again for 18-year old Ron.
So, Ron had just persuaded Erin to take a stroll into the Fairyvalley. Erin was only 15, but there was something about her. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but it was something mysterious. They were just chatting a bit when they took the path towards the valley. Erin found the situation quite exciting. She felt …

I sit here alone, wondering about the last one week. It has been the most hurting week of my life. Tanya left me.7 days ago. We’ve had an argument that night. She wanted to go in search of her father, who had left us 12 years ago. She was just 4 then, may be she has some good memories of him.
I should not have been so hard on her. She is my life. When my alcoholic and non-committed husband left me, she was the reason I lived. I tried to …

Melissa knew she had to get out of there and quickly, but her feet wouldn’t
move. It was as if her whole body had frozen fixing her to that very spot.
The emergency light was flickering overhead and cast a subtle light in the
otherwise dark corridor. She could hear him. His breathing was heavy and carried
along the corridor to where she stood.
The police would be there soon and then it would all be over. No more jealousy,
no more stalking, nothing. She would be free.
She’d never wanted it to end this way but …