Glasses swirled. The Old monk rested. Mixed with Soda and ice cubes,
it waited patiently for its date with his senses. It wouldn’t be long.
Fingers were busy. It was not every day that they found themselves
handling a cigarette with clichéd style. Half done, thought the brain,
unaware that the real deal was to come from the last two puffs. It was
a day of surprises. Surprise for the body and for the mind, both of
which stood powerless, watching as he plunged into stimulation – for
the first time.
Gaurang smiled. He felt like a consultant …

Year: 2025
Damn the battery! shouted the boy, cursing the cell phone in his hand,
which innocently continued to blink a little red dot on its forehead,
whilst the screen robotically announced repeatedly -‘Battery Low’-. X,
sitting next to him, curved his lips in a hidden smile while his eyes
toyed with the little red blink. In spite of the stealth used, the
teenager managed to catch a glimpse of the little curve on the man’s
face. He flared. ‘What are you smiling at?’ he sniped. X, his cute
smile intact, without a blink, grabbed the cell phone …

I left my two-year-old son without kissing him good-bye.
“Mama’s running to the store, play with daddy. I’ll be back soon.”
His dark brown eyes pierced the armor guarding my heart—as if we both knew I was lying.
But that was impossible. Mason had a hard enough time stringing together a coherent sentence, let alone comprehending the fact he’d never see his mother again.
Lyle didn’t so much as peel his eyes from the TV, or his lazy ass from the couch. Nothing new there. The last I heard of my husband’s voice?
A grunt.
The …

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 …

Long hair, Bharatanatyam, feminism, cooking. Kohl in her eyes and a cake for every birthday in the family. Shopping for hand-woven sarees and carnations for her living room. She loved being a woman.
But when it happened for the third time, she hoped she’d give birth to a boy.
Seventeen years ago, when she lost her aunt, she was too young to understand what it meant to hate a disease. She missed her aunt but didn’t question her going away. Fifteen years later, as she watched her mother being wheeled into the …

….For the umpteenth time she screamed “I am sick of this”. Rolling up her sleeves, she begins to type again, it was one of her many letters to the stranger. Hillary walks in unnoticed, while covering her mouth to hide her mocking laughter; she pushes Tami from behind;
Girlfriend, don’t you think you are taking this letter thing a little too far?
Not in the least, Tami retorted, pissed at the interruption. You just don’t get it gal!
Oh ok, I get it, this stranger is the one who gets to hear what …

(Please read the Prelude & Intent before reading the content. I also
recommend that the reader reads it as slowly as possible, interpreting
the gravity of each word)

~~~
The Beginning of Time.
Energy & Space & Light. Not Born yet.
Being. Unborn.

Split.

Inarticulate white sands mush with their feet. Their bodies are in
definitive. Not formed fully. Shapes are unclear. Eyes are unformed.
Moments from the first Sunrise. They face each other. Standing. Naked.

Distance exists. They move towards each other, without effort. They
see without light. Their undistracted vision merges into each other.
Distance recedes. …