“Yes mom I’ll be there by evening. Don’t worry. Now can I tempt you to put the phone down so that I can reach my office on time and not drive my boss crazy, yet again?” I said on the phone while typing away the last line of my article and clicked the print icon on my Mac.
“Ok” she said and the phone went dead. Thank God.
I just couldn’t figure out why my mom thinks that she needed to remind me every single thing especially if it had anything to …

With her usual morning cup of coffee in her hands, Payal sat in front of her computer and opened her email. She looked at the watch. It was 7 am, still two more hours to report to office. Plenty of time. This was the advantage of staying alone, she thought, no responsibilities of marriage, no baggage of duties towards husband and children. She had all the time to herself. Of course, deep down she knew this was just her own way of consoling herself, making herself feel better, for not …

The hair restoration television commercial begins with the announcer asking, “Men, is your life missing something?” Bald men sulk in front of mirrors, trying on baseball caps and running their hands through thinning or non-existent hair. Then they dramatically hang their heads and shake them in defeat.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ television commercial begins with the announcer asking, “Is your life missing something?” Housewives, elderly folks, and young urban professionals sit in their cars, rocking chairs, and behind their office desks. They look beaten down by …

Playing an agony aunt, and solving other peoples’ problem is no easy task. Ask Sarika! – The wise 22 year old.  She knows everything and as well…if you may, ‘better than anybody else.  At first she was reluctant about the very idea of social networking. According to her, the cyber space just didn’t suit her style of interaction. What she preferred more was, ‘real’ people.
“Internet is for lazy people like you, Sunita!” She once said teasing her elder sister.
Her elder sister was less social than she was and preferred it …

There’s nothing exciting about fireworks at night. Especially when
it’s trained in your general direction. Cameron Vidai kept his head
low & studied the shadows his attackers. Judging by their sizes, he
could tell how close they were…and they were getting closer every
time he looked.
He turned to check his ‘borrowed’ assault rifle. If only its previous
owner had had the grace to die quietly. The lung power of a dying man
never ceased to amaze him. It wasn’t a typical situation. Nothing is
typical about dealing with nuclear weapons. He had to keep his eyes on
his …

11 pm, Monday, August 10, 2010, New Delhi
“Looking out of my office bus window, I realized that the invention of motorcars were nothing but a waste of time. We sit inside the tin boxes discounting the fun of natural phenomena like rain!
I kept starring at the massive jams outside and somehow a thought came to my mind, why am I being so depressed about this rain. After all when I saw outside, cloud where on ‘cloud nine’ and it raining very heavily…And then
I took the CORRECT step…
I decided to complete …

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 …

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 …

Tringg-Tringgggggg! Anna wriggled in bed hoping the ringing would stop. When she eventually answered, her maid was calling to inform she wouldn’t come to work, as rains had flooded her house. Sulking, Anna slid back under the duvet, wishing she also could stay in. Having moved to the city few months back, Anna lived alone and worked with an advertising firm. Unwillingly assisting colleague Mary on a presentation for high-revenue client Mr. John, Anna worked late and hardly managed a few winks. The fact that she wasn’t part of the …