Posts

Showing posts with the label #Fiction

Scorpions

Image
There are two people you want dead right now-except one is already dead, but you want her to die again. A more painful one- like being pushed off the cliff and down she goes into the deep blue waters of the Pacific. She doesn't know how to swim, and that makes the climax more interesting to you. And for him, you want a cook's knife and his skin. You don't have a mental disorder; you are not on Prozac or Alprazolam, and you definitely don't hallucinate- except when you find the scorpions crawling over your body. Their tiny legs like needles, more like arrows, poking at your crows' feet, your armpits, your collar bones, and then a sharp poke, like some pesky jumping cholla on your breast, stinging your nipples. You frantically seek the scorpion, only to find him in a faraway land in the Chinatown storytelling center or the Bloedel Conservatory, raising two girls now entering puberty. You wish(don't lie, it's more like a curse) the girl's scorpions who pi

Feminism, Freedom, and We

Image
                    “Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam, Punarapi janani jatare sayanam, Iha samsaare khalu dusthare, Krupayaa pare pahi murare.” These words transmogrified my life. But why did it take so long? From the detritus of life, can one resurrect a castle?  The words spoken twenty years before hung like spider webs, the orb weaver’s, shiny and decorative from outside; however, can one forget it was a trap…after all.   The oxygen cylinder shows 20 minutes of supply left. It is futile hustling for another breath; I don't want one. Twenty minutes is enough time to write one apology to her in the hope that she forgives and my soul can depart sans the virus that afflicted me years back.  For as long as I remember, I have been dissatisfied with wherever I was, whatever I was doing, and whomever I was with, and that is pretty much the obituary of my life. Too bad? It is what it is. I changed lipsticks and accessories, armchairs and recliners, careers, and houses with ease and elan

Bloody Rascals

Image
Carrying them in the blue dustpan, I try to pronounce the word ‘Floccinaucinihilipilification,’ wondering where to fit it. The word might be difficult to pronounce, but that is exactly what everyone has been trying to do with me… Bloody rascals .  To read the full story click on  Bloody Rascals Image Courtesy-Pixabay

Charred

Image
"During 9th-grade final exams, I memorized the questions which you had divulged to losers like us to ensure we got a passing mark.  Why memorized? Don’t know. Just did.  I could manage only the first sheet of the question paper, the last two sheets reserved exclusively for Gargi Vishwanathans of the world who had by now created a deep chasm between the intellectuals and the dunce. The former mingled with their pride and the losers hung together like a herd. It was a hard law of the world I learned: knowing only winners and losers." To read the full story, click on  Charred Image Courtesy-Pixabay

Laid

Image
" Chamomile tea had a way of easing her fibromyalgia-ridden body and Naina tried to relax. The letter from ABC Post lay on the chestnut center table of the living room. She had not asked for it. It came unannounced. Some of her writings had navigated the echelons of a famous literary journal in the United States and reached the editor of this famous American news website-The internet newspaper. The promises were incontrovertible; somebody sloshed in ten tequila shots would let go of an opportunity millions of starved writers yearned for. Name, Fame, and Money, as the cliché goes, is a heady cocktail, tempting and irresistible. With her husband and her son out for the weekend camping trip, Naina was all by herself to meditate, reflect and refuse. The year 2008 swirled in the leftover tea at the bottom of the LaOpala teacup; every part crystal clear, as if it was happening now. It took exactly a millionth of a second to go back." To read the full story click on li

The Lemon Tea

Image
“I  didn’t think I would ever fall in love again. I know that everyone says that after a heartbreak, but the difference is that I’m not heartbroken. I’m not cynical, or pessimistic, or sad. I’m just someone who once felt something bigger than anything else I’d ever felt, and when I lost it, I honestly believed I would never have that again. But... I was 22 then and life is long. And I’m feeling things right now that I haven’t in a long, long time. Raunak is the name. Girish was the name and I need to LET GO. " To read the full story click on  The Lemon Tea Image courtesy-Pixabay

The Genesis

Image
Her dreams were about disinfectants, Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Chlorine Compounds, Iodine, Silver, etc. Her dreams were about high-level sterilants like Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, Ortho-phthalaldehyde, Hydrogen peroxide, Peracetic acid, etc. Her dreams were about the bottles they came packed in, orange, lemon yellow, and blue and green, some as wipes, others as sprays, some with better grip and some with a curved nozzle for the inaccessible part of commode cleaning, and she dreamed of mixing them all and drinking it or adding them in the food she packed for her husband every morning in the Pyrex tiffin box. To read the full story, click on  The Genesis Image courtesy-Pixabay

MUDITA

Image
It is difficult to decide who is a bigger cheater – my mother or my wife,’ I thought to myself, as I glowered at the brown-tinted okay spirit through the rocks and glass. My thoughts swirled like a hurricane as the roar of music drowned the collective talk of drunk men and women on a Friday night under the neon lights at Saints and Sinners, Connaught Place. The ‘happy hours’ were over and I was glad to have arrived way past the ‘happy.’ To read the full story click on the featured story on Women's Web  MUDITA . Image courtesy-Pixabay

The Green-Eyed Monster

Image
When your maidservant's 12-year-old daughter tries to dream, aspires to rise above her class and become somebody like you, when she poses a threat to your own daughter and her talents, it is difficult not to remind the mother-daughter duo of their status----------------------MAIDSERVANT. To read the award-winning story, click on - The Green-Eyed Monster . Image courtesy-Pixabay