‘I think it needs more salt,’ Teena licked her palm clean and wiped it dry on the side of her apron. ‘Pass the shaker, please.’ She continued to stir the contents of the pot, which bubbled and emanated wafts of cardamom and black pepper all across the kitchen. ‘Are you sure?’ Dheeraj asked as he […]
‘Do you want some help with that?’ Sanket asked and extended a hand towards his friend as they approached the exit of the railway station. A train horn blared behind them. ‘What?’ Rishi asked, leaning his head towards Sanket, straining to hear his voice—a whisper amidst the noise of the crowd around him. ‘I said,’
The road not crossed Read More »
Shyam barged into his room—one hand clutching his backpack—closed the door behind him, and sat on his chair. The chair groaned below him. He placed the backpack on his lap and swept all his books off the study table. He unzipped the backpack quickly and carefully took out something that looked like a stone. He
Give one, take one Read More »
‘Pick a card,’ the man said as he fanned a pack of playing cards, all face down, in front of the young girl. The girl giggled, her freckles dancing across her cheeks, and looked up behind her at her mother. Cars honked nearby and people moved around them on the sidewalk. The man’s long black
The Man with The Cards Read More »
A faint breeze caressed Vishnu’s hair as he walked towards his house. The sky was a dark shade of blue with waves of orange. Vishnu wished he had not stayed for the football game after school. He was late and his parents would not be too happy about that. He glanced at the fresh tear
The walk back home (#3, Shiny Faces series) Read More »
The metal door creaked open and Vijay stepped into the musty room. He closed the door with his back against it and walked towards the rusty and heavy pedestal fan placed a couple of feet away from the table at the center of the room. He didn’t pay much attention to the person sitting on
Fragments of a Family Read More »
[Read Part 1] Ricky pedalled fast. His heart raced as he imagined what he would do to the nerd. Must be glued to some book. Fucking idiot, he thought as his rusty bicycle took him along the old and forgotten road. He pedalled faster. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he could feel it. His
Knives (#2, The Kid series) Read More »
The sky darkened and the wind picked up. Rain was imminent. I still have some more time before it starts, she thought. Her long, dark hair flowed behind her, and her feet trembled below her. She looked around and took in the beauty of it all. She had never been this high up before. And
At first glance, Vishnu’s room looked like any other 10-year-old boy’s room. A bunch of toys on the floor in one corner, an old study table littered with battered books and worn-down pencils in another, and a heap of musty clothes from earlier that evening’s football match near the bed. Just like any other boy’s
Bed below, Faces above (#2, Shiny Faces series) Read More »
Ricky took a step back, threw the matchstick into the tin can, watched it catch fire, and exhaled. Its squeaking sounds were muffled by the crackling of fur and flesh. He looked on as its white coat turned ashy revealing the pink of flesh underneath. He always enjoyed this part – the part where you
Kerosene (#1, The Kid series) Read More »