In the wee small hours of Wednesday morning, before the cock could sing its cock-a-doodle-doo, the alarm went offin a harsh crescendo, and Kushal Sharma, for the umpteenth time, forced himself awake. Hammering the clock shut with his hand, he sat on the edge of his bed, his drooping eyelids battlingbravely against the dreamy waves of sleep; the temptingbed and pillow seemed to be inviting him back into their cosiness. “C’mon, Kushal…today’s the last,” he mumbled to himselfas he stood, stretched and yawned widely, cracking his knuckles.“After that, I’ll doze off like Kumbhkarana!” Reaching out for his rimless glasses on the stool beside his bed, he put them on, walked over to the window, and gazed out up at the greyish, predawn May sky; a surreal sight: Few stars dimlydotting the skyalong with the fading moon, and far in the eastern horizon, a tinge of red could be seen. Stepping…
“I want a pair of new shoes, Maa!” Aman, a twelve-year-old boy, demanded with an expression on his face which clearly told that nothing…
Gopi hurried inside the crowded Sonapur-bound bus, and looked around in vain for an empty seat. There was none. Have to stand all my…
We never really go away…we do come back…It’s not the religion we should love…let ‘love’ be our only religion… Imagine my astonishment when I…
It was the third day. Budhia was once more atop the tall palm tree. Mangala shook her head in despair. ‘No one can save…
“New year, new me.” I exhaled and said to myself,though loudly enough to be heard by Mr Husband. “I can see that, Anu,”he…
They were reading poetry, the English kind.It was exhausting, and the Miss wouldn’t take a break. Meera scratched her palms yet again. She was…
Ameena was 15 when she married Munir. “Got” married, to be precise. She first laid eyes on him at the Nikah (wedding ceremony). Munir’s…
When the Deputy Editor called his line, “Could you please come to my cabin for a moment?” Roger left a sentence typing halfway, logged…
