Laila An abandoned cottage, a wooden house with just a lamp to fight the cold and the impending darkness stood bravely amidst the snow-filled land. Laila luckily found the desolate wooden cabin, when she had lost way. Blinding white engulfed the surroundings, from the sky to the ground and even under…

When being asked who’s the oldest in the village, Unku said it was the tree. That somewhat left the children disappointed, the let-down written most prominently on the face of Gunu. She expected Unku, her grandfather, to be the oldest in the village. A notion she held firmly in her…

Tonight, I won’t worry about the coffee getting cold I’ll just hold you in my hand, drink your aroma first Won’t rush time and count it in the sips Neither will I risk scalding the lips The tongue won’t withdraw in mortal fear It can feel the warmth in your coldness Your all-embracing mildness is a seductress A hint of bitterness is the sweetest Frothing at the mouth, rising with pride You stick to the lips, like a beautiful kiss

Taru was the last to leave the bus. She waited and waited even more, till the last of the passengers had scampered out and the only thing that remained in the bus were the empty seats and the discarded plastic bottles, lying about under the seats. …

An empty seat is full of promises. Imagine seating in a restaurant. Wait, let’s change the setting to a cafe. Alone, with a cup coffee for company and a laptop, its screen on sleeping mode, waiting to be attended to. There’s an empty seat beside you. Expecting no one, you…

In India, roads are dug when they are paved, traffic is thick, boulders blocking Inconvenience deeply un-regretted sir. In India, drains are silted when rain is arriving, roadside shit piling, drains-clogging New tenders floating. In India, garbage gets cleaned when a VIP is passing, bins are overflowing, stink spreading, No fine for spitting. In India, authorities go sleeping when smog is rising, school mandatory shutting, advisory spreading

I Am An Ostrich I am Ganesh and my close friends call me gunny, for they say I resemble like one when I am inside the classroom. I think I look more like an ostrich with a long neck and lanky legs. And ostriches, as far as I know, don’t…

If it was not for the wooden ladder, the old tabla set wouldn’t have been discovered for another generation. The layers of dust over it stood testimony to the time it settled there without any human intervention. When Suni’s groping hands accidentally thumped on the somewhat sagging leather, it cried…