The boy with a backpack was ten years old, give or take a year. He had bright, intelligent eyes and a cocky assurance about him. He wore a tan jacket and khakhi full length trousers, in protection against the chilly winter winds. He was carrying a backpack which he refused to put down. From time […]
Child
Impact
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3IVRys63x4?rel=0&w=640&h=360] My first reaction to this video was of admiration for Jennifer… naturally. She is certainly a girl of indomitable spirit. Although the video speaks only of her victories and the encouragement she received from her family, surely there must have been days, instances, when she would be made to feel incomplete. Not by […]
Broken Wings (Fin)
Continued from Broken Wings (I) and Broken Wings (II) A week after her elder sister had been married off, he had forced himself on her. She took her sister’s place who was his ‘plaything’ before Malti. He had formed an incestuous relation with his first daughter even before the child had turned ten. In that […]
Broken Wings (II)
Continued from Broken Wings (I) Raj and Meera were school teachers. They also conducted private coaching classes for which they used the old house where Meera’s mother used to live before she passed away. Opposite that house was where Malti lived with her family. Malti had a father, a step-mother, an older sister who was […]
Broken Wings (I)
She was a painfully thin girl. That’s the first thing I remember about her. The rest of the things I remember have mashed together into one huge ball of raw pain. I never wanted to remember any of them, but I do. Oh, but I am telling you the story from the wrong end! Let […]
Common Denominator
My son came home from school yesterday, peeved to bits. The manner in which he jerked off his shoes after plonking himself on a handy chair, told its own story. With eyes averted and face glowering with impending thunder, he snatched off his tie and belt as if they were to be summarily hanged. Hmmm, […]
That Chilly Winter Night
I remember how cold it was that night. I had taken them out for dinner; she and her mother. I’d just landed my dream job and I wanted to celebrate with her. Her mother invited herself, as I had (wrathfully) expected. To keep things her mother under control, I brought my brother along. The mother […]
Milk Of Human Kindness
Sid Balachandran hardly needs an introduction. Chances are, if you are in the market for quality reading and edge-of-the-seat fiction, you’ve come across Sid’s blog I Wrote Those. That he is a core member of the very popular Project 365 team is just the proverbial cherry on top. A few days back Sid asked me […]
Keeping It Simple
How do you handle awkward questions from your growing children? My first rule has been never to avoid the questions. No matter what I have been asked, I have always replied. There have been times when I have desperately wanted to duck behind a you’ll know when you are older excuse. But my conscientiousness wouldn’t […]
Children Take Notes
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdC-cehHN6k&w=450&h=330] This video is banned apparently; don’t ask me why. Perhaps it was banned because we abhor ugliness. As all sensible people know, nothing brings ugliness home- up close and personal- than a peek in the mirror. We’d rather think ugliness is out there, away from us; external to us. We try hard to deny […]