by S. Chandra Shekar An evening in Bangalore. Susairaj had just prepared a cup of tea and was about to sit down for a refreshing break. He had retired from the Kolar Gold mines two months ago and was slowly getting used to staying at home. 25 years was a […]
Fiction
Casting Pearls Before the Swine
by Sundar Viswam There was this pig farmer who wanted to be the best pig farmer in the world. He had always loved pigs. From food to medicine, they provided a lot to mankind. To him, therefore, pig farming was a noble occupation. When he was young, he would stop […]
To Talk to A Stranger
by Amrita Valan Meera’s eyes filled with tears. The SUV he was driving had been struck by lightning on the Jaisalmer highway, he had tried to swerve out of the path of the fireball and failed. Gone up in flames. Burnt to a crisp. These reported snippets kept hitting her […]
The Vulture is Not a Songbird
by Steve Carr Without my neck I am nothing. It is my neck that holds my head up so that I can carry this large jug of water on the top of my head. The walk from the village to the nearest well is a half kilometer away, which isn’t […]
Last Machine – இறுதி யந்திரம்
by Jeyamohan and Translated from Tamil by Jegadeesh Kumar The Chancellor had reserved for him an hour, from eight twenty. In the guest room, the skinny, bald-headed man waited with his equipment, a square-shaped machine with an eyepiece made of glass and a few buttons on the front. The guest room […]
The Pathetic Tale of an Old Widow
by Dr. Kailash Nath Khandelwal An old widow Ramshree had three sons, Govind, Ramveer, and Suresh besides four daughters, Radha, Seema, Shakuntala, and Gopi. Gopi, the youngest one and unmarried was somewhat mentally immature, hence living with her mother. Govind, married to Parvati, lived in another district with his family […]
Crooked Timber of Love
by Nida Khattak “How does it feel being deft at formulating your thoughts fluently into words?” It has been three autumns since we last talked—with that twinkle in the eye. The October’s shafts of sunlight dashed familiar glint off of Ajmal’s noirette hair. He takes a sip of his white tea—low […]
Go Forward
by Sidhartha Mishra Once upon a time, a wood-cutter went into a forest to chop wood. There suddenly he met a Bramachari. The holy man said to him, “My good man, go forward.” On returning home the wood-cutter asked himself, “Why did the Brahmachari tell me to go forward?” Some […]
The Yemen Girl
by Steve Carr See Afra, there at the well, the dipper held in her shaking hand. Watch as she stares into the murky water searching for the thing in the water she has never seen there. Cholera. She knows its name and what it can do, she has known it for […]
The Hypnotic Trance
by Anantinee Mishra It was a sunny July afternoon when I discovered I could fly. Fly like the birds of the sky, with their swooping wings and long hoots. The elation I felt after I overcame my initial disbelief is something I can only say of as indescribable. And who […]