We had just moved to our new house. Owl hoots and fox howls were a regular feature of the surroundings. The place was eerie, but in the world of satellites and computers, I knew there was no room for such superstitions. Mr. Nayak and his family dropped by for a chat in the afternoon. Mr. Read more…

Raju’s mother was a simple woman. She slaved away in a factory all day so she could send her son to a good school. Her husband had died when their boy was just two years old. As a result, she was always struggling to make ends meet. The poor lady hoped that her son would Read more…

‘Nargis, it’s five! The customers will start flocking to the brother. Why aren’t you dolled up yet?’ yelled Jyoti, the Madam. ‘I’m tired of putting up with you.’ It was evening, a time when her regular customers visited the brothel. As always, Jyoti wanted all the girls to be at their attractive best. She ran Read more…

He stood at the Goripalayam bus stop every day from morning to night. He had a hideous face. His left eye was placed a little lower than his right one, and his teeth stood out in wild disarray. His unkempt hair rose from his furrowed forehead and cascaded like a lion’s mane. He wore a Read more…

The school bell rang loudly. Rahul’s car pulled up under the portico followed by a long line of cars. Waving at his friends, Rahul hopped into the backseat and dumped his bag beside him. The driver, Bansilal, was an old man. He had worked for Rahul’s father since Rahul had been a baby. He looked Read more…

Kartik was very proud of his beautiful house. It was, after all, the biggest house on the street. It was built of lovely red bricks and had large rooms with huge windows. A well laid-out garden could be seen through those windows. The garden itself was brimming with lovely flowers. Kartik had two gardeners to Read more…

‘Do you see the stuffed stag head mounted on the drawing room wall? It’s Uncle Benson’s trophy from a forest expedition,’ Uncle Benson’s friend pointed to the treasured collection of game. ‘How did you find it, uncle?’ I inquired. Uncle looked up at the stag’s head and said, ‘It once roamed freely in the woods. Read more…

Tarun was on his way to school. He had been observing the traffic constable at the intersection of the two main roads near his school for a few days. The constable had a funny way of controlling the traffic. It was as if he were performing Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance. He would click his Read more…

Amin was an infamous thief. People dreaded him. Such was his notoriety that parents often used his name to frighten their children. One day, Amin committed a huge theft in a rich man’s house and made off with a lot of gold jewelry and cash. After this rich haul, he set off for his hideout Read more…

Vimala was a ragpicker. She was thirteen, but she had never been to school. She got up early in the morning and went about rummaging around in trash cans and garbage heaps for something useful. Vimala would collect paper scraps, old rags, plastic items and other apparently useless objects that had been thrown away. She Read more…