Tag: Short Story
17 Results
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Leaving Home
I had lived and and worked in India for years, but the turning point came when there was a flutter in my heart. I missed somebody I had met in Kolkata, who lived in Washington and wanted me to join her there. When I mentioned the idea to my parents, who liked her, they supported …
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August 14, 2017 -
The disowned mother
I found her old right from the time I could recognise men and matters. She was lean, fairly tall, dark brown in complexion with grey hair cropped in the fashion of men. She always wore white saris over a white chemise and went barefoot. She was one of our family who stayed with us and did …
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August 13, 2017 -
A is for Audierne
A summer in France is supposedly the pinnacle of a vacation. Last summer I landed in Paris, but strayed to a beautiful region I hadn’t known before. Philippe is a linguist and lapsed academic, now a translator of books and documents, and a wonderful friend. I dare not open my mouth in French, for he …
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August 6, 2017 -
The wallet
Varun and Amit stood in the sector seven market of Devgarh, lamenting an order that they had failed to clinch. Sipping ginger tea beside a tea kiosk, they looked listlessly at people milling around the shops and munching snacks at the roadside barrows. In their early 20s, both of them worked as salesmen with a …
July 25, 2017 -
Of compelling characters in fewer pages
The greatest challenge for a short story writer, says one of the foremost names in the field — who might not be too well known in India but has built up an impressive resume in the United States — is to stick to its ideal length, with the writer captivating his readers in a way …
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July 22, 2017 -
Mr Aich and Busy Lizzie
It was six months since Somnath Aich, “H” to his foreign friends and colleagues, had come to Bournemouth on a long-term assignment. Initially when asked, he had doubts. He had never heard of Bournemouth nor did he relish working for a university. “It is public sector — always a pain”, he thought. The notoriously bland …
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June 10, 2017 -
An act of faith
Lina, my daughter, was two years old when I lived and worked in Abu Dhabi. My wife was in Egypt for work and I looked after Lina by myself. Every afternoon I would take her to one of three large royal parks to play and meet other children. Lina loved the park’s slides, each shaped …
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May 28, 2017 -
The voyage to get home
“When do I see you again?” “I am not quite sure.” “Have you completed the papers the consulate has sent you.” “I will get around to those this week.” “Please do. Those are essential for the visa.” I had been busy and my life seemed full. I had a demanding corporate job, managed a nonprofit …
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May 14, 2017 -
The beauty her eyes saw
Even my small boat couldn’t approach the island so shallow was the water. I had to shout to fishermen to come and get me in their tiny boats, really hollowed mango tree trunks. I was investigating reports of human rights abuses in Haiti and had come to La Gonâve, a tiny island west of Haiti. …
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May 7, 2017 -
The Man from Kabul
We first met Naajab on a dreary December evening. It was very cold and the wind pricked our faces with sharp, icy needles. We had just got off the bus and right in front of us, inside the bus stop shelter, was this tall gaunt man playing Hedwigs theme on his violin. My daughter, being …
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March 29, 2017 -
Tale of a beautiful girl
I was working late in the US Consulate in Kathmandu when the telephone rang. As the secretary had left, I answered, and when the caller said, “Namaskar,” I responded with the same word. The caller continued in Nepali and explained his problem. I listened and suggested a solution, also in Nepali. He thanked me and …
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March 5, 2017 -
An ideal couple
Rachel and her husband Dylan had always seemed an ideal couple to me and to our friends. They clearly enjoyed each other’s company and enthusiastically shared the responsibility of their household and care of their only child, Peter. When Dylan suddenly died of cardiac failure at 47, we all considered it a great tragedy. So …
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February 19, 2017 -
The blue scarf
The plane was full of tourists flying from Delhi to Jaipur, a popular vacation spot in India. My eyes were riveted on one passenger in particular: demure smile, twinkling eyes, auburn hair, bright blue scarf. When the plane landed, she walked from one end of the tiny airport to the other, as if searching for someone. …
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January 22, 2017 -
Passing through
The pleasantly familiar smell of deep-fried onion rings wafted in through the crack under the kitchen door. Slowly, he felt the veil of drowsiness begin to lift. He needed a cuppa and a few of those rings to clear the cobwebs. Still jet lagged? the tired-looking man with a weeks stubble, staring at him from the …
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January 10, 2017 -
The Doctor and The Outlaw
Any dying man would be a doctor’s special concern. But this one was very special for my uncle. He sat close to the gasping man and whispered, “I am the one you sent for.” He had just taken out the two bullets the police had used to take the man down and knew the damage …
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January 8, 2017 -
An Inspector came calling
I heard the big news that an inspector of schools would pay us a visit the following week. A student in a missionary school and only eight, I knew what made the news big: the inspector was an Englishman and a royal emissary in effect. It shook everybody in the school, from our plump easy-going …
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January 1, 2017 -
Please get him back
Aunt Tara was a widow of modest means who lived in a small town far from the big city in India where we lived. So when she wrote to my dad, asking him to look for an inexpensive place for her youngest son to stay and attend college, we offered him a place in our …
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December 25, 2016