DesiPundit

Don’t we assume that stong emotions are the property of adults only? A twelve-year-old blogger gives us a reason to re-think with her story about a young girl’s first experience with confronting uncomfortable truths.

Riya returned home happily that evening after giving her last paper. She had always topped through her college years, and this being the last one, she was determined to work hard and pass out with flying colors!

But then life changed in an instant when she unintentionally eavesdropped on her parents and learnt the truth.

Is fear another expression of love? Sharanya Manivannan has a story to tell about a woman and the sea.

As she stood, laughing, patting down her clothes, embarrassed and happy, she spotted something pink swirling away. Her hairclip was gone.

Ever since that day, she could never visit the sea without leaving a token. Sometimes she would decide the night before what she would offer.

Ms.Anona has a descriptive fiction piece on the Muslim woman’s life as seen through the eyes of a Western woman.

Jane heard a soft, light voice say something brief from the kitchen where Rabia was preparing dinner. She had said placidly and without contempt in their language that it was indeed her birthday. Here it was her birthday and no fanfare or complaint. Yet this white woman had the audacity to complain all year!

Shoefiend takes a generous dig at the illusory world of Tamizh showbiz.

Fake blood cancer lady has a kalla kadhalan. When wife no 1 realises second wife has no cancer she tries to prove this.

Bollywood or Kollywood, it’s melodrama all the way isn’t it? And logic goes out of the window…poof!

Rhymebawd pens another odd little story. Perhaps inspired by a movie that released a few weeks ago?

I took my shirt off, rolled it into a ball and tossed it out of the train. As soon as it left my hand, it disappeared. Literally. Vanished into thin air. Poof! Gone.“Did you see that?” I turned to ask the others but nobody was looking, nobody answered. I leaned out of the train and looked back, not that I would’ve been able to see anything in the darkness. I reached into my jeans and pulled out a handkerchief, crumpled it up and threw it out. I saw it fly out of my hand, stay in the air for a while and fall down in the distance. Maybe I’d just imagined it, maybe it was a trick of light or something.

Neha has a lovely short story about an unknown writer.

Doris had a gift: she could conjure little stories out of her fountain pen almost at will.

As with short stories, this one is great for its unexpected ending.

Neha writes a short story (or is it a short-short story?) describing her new surroundings to her mother.  It’s beautifully written and paints a perfect picture of the city scene.

I tell her how the whole world opens to this window (at seven in the morning, to be precise) to ringing temple bells and the morning aarti. I tell about the procession of marigolds that engulfs the street at this time; I tell her about the priests on their little scooters, always in a hurry; and the beggars who play cards before the devotees arrive.

During these past 200 years, what were the concerns of the average Indian? Everyone will have a different answer, but I doubt it was extra terrestrial beings or a recreation of a heroic past. Why, then, would anyone expect these genres to take root in India?

Sudarshan wonders on the lack of variety of genres in fiction writing in India. The regional language literature, I’m sure has plenty that the average reader in India isn’t aware of. Enlighten us.

Bhel Puri & Seekh Kabab (the blogger) has a funny story set in Bangalore, circa 2010 when the roads are filled with Nanos.

The priest specialized in the “Nano Thenginkai Aashirvadam” [Nano Coconut Blessing] – tariff Rs.101. Unlike the hucksters that advertised the same service, his was the genuine article. He had gone to a special training program run by a Tata dealer.

Ammani foresees some interesting developments in medical research on improving memory retention. Right now, it’s all strictly sci-fi, of course.

Less than 60 minutes to clean up years of junk! They must know what they are talking about. Otherwise they would not be in such high demand (or indeed charge so much!). My colleague Maria had hers done just last month and she tells me that she feels lighter than ever!