I wasn’t cheating on you

He confessed, “I wasn’t cheating on you.”

Even though he replied in negative, the use of word ‘cheating’ in the same sentence caused her immense pain. She wished to have only heard. “No. I didn’t do anything.” “I wasn’t involved.” If he can’t answer properly, it would have been for him to lie, as lie would calm her frantic mind. She didn’t want to face the demon right now; she was busy living her life and at this juncture of their relationship or her life, she couldn’t take it. But what the heck! She had to face it one day, why not now.

The pain it had caused couldn’t be put in words. She had read stories about cheating and adultery. Earlier, she had earlier dismissed them as plot points to make life of hero or heroine troublesome. She never invested them emotionally. Or she often laughed about them as she considered them as cliché of storytelling. Probably, it was because she was a scientist and her critical mind failed to sync with emotional needs of protagonists. When this understanding dawned upon her, the clouds of understanding burst open and she was almost drowned in the deluge that followed.

 

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A Letter to Future Lover

I can’t seem to get you out of my head. Even though I didn’t know when you entered my head, that’s so ridiculous to even think. You owned me with a sentence, heck, even with a fragment of sentence. Do you even know, my heart beats erratically when I think about you. I often get startled, seek acceptance and search for you. I don’t know whether I’ll like you or not but right now, I think you seem an important part of my life, even though we haven’t met in true sense. I hope I get a reply from you. Because if I don’t, I think my ego will automatically block you for the fear of loss of self-confidence. I don’t want to be unloved and unreciprocated at the same time.

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Vomitland

 

Breakfast with splitting headache often result in vomiting and she hated the smell of her own vomit. It was like the smell of death. One of her relative had died during last summer and when she went there with sad face and fake tears, as the custom suggests, she smelled the dead body as she went near to pay her last respect. The dead body smelled of rotting grain or semi-digested grain in a vomit. Next moment, she sprinted out and threw up in their backyard. Ever since, she often dream of a vomit monster sitting atop her bookcase, asking her, “What are you doing here alone?”

“If you are free this weekend, let me take you to my world. I own the vomitland. No one dares to enter my territory.”

“What are your thoughts?”

I vomited in the dream.

“Yuck! If I love you, you mistreat me like this. I have offered you my whole world. Yet you spit over me. You could have simply said no. It would take me long time to get rid of your smell. Till then, I will be lonely. And I don’t want to live alone.”

I laughed. He disappeared. I got up. Smile eluded me all morning.

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Apps

Apps

*Note for the reader: brinjals and eggplants are the same vegetables. They just have different name in different countries.  

One person said to other to download the brinjal selling and buying app and to delete eggplant selling and buying app. The government now, out of nowhere, wanted to promote selling and buying brinjals, because these are local. The government didn’t want the public to buy the foreign grown eggplants. When the prime minister was interviewed, he said that “It’s time to improve our economy. We should buy brinjals.”  The home ministers and chief minister had no idea how a brinjal taste like for they had long forgotten the taste of the poverty, as the brinjals are often bought by poor and middle-class people.  The high class and politicians always bought eggplants. Because the brinjals looked shabby. No, no one talked about the nutritive value of the eggplants: it’s possible that brinjals and eggplants might be nutritively same but no one asked this. Nor did they asked how flavorful the eggplant might taste or how organically it is grown. They simply said let’s delete the eggplant selling app, just because it is grown abroad. The poor man and middle class of the country followed the guidelines.

A week later, early morning, a local MLA had called the superintendent of the police.

“Find a kg of eggplants. It’s urgent.”

“How it is possible sir? We have already cracked down everyone selling the eggplants.”

“I know. But if you put your mind and heart to it, you will definitely find someone selling the eggplants.”

“It’s highly unlikely, sir.”

“Don’t you understand it, my daughter craves eggplant patties. And I want her to have it.”

“Sir, I could send someone who could cook similar patties with brinjals, for that’s our national vegetable.”

“It’s order.”

                The SP called the inspector in-charge of the area which have the food market, the inspector in turn send his constable and police personals to hunt down an illegal eggplant seller.

                At last, they found some eggplants, pinned the blamed on a poor rickshaw owner, who happened to cross the location, and put him in jail for illegal procurement and selling of the eggplants.

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Medical CV

I saw it. This was the last thing one could be envious.

But then she was 56 years old and I was barely 30.

She walked normally and there was unmissable glow on her face. But something was definitely wrong with her unless she wouldn’t be carrying this folder full of receipts and medical transcripts from all the known hospitals in the city. She looked exhausted: she was visited all the hospitals yet her ailments eluded her.

Maybe she didn’t have any ailment that these hospitals specialized in. Or maybe she was hypochondriac with plenty of money and free time. Or maybe she had plenty of guilt that guided her suppressed fears to take the shape of an illness, which didn’t exist in medical lexicon. Or maybe I was wrong: she was sick; no one can figured it out.

But under no circumstances, I am not going to own it. I’m not going to visualize her problems as a novice psychiatrist who had this tendency to make other’s problem his own.

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Last Wish of a Science-fiction reader

“Are you sure to wake me up?”

“Mrs. Wellington, we aren’t sure. But, if you believe in science fiction, you probably know waking up could become a reality.”

“So you are talking about hope.”

“Exactly.”

She would be kept in cryochambers; she wanted to be immortal. The company took the money from her.

“Can you freeze this book along with me?” She asked one more question.

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Love in Winter

Love is thrown out of window. It shrivels in winter. When the lovers realize the mistake, they get out in winter to look for the thrown love, all they found is a tree stripped of leaves and weighed down by the snow of expectations.

The tree of love had never been stooped so low.

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Sadness of a Lover

 

Hiding my true self, I longed for her. In her, I had found me but still I continued to think that there was something wrong in me for identifying with her for she had been an apparition long time ago.

The sadness came in waves and drowned me. I got to meet her in limbo town, where she was waiting for me. She told me she couldn’t go to higher or lower towns, unless she knew what I thought about her.

I didn’t know what and how to tell her. But in the limbo town, things were different. Your thoughts evaporate from your head and make a cloud over your head. Anyone could see what your are thinking.

“No cheating here; that’s why I have called you.”

My thoughts took the shape of clouds, very fragile and ready to burst. She smiled and poked her thought finger into those clouds.

It rained in the limbo town; the rain dissolved her into water. She was gone.

When I opened my eyes, someone was resuscitating me on the beach.

“He’s breathing.” I heard someone saying about me.

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Offsprings on Demand

We generate offsprings (beautiful girls and handsome boys) that conform to India Society Standards of Morality, Ethics, Corruption and Religion (ISSMECR). One of our main objectives is to select breedable males and females to produce offsprings which yields progeny of yes-people, ass-kissers, or boot-lickers who can work at any place without questioning the superiors. Using CRISPR-cas9 technology, we have edited genes of self- esteem, self- worth, and confidence in them. Their lack of self-esteem, self-worth and confidence allow them to be dependent on superiors and unquestionable faith in them. With these key factors, we aim to deliver produces of exceedingly high standards to our clients at reasonable prices.  Overall, our ISSMECR breeding stock is rigorously managed and conditions of our amazing produce reflects our strict adherence to ISSMECR principles.

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The Barking Dog

Once upon a time, there was a dog. Because he didn’t get meat during his childhood he developed this habit of continuous barking. He barked day and night without any provocations. Everyone around him made him feel inexorably bad so he decided to make life of others bad, if he were to make someone big and powerful.

As it so happened, he was selected in an animal institute as at lower position, under the leadership of cat. The official cat made him feel bad and told him to get rid of his barking.  The dog responded, “How can I get rid of it, it’s my nature to bark. ”

“You need to curb it else I will throw you out of this institute in five minute.”

The dog lowered his head and walked out. Whenever he felt like barking, he dug into some meat, as he could afford now. He didn’t want to lose this job, so he didn’t bark in the institution. But at home, the story was altogether different. He barked at his wife and his children with such anger that his canines were exposed. His family member were scared. In the mid of the night, his wife along with his children left him. Now, he didn’t have anything to lose. He decided to take matters in his own paws.  He invited the official cat to his house for dinner and fed him poisoned barbecued chicken. Then, he secretly got rid of him.

Next day, he got the charge of the animal institute; thanks to his loyalty to a barking politician. Ever since he became the leader of the institute, he told everyone that he was an incarnation of doggod. His words should be considered dog bible and whatever was out of his sermons should be considered as a sin. If anyone committed a sin, he/she should be thrown out of the institute in five minutes. He only selected those dogs or animals who told him that he is a hard working dog and his barking is normal.

***

One day, he got an email from an institute working for betterment of dogs for a lecture to their faculty members. He accepted the lecture on the condition that he will organize the stay and food of the attendee dogs. The institution accepted that condition. When the group arrived in the evening, some of attendee dogs decided to stay outside or eat outside, he barked at them and even he tried to bite them. Somehow, the group defended themselves.  He sniggered at them thinking who will save them from him in morning lecture.

In the morning, the dogs attendee came to him for a lecture. Instead of an informative lecture, he barked. He told them, “No dog except him are working seriously. If all of them were doing their job, the health of the country’s dogs would have been improved. Look at the condition of their sheds; it’s worse. You dogs are responsible for all this.”

“Aren’t you responsible for this?” One of the attendee asked.

“Don’t talk. Listen. I have worked for betterment of dogs for couple of decades now. Do you know I have invested so much money for dogcare?”

“How can we know?”

“Don’t talk. Just listen. If you don’t, I will throw you out in five minutes.”

Few of attendee walked out of the lecture. He was ready to attack the dogs who were leaving but the group’s supervisor offered him a seasoned turkey leg. He dug in the meat and calmed down a little bit. Then, he looked at the supervisor, “How disobedient dogs you have?”

The supervisor remained calm.

“You have seen how obedient dogs, cats and squirrels I have.”

“I know sir but please continue your informative lecture.” The supervisor replied.

“If you can’t bark like me, you aren’t dog.” He continued.

“That’s not right sir.” Someone from the attendance retorted.

“You know people in foreign country say, I bark the best.”

“That’s your opinion. Some dogs in this country bark much better than you.”

“Can anyone of you bark in foreign accent?”

Some attendee sniggered. This infuriated him even more.

“You don’t know anything. Listen to me else I will throw you out of the institute in five minutes.”

***

Somehow the lecture was over. At the gate of the institute, attendee met the servant of the dog. One of the attendee asked the servant, “He can afford enough meat now, why does he bark so much?”

“Poor dog, he misses his family.”

When the attendee readied for departure from the institute, they heard the dog’s barking. “Dogs of this country don’t deserve a dog like me.”

 

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