Mysterious Realizations!

 In the two years since moving to the village, Meena and her husband had settled well into their new life. Their village lay far away from the city, peaceful but isolated. They were now blessed with a baby girl and their little family finally felt complete. Those were the times when maternity leave lasted only three months. To care for her baby while she returned to work, Meena had arranged for a young woman named Rani from a nearby village. She paid Rani in advance and even gave her some food and clothes. Meena didn’t own a mobile phone, so there was no way for her to check on the baby while she was away. Barely fifteen minutes after Meena’s departure, the baby fell into a deep sleep. Rani, bored and restless, decided to take a walk in the fields. Soon, she too dozed off under a tree. A few minutes later, the baby woke up crying loudly. Just then, Baijo happened to be passing by. Through her hazy, drunken state, she noticed the closed door and heard the baby’s cries. Seeing no...

I spent the first half of the day crying and cribbing about my canceled vacation, recounting my woes to anyone who would listen. The second half, I sat sulking by the window, staring out at a life that felt unfairly on pause. Suddenly, my niece appeared beside me. "But Chachi, I don't understand," she said, tilting her head. "Why didn’t you just go to your mayka ?" I straightened up. "To teach your Chachu a lesson, of course," I replied quickly, trying to sound firm. "He needs to know how upset I am. I haven’t even left the house!" She didn’t move. She just looked at me and said, "But I still don’t understand how Chachu is suffering. You’re the one whose vacation got canceled, and you’re the one sulking all day instead of visiting your parents. And from his WhatsApp status, Chachu seems to be having the time of his life." I didn’t want to hear it. "You don’t understand, beta ," I said quickly. "I don’t want to fo...

With a heavy heart, Roshini handed over her letter of resignation. It felt less like a professional document and more like locking herself back into a golden cage—although one with two beautiful children. To the outside world, Roshini was living every girl's dream: married to her long-time love, two kids, and wealthy in-laws. Even for Roshini, this was all she had ever consciously wanted. The one thing that truly bothered her was a condition she had agreed to years ago: she was not allowed to work. She had soon realized she couldn't just be a stay-at-home mom; she had ambitions of her own. After years of struggle, the family had finally agreed to let her work, but only on the condition that the children would not suffer. Though the pay was peanuts for her qualification, she secured a job only five minutes from her house. She even found "Kidzine," a new center that offered educational and extracurricular activities under a single roof, just two minutes from her workpla...

  It’s More Like a Curse Than a Boon My fellow friends used to tell me, “You are so strong — you will survive and help us escape extinction.” Strong? So that I could witness all my loved ones fall, one by one? We had such a close-knit family. For years, we had lived in harmony with the animals, helping each other survive. I still remember the day they arrived — the humans. A new kind of fear spread among us. We had heard stories of the other jungles they destroyed.  The elders — I still don’t know whether to call them foolish or simply hopeful — believed the humans might have learned something after destroying the rest of the planet. After all, they were the only ones left of their kind. Even with our heads burning, we offered them shelter, just as we did for every other creature. They even hugged many of us on the day they arrived. For a brief moment, I felt a spark of hope. Maybe the elders were right. Maybe we could live together. Maybe, together, we could find a cu...

  Indra stretched lazily on his bed, watching “Tarak Mehta ka Oolta Chasma” on his phone; he had been doing that for a whole day now. His daughter had promised him a set of his favourite books; they should have reached him by now, but the hospital staff had become very strict with the rapid rise in the number of cases. He had been reading stories of how rapidly the virus spread through one’s body; however, he felt just fine except for slight breathing difficulties. He wondered what all the fuss was about. With that thought, the oxygen monitor started to beep; his O2 monitor showed 94. He remembered nurses talking to each other about how O2 should be maintained above 95. He thought to himself, “ I should relax a bit. Good thoughts, Indra. Think good thoughts!” And with that, his mind wandered to the construction of his new farmhouse, a project he'd been planning for years. With his retirement just around the corner, he had envisioned spending his golden years there with his w...