Fiction

                                                THE  OUTSIDER She saw before her a vast stretch of  landscape.  A huge garden stretching out to vast  spaces  .It   turminated  at  the  farthest  end  where  one could see a wide and deep well. The  well  looked ancient  and deeply ambushed by the  exotic  growths around it.  It   almost  took  an idyllic hue. It had the  old  water hauling  contraption. A long tilted wooden pole with a  bucket  hanging  on the other end. She would  pull  at  the rope and  push the bucket slowly inside the well. She could not see  it  going down in the darkness of the deep down. It was quite scary. She always waited for the bucket to hit...

                                      The Fall In the resplendence of Indian spring there was a flurry of a different kind. The whole atmosphere seemed to be intoxicated.The entire stretches of India Gate were cordoned off and decked up like a royal bride of yore whose clan reigned over the hoi  ploi,  the mangy creeping creatures who were the keepers of these fattening  lousy  maggots who with a gargantuan lust devoured everything which appeared on this mother earth  material , ethereal , anything which they took fancy to.The king has gone?No he is in the time wrap and is spawning the screwed replicas of his alter ego. The national flags were fluttering in the bright gravels of  India  Gate  and there was  excitement  in the air.  It was for the first time the sitting head of the most powerful part of the world had consented to...

                                         Atrophy Atrophy,  atrophy  of what? My senses,  my worth,  my cognition or my entire wajood? Pooja was sighting the vast Red Rock Canyon  with deep cliff walls.They  looked formidable with irregular tiers covering the entire landscape like a crawling  alligator which had  muddy folds squeezing in and out  sometimes  static or fluid.They had motored the whole way  and were bound for LA.She found herself amidst the greyest possible mountain ranges  desolate, bald and bare.Scary to the aesthetics of even a person of indifferent sensibilities. Not a single green blade of any genre was visible.She scanned it more intently looking to the farthest horizons  touching the fringes of the haggard mountain range...

                                             The Two Banks I am running  breathlessly through the narrow lane which leads to the river front.It is the jehlum river.Its murky waters flow in swathes and the undulating waves seem to be squeezing  alongside.I want to take my seat which I guard zealously everyday.It is the last step leading to   the river where it touches the flowing waters.The stone has a bright glaze to it.It is smooth yet holds one securely.I take the seat  and hold my breath to easy pace.Before me 0pens up the entire world of nascent joys.I can see the bank opposite me.There usually is a great activity going on.It also has a ramshackle enclosure which is open at the top and the lower end.I always have a curiosity about what might be going on there.But the maximum I could see was t...

                                                       The Juggler The din and tussle of everyday life is  haunting .Celebrations  what are they? she was sitting, her back resting against the pillows which she always kept propped up against the bed stead.Her  smart phone was clanging incessantly .It was a harrowing experience  for her now.There were times when she hankered for a single clang of this demoniac instrument. The first msg beamed to her raised her palpitations to new heights.It was altogether  a different feeling .She carried it along everywhere so that she did not miss a single beap  and not be guilty of ignoring the sender.But more than that it was the fear of being left out  if she delayed responding. It fed her self esteem.She responded to each and every msg sent or any recycled ...

                                              WONDER She wondered. It is the deep afternoon.Shaan was crouched over his lap top.His two hands  moved  haltingly over the key board the clawed fingers remaining  motionless and raised a little  over the keyboard.She  could see his eyes widen up while looking at  the screen intently.Suddenly he moved and seeing her  standing there in the door way of his room he   pressed some   key and with annoyance grudged her  being there. With a flutter in her heart  she told him that she  wanted to see him since he hardly showed him-self up with the rest of his family.She told him she knew that he was very busy with his exam preparations but then  she felt like coming to his room. He ban...

                                              Opaque Sight The teeming moments between this moment and the ones which have slid past seem bursting at the seams entailing the vast repertoire of stormy material which have grown pricks tattooing my heart with a graffiti  lurking eternally to gobble me up rendering me a mute spectator of the world going around It  was a huge hiatus  a big blank between this moment and the buried  past. The other day I was walking over the corridors of Daryaganj  in Delhi. Stretched  out before me were the wide swathes  of books gone soggy and soiled in the dusty paths.People were walking past them and unwittingly treading  upon them which of-course could have been avoided if there was some thought for those beings of imm...