...

Read more »

...

Read more »

It’s midnight and the bus screeched to a halt at the bus-stop. The conductor pushed the door open. I alighted from the bus and observed the signpost. Yes, this is my destination, I told myself. A few hours back, I got a call from my parents asking me to come to my grandparents’ village for my grandfather had suddenly taken sick.A gravelly road ran across the vast plains to the village. The moon’s...

Read more »

"The reasons why puncturing the skin should be regarded with some degree of awe are not far to seek, for in the first place, there is the drawing of blood, which to the savage world over is full of significance as a rejuvenating and immortalizing factor. There is in addition to the opening of numerous inlets for evil to enter. . ." (Hambly Wilfrid D. 1925. The History of Tattooing and its Significance,...

Read more »

The following is a work of fiction that revolves around a fact.The blades of the grass swayed from side to side by the prevailing upwind. The cirrus clouds floated swiftly in the azure sky. The shadows they cast moved even swifter and the entire grassland looked like a giant tiger’s glossy coat being brushed by the wind.The silver radiator-grille of the 1919 model open top Cockshoot Tourer glimmered...

Read more »

‘Beyond the mountains at the horizon, it is said that a cat deliberately walks into the snare set by poachers to capture a bear or a tiger. And unable to bear the pain, it bites off its own paw and walks away three legged. The remnant paw is considered to be a lucky charm, but it still holds in it, the trials and tribulations of the cat when in captivity’ Human beings are need driven creatures, the...

Read more »

There are certain things you don’t want to see.The day was June 25th. After a tedious day at work, I walked back to my car. It’s around 11 ‘O clock. I longed to reach home. All I wanted was a good sleep to relieve me of the work pressure.I slowly lay on the four-poster as my back ached under the day’s strenuousness. My eyelids were heavy and they slowly dropped dead. In the subconscious mind’s eye...

Read more »

So true and disturbing are the incidents written here that I’ve stopped making and collecting clocks, the only thing I’ve always wanted to and loved the most.‘Tick tock.. tick tock..’ and my heartbeat would sync with it. For more than twenty years, I’d lived with clocks. I called myself a clock mason, one who pioneers in the extraordinary art of designing these intricate pieces of time.My fascination...

Read more »

The suicideI woke up from my bed only to find her hanging to the ceiling. ‘My wife was killed by some one’ I couldn’t even digest the fact. The police were at the place in a few minutes. Just below her body was mine with a knife stabbed in my heart and her fingerprints on it.The peeping tomNatasha wrapped a towel around her naked body and walked slowly into the bathroom. Mike frantically peeped through...

Read more »

More than 0.2 % of the patients undergoing major surgeries suffer from ‘anesthetic awareness’ when they are being operated. Anesthetic awareness is a condition in which the patient is aware of the being operated upon even when he’s under the effect of anesthesia.‘Reeves, kill me, else I am not gonna let you live…’ I heard Sam say and I immediately fired in the direction of the voice.Boom.. boom.....

Read more »

When the hounds bay for blood, when the vampire bats squawk for life, when clouds engulf the crescent and when the stars align in an inverted pentagram, the creature of the dark will rise to life - the relic.Recently we moved into a new house. And that’s when we brought home our new pup, Mike. The retriever pup was so active and friskily naughty. As days passed by, I found a gradual decline in its...

Read more »

The entire room was dark except for a cone of white light that illuminated a reclining chair beneath it, on which I was seated. The door creaked open. And a woman in her late twenties walked into the room clutching a notepad to her chest. She was wearing a straight formal skirt and a white shirt jacketed by a black tuxedo cinching her waist.She came close to me and pulled a chair. Then she opened...

Read more »

Prachi’s a big time beer aficionado. Though I never tasted it throughout my life, I’d known a lot about beer, thanks to her. The first time, I saw a highly delectable her at a friend’s party in the local bar. It was love at first sight. After the regular dilly dallying, she finally reciprocated my love.With a few tufts of hair falling to the fore and captivating luscious features, she could even make...

Read more »

I slowly opened the door of my car and stood before the huge building which read ‘The San Jose Asylum’ and I started to walk towards the facility. As a curator of the facility I made it a habit to visit each and every patient in the asylum every day. This is the biggest asylum in this part of the world where people are treated for various mental disorders. I have spent more time of mine with these...

Read more »

I know how many times I haven’t slept properly cos of the issues that invaded my dreams. Neglected my health, harried it and never applied a leave, whatever be the means! There is nothing called a personal life, when I dedicated my life to Her (personifying work), the dame that absorbed me into her reams. Alas, where did I lose that beautiful life of mine that once beckoned me with all its gleams?...

Read more »

Sunday night. And it was raining cats and dogs, here in Hyderabad. I and Atul were returning from ‘The Dark Knight’ movie. The torrential downpour almost reduced our visibility to a few metres on the road. Atul was driving the car. “Damn it, just glow slow. The car will skid,” I kept warning him. “Do you think any soul would be walking down the roads in this rain,” he turned towards me. The wipers...

Read more »

I never believed in prophecies until this day when…“I hate this astrologer Guruji. Nisha’s parents broke our marriage cos’ this guy told ‘em that we weren’t compatible. And Nisha’s not bothered about me. Astrology my foot,” my voice echoed the anger deep within my heart.“Neither do I believe in him. But I had to come here after my parents pressurized me to get our horoscope compatibility checked by...

Read more »