Rose

what was the difference?
why call them by another name?
these 140 character stories
looked and felt
like a 50 year old poem.

Saturday afternoon

i’m almost done, she said typing furiously. the first part of a two-step plan was almost complete. now all she had to do was find true love.

4 short stories

Abstinence
she didn’t have to write much. just 2000 words. but she did have to mention everything important till then. and when it was done she could live.

Fate
they plotted his death. far away, he was oblivious - eating a banana, dreaming of mangoes. he threw the peel, got up, slipped and died.

And don’t pick your nose
and then she fell. tumbled down the stairs, bumping her head on the banister. everything went black. she always knew her laces were too long

Good night
her eyes were closing. she held them open with imaginary cartoon toothpicks. and typed. the world was awake. online never slept. F5

death wish

Shweta: u toh dont love me na
so i decided
to enter into a shell now

veda: i love you

Shweta: and dies inside

veda: dies?

Shweta: lulzz

veda: like cn i report
this is veda reporting from a shell
shweta kapur is now curled up
shweta: how do you feel?

Shweta: with a huge boom mike
regurgitating her modaks
shweta

veda: what is ther eason for you dying?

Shweta: * gurgle *

veda: is it fora cause?
are you inspored by peepli?

Shweta: shweta- "freeple"

veda: is it because you're a bai?

Shweta: veda "(camera uske pet pe focus karo)"

veda: zoom in

Shweta: haan

veda: ooh.. not so much

Shweta: that only

veda: shweta, don't worry
just talk to me like i'm your friend
imagine i'mtwitter

Shweta: shweta- * blinks feebly *

veda: and tell me.. what is the cause of thsi?
how did you get ht eidea to die?

Shweta: veda "(ye maregi tab music on karna peeche se "

veda: camera.. pano
and zoom in

my mother told me

Life is long and the world is round*

*you heard it first here

(belated) happy birthday

I stopped turning older a couple of years ago.
People would then occasionally ask me how old I am,
confident that I wouldn't be offended.

Somehow, I never believed I grew older since.
I mean, I knew,
but I'd always have to calculate quick
when someone asked.

Until a few days ago
when I realised
that most of the young talent
is now younger than me.

getting up

A computer pretending to be rooster
tries to wake me up each morning.
It starts crowing at 7.30 am
hoping that I'll get up.

I press a button and send it away
for just another five minutes
every five minutes
until I'm ready to move.

Today it was an hour and a half
of me not really dreaming
but not quite awake
before I finally got out of bed.

An hour and a half in which
I could have been
at the gym, tidying up,
making sure I got to the office
at the time I said I would,
reading, catching up on work,
making breakfast and coffee,
or sleeping.

mothertongue

My grandmother turned 75 today.
And just before lunch, the house filled up.
Cars full of brothers and sisters
and their wives and husbands
stopped outside her door
and emptied into the living room.

They distributed news of
children and grandchildren
all the while thinking
of something completely different
of medicines in cabinets
waiting to be taken
of drivers who needed lunch
of taps and switches and gas stoves,
all of which needed to be turned off tight.

They posed for the camera,
broke into groups
drank, ate and ate some more
sang and cut cake
(which was not non-chocolate
but appreciated nonetheless)
and talked.

They spoke to each other
in a language that belongs across the border
with a culture they left behind over 60 years ago
that's now almost forgotten
if millennium versions of songs from the 80s
are anything to go by.

They talked and talked some more.
until it was time for tea,
which actually meant it was time to leave.
And then got back into cars,
ready for the 4-hour journey home.

Hours later their voices
still rang in my mind.
The chatter of aunts and uncles
speaking in a language
that feels familiar enough
for me believe that I can almost follow.

job seekers

I'm re-writing what I've done.
For the 20th time in two days.

It should have been straightforward.
but exaggerating the importance of my career
- when I haven't had many jobs
or worked for a long period of time -
is tough.

I wonder if anyone'll bother to read through
what I've spent hours editing.
And whether I should change the format.

I've never spent this much time
over anything I've written before.

My friends think it's ok.
Or maybe they're just bored
of me asking them all the time whether it's ok.

I wonder if they know
that when they said, "we'd hire you"
I might take them up on the offer.

break down

My car stopped.
Well, not really.
There was a loud snap
and I couldn't move my clutch anymore.

The car was still moving.
But slowly.
I pulled over and got out.

Only this wasn't on a public road.
I was turning into the basement parking
of an IT company.

And then there were guards
and security measures
and registers
and phone calls.

I tried not to tap my fingers on the counter
or pretend like I had better places to be at
and more important work to do.

Then they pushed the car
with me in it.
Not complaining about the constant drizzle.

And helped me park
In a place accessible
but out of the way.

I swiped in
and went upstairs
and pretended to work

the case

"What's in the case?" they asked.
The case is big.
Almost as big as me.
But I'm not that tall.

My friends know what's in there.
"I think you could fit inside,"
they joked.
"We'll zip you up and check you in.
You're too heavy for carry on baggage."

On a train, 2nd class and unreserved.
I stood
holding the case close to me.
We jerked together, the case and I.
And I'd hold on tighter with one hand
The other stretched out, grasping desperately,
clutching on to anything it found.

"What's in the case?" they asked.
Women in bright green and purple saris
huddled together
With children on their laps
and some above them
on a rack where their luggage should have been.

I had to explain then.
What was in the case.
Now it's different.
They've all seen Kaminey.
"Is it a guitar or a gun?"
they ask.