Friday 30 June 2017

The archways



                                                  PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields


She wore white, and stood under the stoned archway, her sombre eyes staring at

him till he was out of sight. She was always there as if she had a prior inkling of

him pass by. Never was a word uttered nor a greeting exchanged.

Today he has returned to the cobbled pathway after a quarter century.

She still stood under the fading archway wearing white and didn't look a day older

while his pate wore a receding hairline. His efforts to break ice with her was

greeted with stony silence.


A passer-by if he was talking to the stone-walls.

                            

                                          written for Friday Fictioneers

                                               thanks you Rochelle Wisoff-Fields



Read all the wonderful stories HERE.

Tattered







“The blue represents the water bodies", replied Amrita 

with complete concentration on her school project.

"And the adjoining green body is land-mass."

" There aren't demarcated boundaries on this globe", I 

reminded my daughter in amusement.

"There shouldn't be any. A global village in the truest sense 

is what we need."

"The lines on the land fray people's emotions segregate into 

nations and separate humanity", she continued in even 

breath.

I inhaled deeply. The Amritsar air seemed less polluted.

I thought about my estranged cousin in Lahore. The lines of 

communication have to be kept open obliterating all 

barriers.



written for  : Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction

                                         


History : India got its Independence from the colonial rule on 15th August ,1947. But was partitioned into two countries. Geographical lines were drawn on maps but these lines affected human emotions. what followed was massacre and bloodbath. Read more about Indian history HERE.

Amritsar : a city in India.
Lahore : a city in Pakistan.

Tuesday 27 June 2017

guest



She jumped into the puddle hitching her long skirt a notch above her knees, unabashedly,  and 

screamed with joyous innocence. Nikhil watched with unfounded amazement and wonder as how 

a rural Indian belle could act in gay abandonment. The countryside wore a veil of orthodoxy. This 

was his maiden tryst with her.


The verdant village life offered him simple pleasures that the urban jungle was devoid of. The 

abundant foliage was a treat to his tired eyes. The grazing  livestock and the avian species  made 

him realize the presence of other creatures on this Earth other than the two legged robots. The 

gurgling water of the river tickled his feet giving him the feel of an expensive spa.The organic 

food cooked with the freshest condiments  by his maternal aunt and the aroma of ghee(clarified 

butter) aroused his dormant hunger pangs and taste buds. The office cafeteria food just 

managed to keep his body and soul together. 


Passing by the plantain plantation , his eyes were arrested by a motley group of heads bent down 

keenly observing something.


                               Image result for plantain plantation


His curiosity carried him close and he bent down to see Vidya tutoring to the students, peasants 

and housewives .


" The red earthworms dig into the soil to improve the aeration which improves the water holding 

capacity of the soil. This soil further enhances the germination of seeds and increases the crop 

yield". She held a small bunch of the crawlies with dexterity.

Her knowledge  in vermicultre added another layer of respect to her character. 

His aunt proudly told him that Vidya held a degree in Agricultural Science and instead she 

choose to stay in her humble beginnings to pay it forward to the villagers . The lure of the lucre 

did not attract her to a plush consultant job . He thought of his job back in the Hedge Fund 

Company . The bottom line of the Corporate world was rapacious profits. The corporate timings 

and travelling in different time zones made him a victim of  insomnia and depression. Yielding to 

medical advice he took a break of three months.


After a heavy south Indian breakfast of idli-chutney washed down by fresh filter coffee, he and 

his aunt sat in a bullock-cart.

                                 Image result for indian bullockcart


Vidya's school comprised of  daily wage earner's children . He was amazed at her dedication and 

enthusiasm. She asked him to impart any knowledge or expertise he deemed fit to the children. 

He didn't seem to posses any teaching abilities though he held a top managerial post in his 

Company. 


Her  affable , conviviality and altruistic nature won his heart. He secretly fell in love with her. 

'Fell ' would be a very shallow word . He had arisen in her love and seemed to be floating and 

basking in her sunshine. 


Nikhil felt uneasy as his vacation was drawing close. He had another  four weeks to go. He 

decided to speak to her.

He was shocked to see her pale, hospitalized lying in supine position. The lively Vidya had spring 

in her heels and he couldn't believe this transformation. 

" Will you marry me, Vidya?" he proposed shyly.

She smiled without any trace of coyness.

"Eight weeks is a long time to be a guest, isn't it? Return to your groove , Nikhil" , spurning the 

marriage proposal. Her words stung his ego like bees. His heart couldn't face this vicissitude. 

Nikhil was constantly at her bedside as many of the villagers were. 

Vidya refused medical treatment preferring to the call of the higher forces beyond human control. 

Nikhil was sure that Vidya's soul will find purpose again among her people.















Monday 26 June 2017

dream

June 22, 2017 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that involves a dream. This action could have happened while awake, such as daydreaming, or make up a dream when asleep. Go where the prompt leads as it could be a nightmare or just fond memories or ambition.




                                  

She lay supine on the hospital bed surviving on prayers of children and modern

medicines.

She feels her soul separate from her mortal body as Chitragupt calls her name.

"Beware, thorns and stones that hurt you" he cautioned.

"I have experienced pains and downfalls", she trailing him.

“Regrets?”

“None”, confidently.

"Wishes?"

"My Home needs a replacement to be run altruistically. The children would

suffer", she requests.

"Those orphans?",

"They’re my children", she emphasizes.

Doctors credit her recovery to a miracle.

"Was it a dream or trance?"

“Was it re-birth?”, questions a journo.


 She nods, waves at the vanishing Chitragupt.



                             Written for :  Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction


read about CHITRAGUPT



Thursday 22 June 2017

Tunnel of Hope


Man caught in the light at the end of the tunnel





The dense forests seem to limit their boundaries abruptly and refused to inch further. A perennial

waterfall cascaded in slow motion. Her hand felt ice-cold at the spray of waterdrops. Her body

shivered. Nikhil handing a warm shrug to her, cautioned ,“ it will be cool and moist inside”.

“ He knows this place so well”,  she said to no-one in particular.

They entered the rough stony entrance hand-in-hand.


Nikhil sprung surprises and kept her adrenaline juices flowing. She had always reciprocated his

antics with open arms and whispered romantic words in his ears. This was her third surprise in the

last month and the thrill increased with each frequency.

She had worn rubber gumboots on his insistence. The pink and blue flip-flops was her choice but

Nikhil had struck it down. Her feet felt water running and the gentle roar of the waterfall seemed

fainter. She had no idea how long they had walked into the tunnel. She forcibly blinked her eyes to

avoid the blackness getting into her. The slight palpitations worried her. Her thighs ached at the force

of the water dragging her. Claustrophobia surrounded her. She had never been greeted by fear.

Involuntarily, she rubbed her palms and found solace in the friction and cupped her chin. The  rising

warmth renewed her energy.

“Nikhhhhhhhil” , she yelled loudly extending the last part of his name with urgency.

“Where is he?”, was the obvious question to his sudden absence.

Had he slipped and fallen down? Nay. She would have felt his grip slip away.

Should she turn around to go towards the entrance of the tunnel? She had travelled that dark path.

She remembered her Appa’s words. The erudite astrologer could never go wrong. People from

distant lands flocked for his advice. And his own daughter refused to believe his prognosis.

“Nikhil will lead you into the dark dungeon with no light at the end.”

How prophetic were Appa’s utterances. But she had refused to hear them let alone believe the

wisdom of the prophecy.

She dragged herself deeper into the tunnel. There was nothing but more darkness welcoming her.

She could feel her eyes swell into tears.

Appa had asked her to look beneath the veneer of his suave  and polished personality. She had

dived deep into the pool of his heart and was bathed in his courting finesse.

“His planetary alignments spell doom to you”, pleaded and thundered Appa in the same breath.

Helpless and lonely in the abyss, each word of her father resonated and drilled sense in the

labyrinthine maze of her grey cells.

“He will desert you”, concluded Appa and they had tied the knot without the blessings of the senior

citizen.

She had never felt so lonely even when her mother had succumbed to the dreaded disease. The

feeling of being lost and betrayal exacerbated and she wondered how she would face Appa.

She took a deep breath and inhaled the musty air. There should be light at the end of the tunnel , the

adventurer in her consoled herself.  

Her cloudy dark pupils saw creepers hanging down. Lo behold the tunnel had ended .


She dragged her weary feet to the incoming diffused light.

With yellow tulips in his hand, he smiled and spread his arms at her.

She was a bag of mixed emotions. The 'dark' thoughts which she had harbored sometime ago

vaporized.  

"No more surprises ", she begged and  she filled herself in his masculine embrace.

She looked up . The Sun was shinning brightly. The stars were asleep .The planetary 

configurations are far away. What mattered was Nikhil . 

                She would work to build a bridge between Appa and Nikhil.



           written for Sue Vincent's Thursday Photo Prompt

                                                        #writephoto


Appa means father in Kannada( an Indian language).

bright

                        Haiku Horizons

                   


Welcome to week 173 of Haiku Horizons! The prompt for this week is “bright.



tiger tiger burning bright

penned william blake

shooting, poaching tiger, extinct 










                           Image result for pic of dying tiger



                       written for :  HAIKU HORIZONS


                             Click HERE to read all the wonderful haiku .