Justice, you say?

“Galti ho gayi. Fir nahi karega. (It was a mistake. He won’t do it again.)” Such a simple statement! What could be wrong about it? In an ideal world? Probably nothing. In ours? Maybe a woman was eve-teased, maybe a wife was hit across her face, maybe a mother was disrespected, maybe Draupadi was disrobed,

Down The Lane.

The sun was setting and the balcony was losing enough light to make me keep my paint brushes aside. I wanted to finish one last flower before I could call it a day but that would mean getting out of my armchair to switch on the lights and I was too tired to do it.

Mirror, Mirror.

It was past 2 am when Meja finally stepped into her apartment. Business dinners often ended into the wee hours of the morning. This was an early wrap and she wasn’t happy about it at all. Liam hadn’t texted her yet but she was sure to wake up to a barrage of angry ones from

Skin.

Firm or lined, or just sallow, that weird shade of yellow, Bruised from the workouts or battered and broken from your handouts, Patchy, shaded, hairy or tanned enough to never detan, Red, brown, black, pimpled, acned, wrinkled, or just glowing from the baby inside. Looking them down, All my life I’ve lived proud, In a

No, she said.

Demure, quiet, she kept to herself as she walked down the road of life. Wary, alert, carefully she kept her distance from people. She hurried if she felt people approaching. She hastened her steps when men asked her questions, quickening her pace, mouthing the same word over and over again, “No.” She walked on too

Them.

While I sleep, the world around me is awake. Not today though. I am awake too. But only in the body, not in the mind. But then was I ever? These people, the ones out here – they know something I don’t. They look at me and exchange glances. They stare me down. I look away.

Hope.

What keeps you going on the less happy days? What keeps you from letting one night turn into yet another morning? What pushes you to breathe one more time even though it pains every time? The belief in God – whatever your religion may be, wherever your faith lies? Or is it destiny? Or karma

A Smile Here. A Smile There.

He looked visibly frustrated. And he had reasons to be so. He’d been on his feet for almost half the day and the ordeal was not over yet. He kept shuffling his feet across the floor, trying to visit each table more than once. He knew his boss was keeping a tab. He had to

Lost and Found.

He was rummaging through old letters his deceased wife had written him during a long marriage and before. He also found his first and only Valentine Day card from thirty years ago. Tears welled his eyes immediately when he read and re-read the sender’s name etched in crayons. He called her. This would be his

Bed of thorns.

He sat with his hands folded in salutation. Once a while, a pair of legs would pass by him. He’d put out his open palms asking for alms. Sometimes, someone would drop a fruit or a sweet, other times a couple of coins. Some would walk away without leaving anything behind. Every time he’d get