Short Story

This was the first story that I penned down as a child. A short story for children (by a child :D) published under the children's section in an annual souvenir of a library. The unevenly split sentences and other small mistakes should be overlooked since it was written at the age of eleven years. I am reproducing the same here without any changes.

It was a cloudy night. Nobody was in the house except Ramesh and his servant, Bhima. Ramesh was studying in sixth standard. His parents had gone to a function. Ramesh and his uncle were in the house. On receiving an urgent phone call, his uncle went to his office. Ramesh was about to sleep when the door bell rang. He went and opened the door. There stood his dear uncle with a packet of chocolates in his hand. He ate some and went to bed. After some time, his uncle heard some sound coming from his study room, where he had kept his income in a safe. His uncle went to the room. He was stunned to see a man wearing an overcoat with cross buttons and a mask over his face. The man was going through some files dealing with important matters. His uncle shouted, "thief-thief". The man took a pistol and pointed at Ramesh's uncle. His uncle moved forward and the thief hit him on his head. Ramesh's uncle became unconscious. Ramesh woke up on hearing the noise. He became suspicious and thought something fishy was going on in his uncle's room. He slowly crept out of his bed towards his uncle's room. Suddenly, he was stunned to see his uncle unconscious. He also saw a man taking something from the safe. He quietly went near the telephone and rang up the police. The police came and arrested the thief and removed his mask. There stood Ramesh's dear servant, Bhima. Bhima said that he was innocent, but some outlaws had kidnapped his daughter and demanded that if he wants his daughter back, he must go and get those important papers from Ramesh's uncle. Bhima did as he was told. But, he was caught. Then the police asked him whether he could give any clues to catch the outlaws. Bhima, along with the police, went to the place where the outlaws lived. After a fierce fight, the outlaws were caught. Bhima got his daughter back. When Ramesh's parents returned home, they were proud of their son. His uncle was also very happy for saving his important papers. Ramesh got a reward for his bravery. He became a hero in the eyes of his friends.

Back on track

I am currently back on track reading,

The Hungry Tide - by Amitav Ghosh

The novel primarily revolves around the characters- Kanai Dutt, a literary translator, Piyali Roy (Piya), a cetologist and, Nirmal and Nilima, a couple running a welfare trust in Lusibari. The entire story is predominantly set in Kolkatta, Canning and Lusibari in West Bengal amongst others.

The Hungry Tide won the Hutch Crossword Book Award for the best work in English fiction in 2004. Amitav Ghosh is also known for his novel The Glass Palace.

The Dream Land of India

I never had any serious thoughts or dreams of landing in Mumbai. I went there last week to spend some time with my brother and also to shun my boredom. I might not have got to experience the real Mumbai in the short time that I spent there, but I have my share of opinions and impressions about the city. The first being the hugely damaged roads due to the heavy down pour in the city last week. A journey in an auto-rickshaw can make you aware of the innumerable potholes made by the fall on the roads. You just cannot escape the roller-coaster rides on the roads. No wonder how much you would suffer if you choose to travel through narrow lanes, leave alone the pukka concrete roads.

And, how can one not say anything about the heavy traffic in the city when talking about Mumbai? Gosh! You better start at seven in the morning to reach office at nine. We travelled for 25 minutes to cover a distance of half a kilometer. Need to say anything else? Such a rush is confined not just to the roads, but one experiences it even at hotels and restaurants, especially in the weekends. We went out for dinner on Sunday at 8:45 PM and were called in only at 10 PM and, I just can’t describe how difficult it was for us to wait empty-bellied until then.

It drizzled twice or thrice daily and the climate wasn’t that bad when you compare it to the soaring heats in many other parts of the country. The skies were mostly cloudy all through the day except for some time during the midday. But, the humidity in the atmosphere can make you feel exhausted. A few minute walk would be well enough to drain the water out of you.

I returned on Tuesday morning and the serial train blasts took place in the evening. It’s such an unfortunate incident. Both the Kashmir and the Mumbai blasts occurred on the same day. How can anyone kill so many innocent people? I feel such cases arise when one tries to hold others responsible for one’s plight - inexplicable vengeance. And, I am really surprised at the way the Mumbaikars have handled it with such resilience and, of course, Kashmir has always been a tacit target. But, is it really good to get along with such insane terrorism every time it strikes you? Should we not look at getting over it forever?

Market chaos!

This is a really funny cartoon depicting the possible confusion that might have sent the market sizzling down a few weeks ago.