Possibility. Indifference. Envy.

Possibility (July 16)

MVPKGU

Behind the counter, in her red SpiceJet skirt, Sejal entered the boarding pass number. "Ms. Suchita Shah. Any baggage?"

“No.”

“She seems nice,” Sejal thought. The cute guy who checked in a few minutes earlier was in 12A. She took a few moments to weigh. “Hmm… Why not?” she concluded.

“Seat number 12B Ma’am.” 


Indifference (July 17) 

Sitting cross legged, she cupped her hand and scooped a handful of gravel and dropped it into a rusty strainer.

She giggled and repeated this amusing trick. The larger pebbles remained while the smaller ones passed through and gleefully landed onto her billowing frock.

The divider at Dharavi junction was this 4 year old’s playground.

Envy (July 18)

"Free on the 2^nd next month?"

"Yeah probably. Why? What’s up?"

"Cool, I've got some tickets. Will let you know about them soon."

"For?"

"Nothing special. I'll ttyl."

 2 weeks and a forgotten phone call later, I was at home and my soon to be ex-friends were at Wankhede watching Sachin lift the World Cup.

Take 2

Outside the station, he fought trying to hail an autorickshaw in this torrid rain.

On landing one, he quickly closed his umbrella and entered it, but not before his back was drenched by the water from the parapet above.

As the auto moved along, he longingly glanced at the sleeping kid in the Hyundai alongside.

Scream. Close. Damage.

Scream (July 13)

He clutched at his bed-sheet; his knuckles were white. 

Excruciating pain was the only way to label his ordeal. Amul learnt that life can be unfair on multiple counts.

As his father lashed his leather belt at his back blaming him instead of his genes, all this mute boy could do was scream with his eyes.

Close (July 14)

The second hand stepped forward, like a soldier. Dependable. The hour hand was the general. Watchful. The minute hand was sluggish. Jerky. Faulty

"Clamp." The attending surgeon ordered. The nurse fetched it. As he sutured the chest, the patient's eyelid flickered. The minute hand was back on track. The new heart had opened a new door. 


Damage (July 15)

Tensions were running high. One ball to go. 

A juicy low full toss; the mighty swing was justified. Ramesh's six won the game and shattered his neighbour's Audi's windscreen.

Livid, the neighbour stormed out and slapped the 11 year old. He wasn't done. With bottled rage, he spat at him. "Did you know you're adopted?"

Monday. Aphrodisiac. Forbidden.

Monday (July 9)

*Whoosh!* Thud* Crack* The time froze at 8:22 am.

Dark circles and migraines, she could handle.
A dismissive boss and long working hours, she could handle.
Loud co-workers and unrealistic deadlines, she could handle.

What she couldn’t handle was why they always, ALWAYS attacked her in unison.

The alarm clock was her first victim today.

Take 2

He woke up with a smile. Landing a job in Mumbai was a dream come true for Subhash.

There were 7 office skyscrapers near his chawl. Most of them jumped from above the 10^th floor. His earnings were fixed - Rs. 100 per body. Business always picked up today.

Just another day at the office.

Take 3

Atrophied muscles. Chapped lips. Sighs of relief. Loads of hugs.

It’d been 4 months since the accident. “Shrewsberry biscuit please” he wheezed. The mind’s desires can be confounding.

20 minutes passed. “Please…” he rasped before giving up.

All the stores were shut. Too bad Manoj decided to wake up from his coma on a Monday.

Take 4

A long belly and hip scratch and a satisfying yawn later, he turned to the other side on his bed. The sun’s rays penetrated his window, but not the thick blanket over his head. He twitched.

What was that? A faint whiff! And off ran Garfield to accost Jon.

Mondays often went downhill after breakfast.


Aphrodisiac (July 11)

Finely powdered. That was the term used. Clutching the pestle, he ground till the mortar’s contents matched the parchment’s requirement.

He emptied the final ingredient into a vessel containing the potion that took him a month to prepare. Finally. He could love again.

The corpse in his cave with the missing jawbone seemed to agree.


Forbidden (July 12)

He locked and unlocked his door, 9 times.

Next, he climbed into his attic and dug out a framed photograph. He took a silk cloth from his bathrobe pocket and cleaned the frame 9 times.

Finally, he flossed his teeth. He stopped after the eighth time for a sneeze.
He flogged himself for this error.