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Tug-of-War
The afternoon sun peeked through the window, making the living room glow. Pakru, the fluffy Shih Tzu, was enjoying his favorite pastime: guarding his pillow. This wasn’t just any pillow. Oh no. This was the sofa pillow, covered in tiny, shimmering mirror work, sparkling like a thousand happy fireflies. Pakru…
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The Accidental Thesaurus
The Silent World of Childhood For most of my life, I’ve had a complicated relationship with words. From the tender age of five, I spoke with a stutter/stammer. Not just a slight hesitation, but a genuine struggle where words would get trapped, leaving me gasping for air. I remember my…
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Waking the Words
You know, some mornings just feel different. Like everything gets a fresh start. For a long time, the words I used to put on paper just… weren’t there. It felt like a part of me was asleep, waiting. But now, it’s like waking up again. Picking up the pen, seeing…
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The Rickshaw Puller
Two worn, weary, dry and cracked feet were peeking from under an old dirty bed sheet. It was early morning and still a bit cold. The first rays of the sun were breaking through the great banyan tree’s branches and touching the feet. The fingers twitched a bit, as if…
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Bangles
There was once this little girl in my neighborhood, Radha. She would have been about 8 or 9 at the time and would always be seen with her baby brother Raju behind her. Their mother used to work in a nearby factory to take care of the family, as the…
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Soliloquy of Solitude
A crossbill’s peck is what started my life. I was one of several seeds in a pine cone that the little red finch had found, but one peck and it chose to spit me out; I wonder why. I fell to the ground, away from my mother. She was the…
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The Other Woman
I was almost slipping off into a mid-day sleep when I caught a quick glimpse of her first. She was at the other end of the train compartment talking to someone. Normally, I wouldn’t give a second look but something about her saree caught my eye. It was this bright orange with small…
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Parallel Universe
You wonder why your dream seems to always be one step further away from you. That car/house/promotion you so badly want is always just around the corner, or so life makes you believe. You tend to strive more to achieve that dream, but at the very last moment it seems…
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You don’t need eyes to see!
Brune does not strike you as an ordinary name. Well, the 22 year old who is pursuing his final year BA English Literature degree, is not an ordinary human being either. He is a friend, wordsmith and personality extraordinaire. Brune is visually challenged (blind, for the uninitiated), but that does…
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Peace
Waking up to “Vellai Pookkal” (White Flowers – a beautiful composition by the one and only AR Rahman) the other day got me thinking about peace. Well, not just about peace, but a whole lot of other things that are missing in our world. Now, you wouldn’t want me write…
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Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban’s Dream)
Just the other day, I had the privilege of visiting an orphanage. Why call it privilege, you ask? I will tell you in a while. Anyway, I was accompanying a friend who was celebrating his birthday by donating some groceries and sweets to the children there. I thought it would be a…
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The Beginning
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting”, said Buddha. And so, I start here and hope to go all the way.
thotographer 