Wednesday, September 22, 2021

The Stained Relationship!

Sriram and Savithri were the perfect parents, the perfect neighbours and almost perfect couple. 15 years of marriage had created no dent in their relationship. Sriram was the no.1 fan of Savithri - for her character, for her personality, for her cooking, for her everything!
But that Sunday evening changed things permanently.
Sriram came home from his usual temple stroll on a pleasant Sunday evening. He had the habit of taking a walk around the nearby temples every Sunday afternoon, paint his forehead with multi-layer multi-colour prasadams, before returning home.....Until that day.
He should not have worn the white shirt that day. He returned home as usual with Savithri opening the door and eagerly awaiting the flowers and kumkum from the devi temple. He did not disappoint and did offer her the flowers. But that day was different. That reddish orange stain on his white shirt caught her eye. She asked what it was and Sriram started stammering. The smell of that strain was also a dead giveaway. For the first time silence filled the room for the couple who were known to be the chatty bunch in their apartment complex.
Savithri was heartbroken. Out of all the shocking things that she could bear, this would top her list. This was her worst nightmare that just came true on a Sunday afternoon. She just crashed in a corner and started sobbing. Sriram knew that he was caught ... Red handed. Deep down he knew that things are going to be messed up and its never going to be the same again. Savithri was never going to eagerly expect him back on Sunday evenings with a snack platter that she usually prepares on the weekend.
"How could you Sriram? I mean after all these years? I thought we were best friends and partners. Am I not good enough for you anymore that you have to go out and satisfy your needs? Is this over between us?"
"Savithri, please stop over-reacting. I know I messed up, but please do hear my side of story"
"Your side, Sriram? You really think you have your side? I mean, look at your shirt. Look at the stain. It speaks for itself. Do I need to say more? For god sakes, I had made the whole snack platter ready, awaiting your arrival. You know how long it took me?..... Forget it. I am done. We are done"
"Look Savithri, I always wanted to tell you this .. but was afraid that this will hamper our relationship. I know how much effort you put in every day to get me, what you think is best. But it just doesn't cut it for me anymore - it never had. I will come out clean. I never went to those temples. All the prasadams I gave you were from the stash I stored in my car. I had to venture out. I needed variety. There - I said it" ...
... said Sriram wiping his sambar stain that he got by spilling one of the sambar idlys from the neighbourhood Murugan Idly Shop.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

8K Express - Short Story Published





Monday, October 12, 2015

A Punch and a 'Punch' Card



Was waiting outside the The Dosa Brothers on 2nd & Market on a beautiful day. The wait time was around 15 minutes. Enough time for a ginger chai. All was good. Out of nowhere, a random lady was walking towards the crowd waiting eagerly for their Dosas. She was yelling explitieves and stormed towards a lady talking on her phone and BOOM - Punches her right on her nose and vanishes in a lightening speed.  The rest of the crowd including me was busy on our phones, saving the world, so it took us about 5 seconds to know what happened. The poor lady was shaking and still in shock about what happened. One by one people started to console her and gave her a second to realize what happened. She got dozen hugs from random people all around, all of us apologized for what had happened to her and for the fact that we could not be of any help. A lady even advised her to go talk to her Doctor to make sure this incident does not haunt her in the future. The Dosa lady felt so sorry for her and gave her a free Chai and (ironically) a ‘punch' card coupon for a free Dosa worth $12 and more importantly topped it with a priceless hug and a sorry.


Made me realize that for every single crazy person out there, San Fran balances herself with a dozen kind hearted ones. Good > Crazy.