"Short Sorties of my Life."

Read my Middle in the 27th Feb edition of Deccan Herald here titled, "Short Sorties of my Life." I've tried to tell you why I write short stories, and how the process, despite resembling a sortie, gives me tremendous fulfillment.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/598467/short-sorties-my-life.html

Beginning the New Year with Sweet Detours.

What a pleasant surprise to see my piece, "Sweet Detours" as the lead article ( http://www.sparkthemagazine.com/) in the anniversary issue of Spark.
Read it here: http://www.sparkthemagazine.com/?p=10480

Long listed, once again.

Happy that my short story has been long listed in the DNA-Out of Print Short Story Contest 2016. Read on Page 4.

http://epaper2.dnaindia.com/index.php?mod=1&pgnum=1&edcode=820104&pagedate=2016-11-20#


http://outofprintmagazine.blogspot.in/2016/11/the-2016-dna-out-of-print-short-fiction_20.html

A beginning in a Middle

I'd always dreamed of being a published writer. But it was only when I turned 43, that this dream saw fruition in the form of a Middle in the Deccan Herald. (This was because I stopped writing after I left college. Technically my first published piece was a poem, "A Voice From The Unknown" in the college magazine that I helped edit).The first Middle was inspired by the woman who collected garbage from our street and gave us earfuls of her choicest abuses. She always hung her trademark 'garland of slippers' at the corner plot to symbolize her 'beatings with a slipper' she felt those who threw garbage in empty sites deserved. Anyway, that single publication did a great deal of good to my writing.
There's another secret reason why I love writing for the Deccan Herald. My parents are loyal readers of this newspaper and my byline makes their day. They've been my staunch supporters throughout my life and believe in my abilities a lot more than I do.
Here's my thirteenth Middle about the little family we fostered for three months. Three kittens were adopted, and two probably found their own homes (they disappeared from our house within a week of each other).
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/574091/a-cats-goodbye.html

The five kittens at the vet for their first immunization shot.

Another Delightful Win!

I'm very happy to share the news that my short story, "Memory of a Fragrance" has won the Third Place Award in Katha: Literary Fiction Contest 2016. Here's the official announcement:

https://www.indiacurrents.com/katha-fiction-contest-2016-announcement/

The story will be published in the upcoming September issue of India Currents.
This year's judges were Prajwal Parajuly and Amulya Malladi.

Snakes Among Men.

My short story in the summer issue of the biannual Papercuts from Desi Writer's Lounge is out at last. Read it here:
http://desiwriterslounge.net/articles/papercuts-snakes-men/

It was a privilege that the issue was guest edited by the noted novelist, Bina Shah.

The theme is a different take on how we perceive heroes and villains.

The Crocodile and the Stork in Ranganathittu.

Lush Green homes

On a short visit to Mysore to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my parents, I squeezed in a flying visit to the bird sanctuary.
Islands in the sun, birds in the air and crocodiles in the river greeted me. Thick foliage and fresh breeze formed a perfect backdrop for the birdsong.
We were chaperoned by nonchalant Marsh crocodiles on our boat ride. This gave good reason for some women and kids to let out birdlike squeaks.
Painted storks, open billed storks, cattle egret (in their beautiful orange breeding plumage), cormorants, night herons, fruit bats and wagtails went about their business unmindful of the fifteen pairs of ogling eyes.
Twiggy nests held long legged chicks while their parents fetched leaves to quilt the home. I think there's no better image of freedom than a huge bird winging over a shimmering river, a branch in its beak against the backdrop of a cool blue sky. Of course, the million shades of green in the wild foliage and the cool breeze urged me to believe that there existed many more such oases where these beautiful feathered species were safe.
The Mugger has a stealthy silent air about him. Barely seen above the surface he eyes the birds perched on little rocks. I watched one gobble up a Open Bill Stork. The other storks watched their friend's legs disappear into a huge serrated opening in the river and I quelled my unease with the thought that Nature's balance was at work.
The boatman told me that of the forty odd shrieking hatchlings of a Mugger, only a few survived. The rest were eaten by the storks. So there, the balance was at work already.
I'll be back again for the longer early morning boat ride. Till then... I have these memories for company.

Breakfast done.

Stork Colony

Look at my wedding finery

You know why I'm Open-billed...

Long legged chicks in twiggy homes