Appy Stories

  "OUT OF MY SIGHT, NOW!" Surya admonished Bhumi for being an angry little child. She exploded every now and then, having inherited her fury from her volatile father. Being the third child among nine siblings, she bore the brunt of his temper more often than the others. Today, when she retaliated, he punished her for life, sending her into exile to work on her shortcomings and follies. Egoistic and headstrong, she stormed out of the family orbit, only to find herself held by stronger binding forces. "I'm your creator. Don't try to act smart with me!" Surya reminded her of her origin. "First evolve, grow, and then try to break free from the reins of my upbringing." Fathers can never express themselves well, neither then nor now. Like a rebellious teenager, Bhumi moved away from the patriarchal and tyrannical rule of her father, whom the entire universe worshipped. Yet she could not move beyond the reach of her elder brother, Venus. He guffawed at he...

 "I have forgotten the last time I kissed fresh air and saw the pigeons fly,  I have forgotten how the wet earth smells and how the worm burrows, I have forgotten how the baby cries and how the rattle pacifies, I have forgotten... I have forgotten... I.. " Lakshmi stopped the scribbling and started fiddling with a grain of rice lying on the bare floor, beavered away from its morsel. The rice grain giving her company in solitude. It too was estranged from a full meal of prosperity and lay there like her, lone and trapped, not knowing it's value and purpose now ahead in life.  She stopped and again went into a trance of another world. She stopped for it was becoming difficult to recollect what she wanted to write. So much so, that she couldn't remember what she had forgotten! Sometimes it was a blessing in disguise, at other times a slow poison evading her survival. There were abrupt flashes of her past that blasted her memory but the explosions were frugal and didn...

                      The Leap Hop a little, Jump a little one two threee....  The rhyme is a significant part of my growing up years and very absurdly annoying to my struggling years. I could only hop a little but never jump even little. JUMP is not a verb nor a word but a colossal emotion pervading the sanctity of my living.  *  *  *  *   *   *   *  * Rolling into the living room, I struggle to grab Tagore's Gitanjali from the highest shelf. The flower pot put next to it tumbles and the stale water in it splashes on my stupefying senses. Aaaaargh... I gasp for breath as if diving into oceanic waters. "HELP!" I shriek in exasperation.  "Ninu, its just few drops of water and you are panicking like a wave has engulfed you." Dadu comes to my rescue but not without a piece of advice.  "Beta, you are the shark of dark waters and not a remora surviving on frugal p...

 The tiffin needs to be made. Ohh, the freeze doesn't show enough stock of greens. How many times I have haunted and taunted this girl to buy fresh palak and mint everyday! She just doesn't seem to understand the value of good, fresh food. Poor soul, what can she too do? Burried under so much of responsibilities. Let me do the grocery shopping.  Ramu... Ramu... This Kanpur Royal just doesn't listen to me. Who is the authority over whom, I fail to understand. Half the time this Alice is lost in his wonderland. Bless the buffaloo like chewing of Ranjnigandha... Gadha kahi ka... Good for nothing fellow. Ramu... Ramu... If you don't answer now, I will bury you alive in the courtyard and beautiful rajnigandhas will grow on it. I'm shrieking  like an inhumane siren yet this mortal doesn't seem to hear me. Forget it, I will do the needful.  Hay Allah... Look how the tap is flowing!!! My Ganga rituals are yet pending. That doesn't mean they have to be done today. Wh...