Reality Check
"Welcome to Colosseum, the big daddy of all reality shows, where the show goes on, no matter what," declares the host with...
5 min read9 comments
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Chosen by the Watchers over the years.
Hope Amidst The Sirens
These are the moments you live for. The soothing sea-breeze caresses our cheeks, whispering secrets of faraway lands. Splattering the sky in...
3 min read3 comments
Holy Cow! (Part II)
“Marry a cow,” said Swamiji without flinching a muscle in his face. “What?” the supreme star, as he was known in the...
3 min read2 comments
At the Stroke of Midnight
Damn it! That maligning prober. That godforsaken ECG machine eavesdrop, clinging to my thoracic home. The tattletale encrypted my movements in zigzag...
3 min read2 comments
Devils of Moloch
‘Come on Grandma, tell us a tale,’ requested seven-year-old Mark. ‘And it has to be a new story. We know all your...
10 min read2 comments
Divine Intervention
Out of all my friends, I am the only one who is ok with how things are now. You see, I have...
15 min read1 comment
Loved and talked about
From the archive: the stories readers liked and discussed most.
WAITING FOR MY MUSE
Darkness crept in like a snail between the dense foliage, putting an end to the incessant chirping of birds. I lay down...
6 min read22 comments
Guilty or Not Guilty.. ?
Standing outside this beautiful log cabin, just admiring the beauty. Nature at it's best. Peace .. yes that's what I wanted. Had...
sona✓
7 min read18 comments
A Solo Trip
Day 1The first thing I noticed about this place is the depth of peace. I have not experienced this kind of peace...
6 min read18 comments
MYSTIFYING MATHEMATICS
MYSTIFYING MATHEMATICS ‘If the age of the mother is five times more than thrice the age of the uncle, whose age is...
6 min read17 comments
A Christmas Story
The quaint little village of Helmsdale had witnessed nature’s fury and stood still like an admonished child draped by a blanket of...
3 min read16 comments
BRAVEHEART
Torrential rains lash out against the glass panes. Gusts of wind enter through a gap from the exhaust fan in the kitchen,...
3 min read16 comments
Three minutes or less
Short enough for a tea break.
The Confession
Man: “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been… quite some time since my last confession. I was once one...
3 min read12 comments
Dear Zindagi
“You will have a best friend for life. You can even name it," said Amma. This is how you came into my...
sona✓
3 min read12 comments
Sound of Music
'Shree Mahaaa Ganapathim……………,' the invocation to Lord Ganesha wafted through the early morning air. I sprang up from my bed. Had I...
3 min read12 comments
Long reads
Ten minutes or more, for when you have time.
LOVE COMES IN ALL DOSES
Prem took a sip of his Merlot and leaned back in his plush leather couch, closing his eyes. A few creases, however,...
12 min read14 comments
What a Wonderful World…
"I see trees so green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself what...
sona✓
11 min read12 comments
Potion 387
The February cold wind blew with a strong drift as Tarun entered the cafe. Few patrons scattered in an otherwise ever-crowded joint...
13 min read12 comments
Adventure
IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
Keerthana stumbled as she stepped down the school bus and the leering conductor clutched her arms to steady her. She threw a...
5 min read11 comments
(Mis)adventures of (Mis)spent Afternoons
August 1940. They were a raggedly bunch of 10-year old lads, on the cusp of adolescence. The war made their families entrust...
4 min read1 comment
Reunion with the Cousins
Incident 1A girl and a boy, both in their mid-twenties and presumably in love, are walking leisurely across the moor. They seem...
18 min read10 comments
Crime & Mystery
The Lost Shepherd
10 am, February 2003. New York, District Court. “All rise for the Honourable Judge Richards.” At the bailiff’s announcement, all rose. Judge...
14 min read
The Race of Life
The two horse trainers approached the stables on a moonlit night. There was a leap in their step, excitement writ large on...
11 min read
The (w)Hole Truth
Whoosh! And she was gone! Gone down the rabbit hole, just like Alice in Wonderland. 21 year old Alicia Creado had been...
3 min read
Drama
The Girl at the Bus Station
Snow was falling in soft fluffs as I waited at the bus station at Kullu. I was posted there as S.P City....
5 min read14 comments
Bichitra
An ominous hooting pierces through the woods as I jerk up awake, “Ama?” a grim silence greets me. “Where are you?” Patting...
6 min read14 comments
A cinderella story
Mama, one more story please. " Miriam had pleaded that night. She had desperately wanted mama to read out the story with...
3 min read11 comments
Family & Relationships
The Red Shoes
His warm breath fogged the windowpane, blurring his view. Across the glass was a different world - a world filled with variety....
3 min read11 comments
The Deluge
The sound of the rain pounding heavily on the roof grew deafeningly loud. There was no respite from the downpour in the...
3 min read
Mirages
The enticing aroma of coffee wafted across CCD, as l lost myself in the dreamy eyes of my wife, Priya. The hint...
3 min read
Fantasy
Welcome, it’s Shivani’s world!
Welcome, it's Shivani’s world. Amrita was sitting on the porch under the neem tree when Shivani came hopping to her. “How did...
11 min read11 comments
And, Life Goes On
Emeralds, ambers, and sapphires sparkle in pairs. Scintillating shimmer loops around us, weaving this way and that. A purr follows a buzz....
11 min read
200 years of (Soul)itude
Tonight is the night of the blood moon. A Shaman had once told me these nights are marked for marvel. I peered...
15 min read
Historical Fiction
The King is dead, Long Live the Queen
“Does it hurt, mon cher?” “Like it is on fire,” Henry shifted his swollen leg that was weeping pus into the bandage....
6 min read
Curse of the Corse
1227 AD, Burkhan Khaldun The digging was at its peak. It had started on the thirteenth day, when we had arrived at...
SanB✓
6 min read
I, Anastasia
The basement was dank and smelt of fear, a mixture of breath, sweat, and urine. It was too small for all of...
5 min read
Horror & Dark
It
The search for it was on. It was already noon in the deceitful marshes of Mulleton and the nearby forest of Wickle....
3 min read
The Road Taken
Kallar Ghat was hardly motorable. Landslides left nearly two scores of people dead and a few more missing. Many remained buried inside...
3 min read
An Arachnid Anecdote
"I love spiders....." I spoke aloud to convince myself and failed…. Shoo...shooo….. I cringed in horror…. Three hairy brown arachnids crawled over...
3 min read
Humour & Satire
The curse of the millennial
Ah, bliss! I inhaled the aroma of the soggy detritus. I heard it – the stygian sound of silence. When you work...
6 min read13 comments
Close Encounters of Third Kind
“ What !” I was surprised when my spouse of thirty years suddenly declared that she wanted to learn driving.‘ Now don’t...
3 min read10 comments
Love is in the air
It’s that time of the year. The pompous word makes a flashy appearance, yet again. It entices me to step out of...
3 min read10 comments
Fresh from the room
The newest stories.
Christmas Wishes
Christmas Wishes. November 26th, 2025. Steve languished in his barca lounger, the TV playing reruns of a baseball match he had no...
3 min read
Wrong number: Right Choice
Dona, 25, was a science graduate working as a Quality Control Assistant in a pharmaceutical company. She loved her job, but restructuring...
3 min read
Mistaken identity
It was a lazy Sunday noon. But Darshana was feeling fresh and active. She decided to go for driving practice. As she...
3 min read
The Accidental Bestseller
At 2:17 a.m., after his forty-seventh rejection, Madhav decided the publishing industry needed to die. Preferably before breakfast. He dialled the number...
3 min read
The Donation
Anne looked at the stack of bills on the table. Electricity, gas, phone, water. There were also others. Jithin’s school fees,the house...
3 min read
Entwined souls
The kajal in her eyes sparkled, and the happiness melodiously moved to her lips. She blushed, embracing the glow on her dusky...
3 min read