Day: August 14, 2016

The village was in the grip of a near devastating drought and famine. Three consecutive monsoons had failed. Food was scarce, not to mention drinking water. It was dry everywhere around and people walked miles to get drinking water. The cattle stock too had dwindled drastically, and those alive had only bones and skin on them. Life for the village was hard and people were eagerly waiting for the next monsoon. It had been predicted that this monsoon would bring good rains to the village. This was the only consolation…

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She was clad in white cotton sari just like the other women prisoners. Except for the nights when she had to be alone in her cell, and which she always longed for, she was always with her fellow prisoners. Every morning, the instant the prison clock struck six, she had to start work along with others and wait in queues for her daily meals. She wasn’t any particular of her food; for all that she wanted was something that would help her last the next day. She had to toil…

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His age cannot be more than fifty, or less than forty. Tall, lean and dark, with a short white beard, he had his shop by the roadside. It was a very small shop, hardly enough to seat two people. He sat there in the middle of it, stitching a torn slipper. Damaged shoes, slippers, soles and leather bits lay strewn around him. He looked at his son playing across the road, “Sankar come here, bring me some water”. “Coming appa”, the boy limped across the road, his right hand supporting…

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