At 12.40 am, the watchman at the security gate of Keshav Kunj apartment woke up with a phone call on the intercom. “A bunch of people are making noise outside the gate. I am unable to sleep. Can you check who it is?” the voice on the other side said. The watchman instantly recognised it … Read more
It started raining just as I stepped out. A proper, old-fashioned rain — the kind that doesn’t drizzle politely but declares its arrival like a marching band. I ran for shelter under a nearby shop’s awning, only to realize it was a small, weathered umbrella repair shop. The irony wasn’t lost on me. A man … Read more
A few days back, I travelled overnight by train after a very long time. Trains were commonplace while in college but now seemed like a new world that I hadn’t visited for years. I found my mind restless during the journey as the bogies reverberated on the tracks. As it got close to midnight on … Read more
There’s a small barber shop near the corner of my street. In fact, a few have popped up over the past couple of years. They had mostly shut down after COVID, and even I had got into the habit of calling for a haircut at home. But, of late, I started revisiting the new ones, … Read more
When Nikhil and I set out on that trip, we weren’t expecting royalty. But Domli had other plans. It started with a phone call from the Rani Saheba herself — her voice filled with pride about her great-grandfather, Tribhuvansinhji Bapu, a Cambridge-educated ruler who once gave his kingdom modern sewage systems and cricket grounds. Her … Read more
Ping. Ping. Ping-ping-ping. The phone wouldn’t stop buzzing that morning. I glanced at the screen. It was our apartment WhatsApp group — the one meant for “important updates only.” The thing about the Keshav Kunj WhatsApp group is this: it always starts with good intentions. Someone shares a helpful reminder, like “Garbage pickup time has … Read more
At 2 a.m., the world outside was still. Inside my head, it was anything but. I was close to 11,000 feet above mean sea level, trying to sleep in my hotel room. The ceiling fan whirred softly above me, a steady rhythm that somehow made the silence louder. I thought I was sweating. I turned … Read more
There’s a little tea stall at the corner of our street. It is an old one. The paint is peeling, the wooden benches are wobbly, and the tea is always a little too sweet. But no one seems to mind. Every morning, the place fills up with people — strangers, neighbors, and regulars – all … Read more
The radio was playing an old song I hadn’t heard in years. Suddenly, it wasn’t just music anymore. It was the soft lilting of the song, the sound of melody drifting from the next room, and a presence I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. For a moment, I wasn’t sitting in my present. … Read more