Extraordinary drama rarely announces itself in everyday life — yet it is often hidden in ordinary moments.
These short stories explore the lives of everyday people navigating love, loss, restlessness, humour, and unexpected change. Each piece offers a brief window into a moment that reveals something deeper about the human experience.
Browse the stories below and discover these everyday epics.
In Varanasi, Pappu Pandey gazed at his dear friend Lalu Mishra’s dead body on the pyre. He stood next to Lalu’s son Pratap waiting for proceedings to begin. He was at a makeshift crematorium ghat next to the main one at Manikarnika. It was for people who had passed away due to the lethal pandemic … Read more
When everyone had left, Disha secretly checked the wallet she had given to her son again. She counted the money, and reconfirmed that the amount was two hundred rupees lesser than what she had given him. She dabbled around in the drawer of the wardrobe. She found a few pencils, crayons, and some paper. There … Read more
At about 4 PM while sipping his tea, Appa More called his friend Bapu Nadkarni on his mobile, but he did not pick it up. Fifteen minutes later, Appa’s phone rang. It was Arnav, the grandson of his friend Bapu. “Hello Arnav, how are you? I was trying to reach your grandfather some time back,” … Read more
It had been five weeks since his mother forced him to join the karate classes of Sakpal Sir. For 16-year-old Vinay, it felt like these were the worst five weeks of his life. Being obese was reason enough to attract unwanted attraction. But by being the last to complete any exercise, Vinay made others feel … Read more
On a normal working day, Robin Warne would be in some corporate meeting this time in the afternoon. But today was a light afternoon at work, to his delight. So he sat at his desk staring at the laptop screen, pretending to be busy. At his level in the company, he couldn’t afford to look … Read more
Why did God give the human species the intelligence to invent the mobile phone? Sitting alone in a plush restaurant in despair, young Rakesh Oswal threw his phone away. Even in the AC of the restaurant, his forehead had a few drops of sweat. Lots of questions filled his tormented head. In a moment, he … Read more
At 9.30 AM, the doorbell rang and 82-year-old Bapu opened the door of his house. He found an apple outside it. It intrigued him, to say the least. He gave it a cold but close look. It indeed was an apple, his favourite fruit. A nice, red, ripe apple plucked fresh from a tree, Bapu … Read more
“Ladies and Gentlemen, May I have your kind attention please?” announced Jaspal Singh from the stage. “This occasion deserves special cheers. Can everyone please raise a toast to Mr. and Mrs. Malvinder Singh?” Mr. Malvinder Singh and Mrs. Gurvinder Kaur started walking to the podium. It was their fiftieth wedding anniversary. As the 76-year-old ‘groom’ … Read more
Thimappa gathered the garbage with his shovel and pushed it on to the cloth sheet. It was at that time that he saw a small object shining through. He lifted one end of the cloth sheet and Santosh held the other end. Together they lifted the garbage, swung the sheet, and pushed the garbage into … Read more