culture

As I walked briskly in keeping with the exercise requirements of my diet regime, listening to the intoxicating and incessant drumming in Get Ready by Rare Earth, I had an epiphany: I could be dead in a few weeks because of the pandemic.

I didn’t panic, but looked up at the sky and everything appeared so very special – the stars, the golden pancake moon darting between clouds, and even the clouds themselves for their amorphous fluffiness. [Read more…] about How I Feel about the Pandemic

In case I had forgotten, I am reminded. I am back in Delhi, the city of my childhood. “Be careful”, cautions Maya, the caretaker who I had known as a young school girl and is now a mother of three daughters in their twenties. Two of Maya’s front teeth are missing, like absent milestones of time, marking the passage of some 40 years. “Be careful of the dogs, big brother”, she warns me.

I go to the balcony and look outside. Hordes of stray mongrels roam the streets. Some have colourful winter coats on. Occasionally, they settle some canine scores with sporadic fights, but are peaceful on the whole. [Read more…] about The Black and White Dog

Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth

A short version of this story recently won the first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).

The SCPSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information. [Read more…] about Stolen Murder

Editor’s note: A new Saturday Story series by Gopi Chandroth

A short version of this story recently won the joint first prize in a competition held by the Society for Civil and Public Service Writers (SCPSW).

The SPCSW membership is open to civil and public servants, current or retired, including local government, NHS and the police. Contact Gopinath.chandroth@gmail.com for more information. [Read more…] about A Two-Way Ticket for Goats