Shaken and Stirred

  Ever since I learnt how to drive, I have felt how each drive is a microcosm of life itself or at least a slice of it. In this series of short stories, I shall purport to portray the parallels that I perceived. I have noticed several times that when I drive, my speed and aggression on the road closely correlate to my emotional state. This is a story about driving under a great deal of stress. Swati got into her car. She was shaking all over. She had no idea why. To be more exact, she had no idea exactly why. It wasn’t rage. There was no anger, only resolve. To know the truth, one way or another. As her car shot out of the basement parking, she was on autopilot and yet driving faster than she had ever done. “What am I going to get from this?” she asked herself. Perhaps some peace of mind that she was not going crazy. That would be great after all she had been through in the past couple of weeks. Her Red Suzuki Swift was deftly responding to her every move almost before ...

Once upon a time, there lived Handsome Prince who left The Capital to go to The Far Far South. Though his friends laughed at his prospects there, he did not lose hope. He was duly rewarded for his optimism and confidence in the form of Beautiful Maiden who fell in 'like' with him. It was the calmest of nights. Prince and Maiden were walking alone when he (being a daring fellow) thought it will be really adventurous to check out a damp and abandoned shed , whose thatched roof had caved in. Once inside the two shared deep personal feelings (the ambience brought it out) and comforted each other. Maiden, quite overcome, put her head on Prince's lap. Prince was immediately struck by a strong feeling of deja vu. He recalled another intimate incident when Hot Maiden had put her head on his shoulder. Being quite young at the time and having a rather reserved upbringing, he had no clue what was to be done and all that resulted for Prince was a backache. That was the one high point ...