In the summer of 1985 Arun KL confided in me. He was in love with a girl who was in my class. I was in seventh grade and he, in the eighth. He…
Category: chittoor
Be Calm and say Ram, Ram
The monkey’s (Bonnet Macaque to the foaming-at-the-mouth naturalists) exterior calm belied his cruel intentions. I should have known better. Monkeys in Chittoor, back in 1984, were omnipresent. They stole your utensils, ransacked…
Rosy
She waited to die in his lap. She waited for three whole weeks. And when my father returned to find that he didn’t get his usual welcome at the door, I saw…
Raghava Reddy’s Turtle
An exaggerated version of a true story, as told to me by a friend who chose to remain anonymous. Yeah. You’ll know why he did so after you have read this story.…
The Legend of Elikunji
Mothers spoke about him in hushed whispers. When they fed their babies. “If you don’t finish your lunch, Elikunji will take you away.” We debated “Does he exist? Or is it just…
Dabur Partha and the Tusker (part 2 of 2)
Continued from part 1 My feet refused to move. It was as if my legs had a mind of their own, and they hated me. A wave of dust blew right through…
Dabur Partha and the Tusker (part 1 of 2)
Someone stole Niall O’ Brien’s kit and that inspired me to recount this story The match was, how do I put it… ah!, tantalisingly poised. It was a ‘bet’ match. We were…
Did you do it?
Somewhere from across the hills abutting the Chittoor Arts college grounds, the Lapwing’s shrill call pierced the peace of our cricket match. “’Did-yoo-doo-it! Did-yoo-doo-it!” It questioned. I ambled to the bowling end.…
The End of the Revolution
A look at the news should tell you how the so called Maoists have embarked on a highway to self-destruction. No, I don’t know enough about their philosophy or why they took…
The Price You Gotta Pay
It was five in the morning. It was a balmy October day and the trees stood still. The town of Chittoor was pregnant with expectation. Chiranjeevi’s Raakshasudu was releasing that day. The…