I stepped into the lady's compartment of the 7.09 Virar-Churchgate local on the first morning of my work. In Mumbai they say that if you have travelled by this jam-packed train, then you can survive anywhere. Every halt brought more ladies into the compartment. A few...

There were guests in my house today for my 60th birthday. Regrettably, my maid, Shantabai, did not show up for work despite my repeated instructions to her yesterday about the presence of guests. She had nodded in agreement, leaving no room for doubt about her...

Seated on her reclining chair on the verandah of her posh three-bedroom apartment,  Priyanka Sethi savoured her evening tea. She inhaled the enchanting fragrance of the petrichor that accompanied the first rains. Such recreational moments were possible only on...

With a sinking heart, Piyush opened the invitation card that the driver of the Bhatias gave him. The Bhatia couple Rohit and Sneha had invited Piyush Mehera, his wife Reema, and their seven-year-old son Maher for their son's sixth birthday party. Piyush dreaded this...

"When will Dad come back?" My five-year-old son, Ketan, sobbed seeing his father leaving with a suitcase. My husband, Mukesh, traveled to Ratlam for a week once a month. Ratlam's exquisite zari sarees and dress materials fetched a reasonable price back in Ahmedabad,...

The February cold wind blew with a strong drift as Tarun entered the cafe. Few patrons scattered in an otherwise ever-crowded joint made it feasible for Tarun to find a secluded two-seater table near the window. Soham had explicitly asked him to take a seat to enable...