King of Spades

Sex-Among the favourite Human Pastimes. Morality-To each, his own definition. Censorship-Something we all love to rebel against, in all walks of life. Now when one has all these three words as a single title, it is bound to catch your attention and that’s exactly what happened! Surfing through the papers on a lazy Sunday morning, i noticed this interesting title. What followed was a quick online booking of tickets and me and my friend were well on our way to this play at Prithvi. On entering the first thing that strikes you is the nicely decorated set using light bulbs that add their own rustic charm to the stage . The play starts off as a dialogue between a Tamasha artist and a Shahir both facing the onslaught of the so called cultural censorship of their trade. They are soon joined by a historian who supports the Shahir in taking the Tamasha artist and with her, the audience through the play of Sakharam Binder.Sakharam Binder was a play written by the late Vijay Tendulkar in 1...

There she was…by the side of the window..a bit scared,a bit confused and with an expression that would put alice in wonderland to shame! She looked totally out of place. Ya, she was sitting in a local train, but in a crowded gents compartment! He wondered how a girl all alone by herself would have chosen to get into a gents compartment and that too when the rush hour has just started. At first glance their eyes met , as he jostled his way into the inside compartment of the local train. An old man who was sitting beside the girl got up and he sat beside her. She smiled when he sat and he smiled back. After two more stations and a never ending silence he decided to break the ice. “So what’s your name?”....he asked . Kanjurmarg!.....pat came the reply. What! He replied , a bit shocked at the reply. “No No sorry is this kanjurmarg?” She enquired. No, kanjurmarg was two stations back, u wanted to get down there is it? He asked. “ No No not at all…just asking!...” she replied . ...

Sometimes the most beautiful love stories end, before they even begin... but then the love still remains and that’s where the real beauty lies. It was the 14th of February, 6pm. He didn’t want to be late. He had waited long enough for this day to come in his life. The 14th of feb is a special day for all lovers . It is a day when you make your loved ones feel special, show them how much they mean to you, how much you care for them. More importantly tell them what you feel about them. For Shankar it was all the more special, this day had come in his life 36 years after it should actually have! As Shankar dressed up for the occasion, he looked at the mirror. White shirt ( her favorite colour), Dark Brown pants…Neat casuals , yes the hair was a bit of salt and pepper but the heart was young. It still had the same beat ( 140 beats per min!), the same excitement and yes the same longing for her,as it had 36 years ago! It was the third day of junior college. As Shankar sat in his clas...

The 30th of April in the summer of 2009. Possibly the most talked about, hyped and eagerly awaited date in the recent history of Mumbai. Most talked about by the NGOs who wanted people to come out and exercise their right to vote. Hyped by the media who needed fodder to run their 24x7 news channels and ... Eagerly awaited by the politicians so that they can remove their goody-goody masks after the day. Among all of these was the common man, yours truly included who were waiting to vote for a change. After all,things were different this time.Mumbai was held hostage for 3 days and the Mumbaikars for many more. Some survivors still recounting the horror that they had to face and the ones who lost their dear ones,for them god knows how many days will it take to overcome the fear and shock of the terror attack. It was the 26th of November. Actually the drama began at midnight, when terrorists from across the border entered Mumbai and created havoc on the streets, platforms and tou...

Dedicated to all those Smart asses that stayed at home Dedicated to all those Adventurous asses that ventured out and last but not the least…. Dedicated to all those Miserable asses that got stuck…you hoo! It was the second day of the sales training. We were supposed to report at 8:30 at Goregaon Warehouse .It was raining heavily overnight. At 6:00 when I woke up, I saw that the rains had still not relented. They were coming Full-on. I called up my friend at Parla. The smart guy said, said,”Chalte hain yaar…lets make it. I am coming.”. “Ok then meet you at the station”, I said. This was the sentence….THAT CHANGED IT ALL….. Left the house at 7.Was still down for another twenty minutes.No auto,bus in sight!.A few school children were excited, their bus had not come. So obviously they sensed an off. Unlucky me, my sixth sense had died the previous month !. I took a rick to the station. Boarded the train which took 5mins just to move out off the station. The guy in front of me go...

Vikram had heard about him. But had never interacted with him very openly. His name was Raju. He was among the popular people at Star hotel. Since Vikram had to tour a lot especially to the south, Star hotel in Pondicherry was where he used to stay. Unlike other hotels this was a quite and less crowded place. The USP was its proximity to the sea. Almost all the rooms had a magnificient view of the beautiful white sands of pondicherry beach. Raju used to be there every morning by the side of the reception desk, greeting people cheerfully with his captivating smile as they entered. He used to help them to their rooms and even go out of the way to ensure that every guest was well looked after, even though he was not the only Waiter at star. Yes, he was a waiter but in terms of popularity he was the real star. Apart from that his duty was to ensure to keep the lobby clean. As the hotel was popular people used to check in quite frequently,often the guests used to walk in with the sand on...

The face was calm and composed. There was a positive aura surrounding her,the way it had always been. 'Amma' was what she was known as in our locality. Her real name was Dhairyalaksmi, Dhairya meaning courage, something which she had always represented throughout her life.As Kartik stood there watching her, memories flashed through his mind. Amma had moved into the colony with her husband and son around 30 years back. Her son Vinod was of Kartik’s age and in no time they became the best of friends. Being neighbours he often used to spend time in their household. She always used to treat him equally as her son which was a quality, Kartik thought was rare to find. The morning hours in their household used to be bathed in loud carnatic music. She had immense faith in god and which reflected in whatever she did.Everyday as he and Vinod left for school she used to say, “Bye, Kartik. Take good care of Vinod”!. Life has its own strange ways of unfolding events and that was precis...