Stories Varied A Book Of Short Stories

Stories Varied delve into the possibilities of woman’s life in the man’s world. While 'Ilaa’s Ire' takes one back to woman’s life and times in the Vedic age, ‘201’ Qualms depicts her predicament when torn between trust and duty. If “?” addresses woman’s marital stress in an alien land, 'Cupid’s Clue' is about her acting on a rebound in the native place. Even as 'Autumn Love' enables a woman to discover the void late in life, 'A Touchy Affair' renders her amenable to her man’s other woman well in time.Just as 'Love’s How’s That' inflames her old flame, 'A Hearty Turn' brings the female lesbian leanings to the fore. As 'Love Jihad' bridges lovers’ religious divide with a secular plank, 'Tenth Nook' creates a marital gulf on the material plane. If 'Eleventh Hour' is about woman’s lust for love, 'Twelfth Tale' underscores her quest for power.Book excerpt from 'Autumn Love' for a feel of its literary style -‘Is it a point of no return?’ she thought involuntarily
moving to the edge of the chair.

Reading his ‘have you forgotten about the castration?’
message, she sank into the chair thinking, ‘is it a lighthearted joke or as a
loaded message?’, and for a clue, began to recall the events of the year passed
by.

‘Oh, how my life had turned on its head when I turned
fifty?’ she thought in wonderment. ‘That’s when I immunized my heart against
attractions and insulated my life from vacillations! So I believed, didn’t I?
But when he enamored my heart to give a flirty spin to my life, didn’t it dawn
upon me that I had only sterilized it for a ritual regimen, and no more. Oh,
how his first glance pierced my heart to stir my life that very instant!’

Returning from a temple when she found him alone in the
drawing room, she felt as if god had sent his angle to receive her in her own
abode. The moment their eyes met, it was as if they began their joint search
for a love ground to share, which they had to abandon as her husband entered
the scene from behind the curtain.

He was a friend of her husband’s childhood pal settled in
the States. Having spent the best part of his life there, he came back with his
wife for good, leaving their two children, who were US citizens. That was six
months back and they had since settled in Hyderabad, where, incidentally, both
her married daughters stayed. As he happened to be in their town alone, to
explore some business opportunities there, that evening, he came to call on her
husband at their common-friend’s behest. Introductions over, as her husband
wanted her to prepare some coffee for them; she went into the kitchen with a
heavy heart.

‘While my missing his sight had understandably irked me,
didn’t the thought that he too would miss my sight inexplicably hurt me?’ she
began reminiscing about that dream encounter. ‘But then, how the smell of the
boiling decoction lifted my spirits for it portended serving him some steamy
coffee with my own hands. When he said he never tasted anything better, how I
hoped he would leave some dregs for my palate to share his satisfaction. What a
disappointment it was seeing him empty the cup and how exhilarated I was when
he said he had broken his life-long habit of leaving the dregs. Then, as he was
preparing to leave, how depressed I was, but how relieved I was when my husband
invited him to visit us again!’

She got up from the chair and as if to walk down the memory
lane, she walked up to the compound gate.