कथा

Savita felt Sameer standing near her. She felt him lean down, his hand gently stroking her hair. She sat up with a start. Darkness was everywhere. A thick, impenetrable darkness. Her voice, a tremor, called out, “Sameer…” And then, just as quickly, she realised she was in her own bed. And Sameer was nowhere. In fact, no one was. There was only silence. A stillness. A terrifying void. She got up and opened the window. A sliver of light from outside crept in, lingering at her

It was just past three in the afternoon. The sprawling hospital’s outpatient department was quiet during the mid-day break, and with visiting hours for inpatients not yet started, the corridors were nearly empty. It was a moment of calm for the hospital staff. Just then, a sprightly gentleman, who had crossed seventy but wore none of its weariness, walked in. Finding the reception desk empty, he looked around until a nurse, who had been sitting nearby, approached him. She as

Only a handful of villages host a fair for the festival of Ram Navami, and in our Shirur taluka, the grandest of them all is likely the one in Kendur. Village fairs, or , invariably feature a wrestling arena and a folk theatre performance. A select few also host bullock cart races. In Kendur, the cart races were paramount, for this was the home of the Patil family’s famed —a racing cart renowned throughout the Pune district. Its lead bull was a champion in his own right, a s

He switches off the table lamp, lights a cigarette, and sits quietly in the chair. A dull ache lingers behind his eyes. He hopes the cigarette will lighten the heaviness in his head, and so he takes slow, deliberate drags, releasing plumes of smoke into the dark. The bedroom is shrouded in blackness, punctuated only by the glowing red ember of his cigarette. From his chair, he watches her. She is sprawled across the bed, a chaotic landscape of limbs. She has started to put

Of worldly snares, O mind, beware, For Time, the devourer, is drawing near. When Time makes its leap, a fearsome sight, neither mother nor father can aid your flight. The king of the land, the village chief, nor kith and kin can bring relief. Says Tuka, no one can set you free, save for the one who holds the cosmic key. I never got entangled in the world's web. Why would I lie? The god above is watching! He keeps a record of everything. It was the world itself that wrapped i

I was on my way home from my morning swim. As I passed under the railway bridge, I saw the same two transgender individuals begging. A little further on, the same tea stalls stood in a row, with the same men sitting at the counters, selling the same tea from dawn till night. The same daily routine. Don't they ever get bored? Not them, nor most other people, it seems. Sometimes I think they are the ones who have understood life. They have realized that a large part of it is bo

This isn't one of those high-stakes murder mysteries, a breathless thriller about a gruesome crime and the genius detective who solves it by pulling a universe from a single thread of evidence. No, this is a lighter, more curious tale. It’s a story about the extraordinary lengths people will go to for their livelihood, the absurd situations they can orchestrate, and the complex knots they can tie. It is a story about how, with a calm head, the police can navigate these mazes,

In the city of Gurdaspur in Punjab lived Samsher Bahadur, who had only one son. Samsher Bahadur himself was a Wing Commander in the Air Force, and his family’s legacy was one of valor. For three generations, his ancestors had demonstrated their mettle in the armed forces. His was a family of warriors who carried their lives on the palms of their hands for the sake of the nation. Indeed, certain regions of our country give birth to such bravehearts, for whom sacrificing their

नेहमीप्रमाणे राहुल झोपेतून उठला आणि उठल्या-उठल्या त्याने आपला मोबाइल चेक केला. मोबाइल व्यवस्थित चार्ज झाला होता. राहुल ट्रोलिंगचं काम करायचा, त्यामुळे 'दोन घास कमी खाऊ, पण मोबाइल मात्र फुल चार्ज ठेवू' हे त्याचं नेहमीचं धोरण होतं. लगेच त्याने सोशल मीडियावर आज सकाळपासून काय काय घडलंय याचा शोध घ्यायला सुरुवात केली. पण आजचा दिवस खूपच वेगळा होता. अलिबागचे राऊत चढाचे मासे पकडायला गेले होते, त्यामुळे आज त्यांना सकाळी-सकाळी पत्रकार परिषद घ्यायला वेळ मिळाला नव्हता. महागुरू विपश्यनेला

लग्नानंतर बरीच वर्षे मूल होत नाही म्हणून रामराव पाटलांनी आपल्या ज्येष्ठ मुलाचं दुसरं लग्न करण्याचा घाट घातला. खरं पाहता निशिगंध आणि त्याची बायको निशा यांना हा विचारच मान्य व पटणारा नव्हता. रामरावांच्या पश्चात त्यांनी तज्ज्ञ डॉक्टराकडून सर्व शारीरिक तपासण्या करून घेतल्या होत्या. तपासण्याच्या निष्कर्षात त्या दोघांमध्ये कोणताच दोष आढळून आला नाही. योग्य वेळी कदाचित मूल होऊ शकेल असे डॉक्टरांचे मत होते. त्यामुळे निशा आणि निशिगंध याबाबत अगदीच तणावविरहित होते. शिवाय मूल होणं म्हणजे ज

शिरीष आपटे. साहित्य क्षेत्रातील खूप मोठं नाव होतं. मराठी प्रकाशनाबरोबरच त्यांनी इंटरनेटच्या माध्यमाद्वारे जगात स्वत:च्या प्रकाशनाचा व्यवसाय मोठ्या प्रमाणात वाढवला होता. साहित्याशिवाय माणसाचे जीवन निरर्थक असे त्यांना वाटायचे. मराठी साहित्य जपण्याचे त्यांनी जणू व्रत घेतले होते. लेखनात तसेच प्रकाशन क्षेत्रात अनेक पारितोषिकं मिळवली होती. अनेक भाषेतील अनुवादित साहित्य त्यांनी प्रकाशित केलं होतं. नेहमीप्रमाणे ते आपल्या कार्यालयात बसले होते. त्यांनी देसाईंना इंटरकॉम केला. ‘‘देसाई, क

स्मिताची सकाळपासूनच धावपळ चाललेली होती. तिने अर्ध्या तासात दहा वेळा अमरला हाक मारून ‘लवकर तयार हो’, असे वेगवेगळ्या भावछटांच्या आवाजात सांगितले. शेवटी खर्जापासून सुरू झालेले नावांचे हे आवर्तन अखेरीस तारसप्तकाला पोचले तेव्हा मात्र अमरला पुढच्या धोक्याची जाणीव झाली. त्याने लगबगीने बाथरूमकडे धाव घेत हिटरचे बटण दाबले. दार लावून घेत त्याने दाढीचा तयार फेस गालावर चोळला. रेझरचे चार-सहा फटकारे मारून चेहर्‍यावर पाण्याचे हबके मारायला सुरूवात केली. अमरने आपले बूड हलवल्याने स्मिताच्या कपा

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