Tag: Story

…B’cos I’m the Good Thing!

Shankar was a middle-aged bearded guy who nestled the violin on his paunch and played for passersby. His melody was a panacea for a depressed heart and uplifting for the dejected and the heartbroken. Passersby who were in a great hurry would pause to give a ear to his sweet melody. At the end of the day, Shankar was happy with the jingling bag of coins he earned dropped forth by passersby who chose to reward him for his renditions.

One day a lady offered Shankar a gold coin which she said she had offered him in return for the beautiful rendition of a piece which her deceased husband had played for her.

“I can feel my husband alive and playing for me,” she said with tears in her eyes.

A group of young entrepreneurs who heard him play while going for work happened to pass by that very day.

A brash and arrogant young entrepreneur from the group laughed as he said to Shankar “I have seen you play at the same spot for the last 8 years… You are still stuck here…Why do good things never happen to you?!!”

Shankar smiled and said “good question…because I’m the good thing…”

The Unmatched DNA

Short Story

The Shenoys were residents of Banjara hills, Hyderabad which is now a part of Telangana. Shantanu Shenoy worked for the LIC and his wife was a bank employee. Shantanu Shenoy and Gayatri Shenoy had a son named Vikrant. The couple worked hard to provide their only son a decent education. Vikrant studied in the best schools and colleges of Hyderabad, did software engineering from IIT Chennai and went to work in the United States. He secured placement in the best software company of LA California .During his initial years in LA, he made frequent calls to his parents, chatted with them over skype and even sent tickets for them to visit him. After a few years, he married Columbian girl and settled there. The calls to his parents had now become infrequent. He cited official work as the reason behind his lack of communication with his parents.

Vikrant’s mother Gayatri fell ill and passed away but he did not show up even for her last rites. Infuriated, Shantanu decided to dispossess Vikrant from his property. When Vikrant learnt about this, he flew back to India with his wife and 1 year old son. He said he would involve the best of lawyers to assert his claim on his ancestral property. His father said- You have proved that we are not related by blood.

What do you mean?- questioned Vikrant.

Many, many years ago, Gayatri and I had found a baby at the temple doorstep in the wee hours of the night. We brought the baby home and decided that we would do our best to provide this child a happy home and a secure future.

Why don’t you go for a DNA test to ascertain as to what your father is saying is right- said Vikrant‘s wife to her worried husband. The idea seemed plausible to Vikrant. He decided to undergo the DNA test and waited with bated breath for the test reports.

.

.

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To his utter disbelief, his father Shantanu had failed the DNA test. Vikrant was shame-faced and teary eyed for having deceived his adoptive parents.

That night Ramu kaka, an old and dependable servant of the Shenoy’s questioned Mr Shantanu- If Vikrant was adopted, why was it kept under wraps for so many years. I find this hard to believe!

He was not adopted… we are very much related by blood… it’s just that our DNAs do not match!- said Mr Shantanu and retired to his room.

The Missing Jewels!

By Manjari

Naina was a educated young homemaker in her late 20s hailing from a good family background and her good breeding was reflected in her behaviour and demeanour. She was the right admix of genteelness, wit and humour. She was married to Vedant Malhotra., a doctor by profession and the couple had two lovely daughters, Gaurika( aged 12) and Vedika ( aged 9). The Malhotras resided In the posh Malviya Nagar area of New Delhi.

The Malhotras were all set to attend Vedant’s Sister’s (Madura) daughter’s wedding in Udaipur in the month of February. Udaipur was at its glorious best during this time of the year and the wedding host’s residence was teeming with multitudinous guests who had come from different corners of the country to attend the event. Naina was a little apprehensive about her jewellery that she had carried in her luggage to be worn during the nuptials.

“Why don’t you hand it over to didi. She will keep it safely in a locker away from prying eyes,” suggested Vedant.

10 years into the marriage, Naina was not oblivious to Madura’s crooked ways.

“I’d rather have my jewellery stolen than give it away to Madura didi,” Naina thought.

Despite the knowledge that Madura was not dependable, Naina handed over all her jewellery to the lady as she didn’t want to hurt her husband. After all, Madura was Vedant’s only sister and was so very dear to him.

The wedding nuptials were a memorable affair leaving lasting imprint on the minds of those present.

However, a minor glitch played the spoilt sport in an otherwise smooth running affair.

Much to her expectations, Naina realised that a few pieces of her jewellery were found missing from her collection which Madura had returned to her.

“Didi where is one of my necklace sets that I had handed you over; the one with emeralds and rubies?”

“I have safely returned all that you had handed over. You could even check my locker for your personal satisfaction,” Madura said brazenly.

“Didi, this is absolutely uncalled for. If you are saying that you have returned every piece of Naina’s jewellery then so be it! Naina you must check your bag thoroughly before jumping to lame conclusions,” remarked Vedant defending his sister Madura.

Naina exercised her presence of mind and wit to resolve this seemingly knotty situation.”You are absolutely right Vedant. All my pieces are intact. In fact, didi seems to have passed on one of her exquisite pieces to my collection. Didi, could you shed some light on the matter,” she said showing Madura one of the necklaces.

“Oh.. yes, yes that was my favourite piece. I wonder how I could get so careless as to pass on one of my favourite pieces to your collection,” said the avaricious Madura who couldn’t seem to have enough of such stuff.

“How can you say that Madura when I myself had gifted the piece to Naina upon the birth of Gaurika. It seems you have been lying all along.You wicked woman! I’m sure you have stolen the necklace set which Naina has been talking about. Should we have Naina check your locker?” said Madura’s husband Anand fumingly.

Madura’s plan had backfired on her.She felt totally ashamed and lost for words.

Patience is a Virtue

Once a man named Chandrashekhar was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 3 years for a crime he had not committed. He had to share room with seasoned criminals, the food was bland, the jail inmates were woken up early in the morning and made to slog. There was no way he could prove his innocence after the final court order. He was guilty in the eyes of law and a culprit in the eyes of the public.

He could have had a breakdown but he remained calm and collected. He rose early, participated actively in the daily affairs and started writing an autobiography wherein he narrated how from a successful businessman he was reduced to dust after his name was hurled into a scam by the machinations of his deceitful business partner. He quite often missed his three year old daughter and would stare at her photograph for hours till tears trickled down his cheeks. Chandrashekhar’s wife would come to meet him in jail. She had told their daughter that father had crossed seven seas to get a laughing doll for her.

Days passed and just when he had finished penning his novel, he was released from jail nine months prior to his release date on the basis of good behaviour and conduct.

He always had the choice to become depressed, sulk and brood over life but he took things as a challenge and turned circumstances in his favour. His book became an international best seller.

We all are thrust into difficult situations; how we deal with it is what matters!