By the time everyone finished lunch, it was already early dusk. The sun was nearly gone, and a cold darkness crept in from all sides, even like the fog that had congealed into a dense curtain over the warm waters of the Ganga. I pulled my cap tightly over my ears and made sure the…… Continue reading The Reunion XXXV: The Ganga Aarti
Category: Fiction
A Joker lurks inside us
Insanity! Such a small word, and yet so powerful. So lightly used by those who do not realize its import, and so devastating for those who live it. What is insanity? A different point of view can be insanity. A different outlook? Inability to adapt to the society at large, is that insanity too? Maybe…… Continue reading A Joker lurks inside us
The Reunion XXXIV: When Men turn Godkillers
I looked at Vaishali as if waking up from sleep, my eyes blank, my mind still faraway. ‘Come, lunch is served,’ she said. I was still in a daze. My heart thudded loudly in my chest, as if I had just run a few miles. Few miles? I had been to the eternity and back.…… Continue reading The Reunion XXXIV: When Men turn Godkillers
The Reunion XXXIII: Lunch at the Goleria Kothi
By the time our boats hit the banks at Ganesh Ghat near Goleria Kothi, it was early evening and we were really late for our lunch. A cold wind had started to blow, and a soft mist had descended on the opposite bank of the river making it difficult for the eye to see very…… Continue reading The Reunion XXXIII: Lunch at the Goleria Kothi
The Reunion XXXII: The Boat Ride on Ma Ganga
The next stop in our itinerary was Goleria Kothi, a heritage property on the ghats of the Ganga, where we would have our lunch and witness Ganga Aarti, a time-honored tradition of worshipping Mother Ganga every evening with fire lamps. It was a sort of fire worship offered to the deity by the priests on…… Continue reading The Reunion XXXII: The Boat Ride on Ma Ganga
The Reunion XXXI – The Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Gyanvapi
A lot had changed in the vicinity of the temple since we were here last. The temple area was being renovated, encroachments being demolished, and a pilgrimage corridor was being built for beautification of the Gyanvapi area. The area of construction, or rather demolition, had been cordoned off but it was still possible to peek…… Continue reading The Reunion XXXI – The Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Gyanvapi
The Reunion XXX – Visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple
And thus, the cars sped that morning once more, through the crowded and familiar streets of Varanasi. Crowded, but less crowded than we remembered them, and much cleaner. Familiar, but less familiar than before. It pained me to realize that I had started to forget the streets of Banaras and, if left alone, may not…… Continue reading The Reunion XXX – Visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple
The Reunion XXVII: A New Perspective
Meanwhile the girls of our batch had something of their own cooking. Most of them were dressed in formals – Indian suits, lehnga-chunnis and ghagharas etc. and they giggled and chatted and gesticulated. They had prepared something and were ascending the stage for the presentation. Alka, Srabani, Neeti, Ruchi, Puja, Payal, Meenakshi, Stuti, Monica, Rajul…… Continue reading The Reunion XXVII: A New Perspective
The Reunion XXVI: Dinner with Family and Friends
That night’s dinner was in the hotel itself, which was a relief since none of us had the strength to go anywhere else after the day’s excursion. We had rested a little after coming back to the hotel and then had started getting dressed. I felt happy. My little talk with Hanumanji, the stone deity,…… Continue reading The Reunion XXVI: Dinner with Family and Friends
The Reunion XXV: The Tryst with Destiny – 2
My life in college had always been public. I had wanted it that way, and destiny had willed it that way. For long I had lived cooped up inside my home, inside my mind, inside others’ rules and expectations. In college I had broken all shackles and come out and exposed myself to public eye.…… Continue reading The Reunion XXV: The Tryst with Destiny – 2
The Reunion XXIV: Tryst with Destiny
The story thus far has meandered towards its inevitable end which, though still far away, is now in sight. The climax remains, the crescendo is yet to be reached, the crux of the matter is yet to be touched, the truth is yet to be told – not the whole truth, not the complete truth;…… Continue reading The Reunion XXIV: Tryst with Destiny
The Reunion XXIII: Dhanwantari Hostel-2
We moved along again, descending from the second floor, using the flight of stairs at the west end of the spine, and reached the ground floor. On the ground floor, we moved from the west end towards the middle of the hostel once more, headed for the mess hall now, and the adjoining canteen. Moving…… Continue reading The Reunion XXIII: Dhanwantari Hostel-2
The Reunion XXII: Dhanwantari Hostel
Dhanwantari hostel was also shaped like a square bracket, with two additional limbs jutting out from the outer surface of the bracket making it seem like a crab if one could get an aerial view of the hostel. Inside the bracket, right about its middle, where the belly of the crab should have been, was…… Continue reading The Reunion XXII: Dhanwantari Hostel
The Reunion XXI: Ruiya Hostel
Ruiya Hostel, in our times was an undergraduate hostel, where freshers were given accommodation when they first joined the MBBS course in IMS, BHU. And thus, this was the place where we, the boys I mean since it was a boys-only hostel, had met first and become friends and had started making our memories. The…… Continue reading The Reunion XXI: Ruiya Hostel
The Reunion XX: Walking down the Memory Lane
After lunch we piled up inside our cars again and drove inside the main BHU campus. What was on the agenda now? The best part – visit to the IMS, the hostels and ‘my’ temple. As the cars entered the main gate of the Institute of Medical Sciences, IMS, our Alma Mater, I felt as…… Continue reading The Reunion XX: Walking down the Memory Lane
Everyone needs Winnie the Pooh!
Grind, grind, grind. Life has been like an interminable grind ever since Corona. There has been no ‘work from home’ for us doctors! No holidays, no vacations, no leaves of absence. While the world stayed indoors, we have gone out and done our jobs; and it has taken its toll. Life has become a grind.…… Continue reading Everyone needs Winnie the Pooh!
The Reunion XIX: The Alumni Function
The main alumni function was to be held in the auditorium of the newly built Trauma Centre, adjacent to the main campus of BHU, over a land which had lain fallow for several decades till recently. The new campus, which housed the Trauma Centre, part of the Institute of Medical Sciences – our Alma Mater,…… Continue reading The Reunion XIX: The Alumni Function
The Reunion XVIII: Night at the Assi Ghat
Some of us boys stayed back at the club however, having sent our families to the hotel in different vehicles. The night was still young, and we wanted to make the maximum of it. We were in Banaras after such a long time that we wanted to drink in every moment, savor every second of…… Continue reading The Reunion XVIII: Night at the Assi Ghat
The Reunion XVII: Song and Dance
As the evening wore on, we noticed that Amita and Sridhar had taken charge of the sound system and were preparing to begin the performances for the night, mainly by the children. The chairs had been arranged neatly in rows in front of the backdrop, with an aisle in between, and most of the women…… Continue reading The Reunion XVII: Song and Dance
The Reunion XVI: At the Banaras Club
I have faint memories of the Banaras club, having attended a few parties there during my college time. That night, however, I could not recognize it. Maybe it had been too long, I thought, as I got down from the car inside the Banaras club. The banquet hall was on the first floor of a…… Continue reading The Reunion XVI: At the Banaras Club
Random Musings 