SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

“BIZARRIE BLIZZARD” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #77

Madhavi was grazing through Times of India newspaper. She accidentally sighted a small news item on a road accident in Japan highway. She normally would never read such items as these road accidents had become an almost routine affair. But this particular piece of item was about Japan. Hence the go-through. It gave a detailed account of one person’s death and 17 people’s injury, 200 more stranded on the road with a massive pile up of 134 cars on highway. All due to a truck which got rammed into a passenger car. The blizzard and heavy snowfal...

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“TULASI” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #76

Tulasi was watching from her balcony. A lady was dragging her unwilling child to a nearby kindergarten school. The girl was crying and reluctantly followed her mother. It was a just a routine mundane sight. Tulasi felt disturbed. But it stirred her innate emotions. She was left with an empty feeling. Though no body in her family blamed her as a barren tree, she felt the pinch. Whenever she spotted a mother with a child she felt as though she was the only unlucky person on earth to be left barren. How she wished to be a woman carrying a baby ...

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“SEEKING HELP” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #75

Lokesh was searching for a document which he thought he had kept in the drawer. It was needed urgently in connection with approval of his plans for widening of his Lottery Ticket shop. While pulling out things from the drawer, he got an old letter folded into four flaps. He knew what it was. Still, out of curiosity he opened the letter and ran a cursory glance over the contents. It was a letter written by him to a cinema star Sonu Sood, though he did not post it. Thank God! He did not send it to the star. He felt quite ashamed now to have wr...

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“PLEASE WAIT” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Sunita’s duty was over. She went to her staff room and then to the wash room. She had a face wash and then helped herself with a bit of touch up. Her boy- friend would be calling her in a while. They had planned to go out for some shopping and have some jolly good time together. Same was the case with Dr. Lakshman. He had promised to come home early and fetch his wife for outing, then take her to cinema which was followed by dinner. It was her birthday, an occasion for celebration. He had promised her that it would be so grand that she would...

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“CHINNAPPA” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #73

Chinnappa was considering himself as a lucky fellow. He somehow escaped the gang of hired men meant to join the rally and shout slogans and lend their support to the ongoing farmers’ strike. The strike initially was a big draw and drew attention of all alike. People really sympathised the ‘food-giver’ the other name of farmer. But when political parties interfered them with their vested interests it took a different turn --- an ugly turn. The agitation had neither farmer’s agenda nor political agenda. Certain unethical divisive elements also...

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“LUCRATIVE JOB” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #72

Chinnappa alighted from the train and was waiting for his friend Kittappa. As he was totally new to the place, Chinnappa had specifically told Kittappa to come to Railway Station to take him along. In not finding him, he called Kittappa on phone and wanted to know if he was anywhere nearby. Kittappa picked up the phone and replied. As the train was late, he could not come to station as promised. His presence at worksite was more important. So, he guided him to come on his own by engaging an autorickshaw. As the autorickshaw winded through r...

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“CHENNAKESAVA TEMPLE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #71

Saraswathy was mending her flowerpots and just whiling away her time in the backyard. Though she had no regrets, she was still unhappy over her ex-boss in dismissing her from job, for no fault of hers. She could have explained her position and made them understand her point of view. Of what use would it be? It would be a futile exercise. Saraswathy strongly believed that certain people never changed. She was dismissed for preparing food in large quantity. Even if she could convince them that excess food prepared by her was mainly due to the ...

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“SUSAN MY CO-WIFE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #70

Rohini wanted Susan to come to terms with life. A considerable long time had elapsed. By now she should come out of her cocoon of grief. No doubt, it was difficult for a woman to take blows from different strides. She did not know that her husband was a crook. But he was. She did not know that he was already wedded. But he was. She did not know he was an illegal immigrant. But he was. She did know that he was posing to be very rich while, he was not. The police came, hand-cuffed him, dragged him and pushed him into the jail. Susan was totall...

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“RICKSHAWPULLER” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #69

Vinodini was reading the newspaper which highlighted a news item. A teaseller’s girl had cracked and got through Punjab Civil Services examination with hi-fi ranks. Vinodini was not so greatly impressed by that news. She thought it was somewhat degrading the values of girls’ ability as if girls could not achieve anything substantial. What was the need for a small victory of a girl to be unduly glorified as though she had moved mountains? A girl passing out in Civil Services was not something unusual. She thought of herself. “So, what! Even I...

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“HELLO SATURN” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #68

Rohini and Praveen were still seated in their seats and were waiting for others to clear the way. The aeroplane had just come to a final stop. People were busy taking out their hand luggage from cabin rack. A long strenuous journey was telling on them. In a few more minutes they would be in their new home. From the window Praveen peeped out and showed his mother the broad bright sky. It was Sunrise. A new dawn! A new country, a new land, new people around, a new environment, a new language, a new job, a new boss …. Rohini was carried aw...

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“LAKSHMI POOJA” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Lokan was browsing his facebook account. He accidentally came across a piece of information advising the users to be beware of ten different ways of hacking while using the ATM machine. It caught his attention and out of curiosity, he went through the site and collected all information. He was wondering how people dared to lay hand on others bank account and silently wash away their balances completely. His inner mind was debating who was more intelligent --- the one who devised a hassle-free mechanism to withdraw cash from ATM or the one wh...

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“ROMANTIC COUPLE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #67

“Hello Darling! The swimming pool is calling us. Come on Let us go.” Raman gave a call to Vinaya. She too responded. “Yes, my dear. Just a minute.” She was out there with her swimming costume and accessories, like headcap, eyewear glasses, change of dresses and minimum make-up kits all tucked in a bag. She joined him, clenching his fingers into hers. There was a small sprint in her stylish steps showing off her ecstatic mood. Raman too had his bag filled with his requirements. At the swimming pool there were some easy cosy reclining chairs ...

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“STRUGGLE AHEAD MARCH ON,,, MARCH ON...” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #66

Rohini with her son Praveen was waiting to cross the road. A long procession was going on. The leading man with a megaphone on his mouth, was shouting slogans of ‘Struggle Ahead. March on. March on’. The followers behind him endorsed the leader by repeating the words ‘March on – March on’. Praveen was quite amused by their slogan shouting. More than that he was very much impressed by their white and white dress code. All of them were in white dhoti and white shirt, popularly known as ‘Vetti-Chattai.’ He had a great fascination for white dres...

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“GRAVEYARD AND DEVILS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #65

Both Muthukaruppan and Munisamy came to the burial ground. They were stunned to see that wreaths, garlands and flowers were strewn around on the spot. They had earlier fixed the spot for hiding their stolen article. In fact, they had dug a small pit and buried their valuable stuff underneath. But what they found now was that the very same spot was used by somebody who had buried their dead relative. The flowers and garlands bore testimony for that. Before the dead body could be lowered, the burial ground must have been prepared. At that time...

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“RAJANIKANT” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #64

Murugesan was surprised to see a photo of a plain clothed person in the pooja room adorned with garland and vermillion dots. He asked Mohini. He already knew who he was. But what made him to be in the special puja room was only a matter of suspense. “Oh! Uncle he is Rajneesh. We hold him in high esteem. He happened to save our lives and also helped us in getting married. He is not alive. Otherwise we will be falling at his feet daily.” “Strange. I found his photo adorned in Ramani’s house also. They also glorified him to a status of a godma...

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