SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

“SELF ISOLATION” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #35

Sushma was grief stricken. It was only third day today. She had to kill some twelve more days of self-imposed quarantine. Long back her school friend Damayanti had written that she would be visiting India for a conference. Due to paucity of time she would not be in a position to pay a visit to her place. She had requested Sushma to meet her at airport and drop her at the hotel or just escort her and be with her till the hotel, so that the two friends could spend some little time for themselves. That seemed a better idea as both were otherwis...

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“GO CORONA GO ” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #34

Murugan was getting bored. Standing at the balcony on 8th floor of his apartment and looking at the sky was all he could do. As far as he could see, the lanes streets and roads were empty, no one was going around, no passer-by, no vehicular movement, no sound except for some stray dogs barking and screeching. When silence is very strong, they call it ‘The sound of silence’. That eerie sound was jarring now. Because he had been made to stay at home, that too compulsorily, he was at a loss of wits. The various methods suggested to him on what’...

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“INVADERS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #33

Indrajit and his family were visiting his friend at Bangalore for a short stay with them. The two families were meeting after a long gap of time. Of course, they were in contact with each other on mobile, video chats and so on. But face to face and in person, was happening now. His friend, Sethuraman, his wife, Sumitra and their only son, Ranjan were very fond of Indrajit’s family. Bindulata, wife of Indrajit’s wife was a teacher in a local school at Nagpur and was often writing articles on Indian culture and arts of ancient era. She was als...

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“VICTORY” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #32

Saturn was getting bored and it tried bullying the cool Fairy. “See, I am the king of vices and you are the queen of virtues. Let us play a game today. Let us choose a person and apply our forces and see who wins. I know in these modern days of Kaliyuga, I have a stronghold on anyone and everyone. But still, let us give a try. What do you say?”Fairy retained her cool calm posture and replied.“I am not into any game. I shall be a mere spectator. You do what you want to do. I will count till ten and you spot your victim and start.”“Why ten? 3-...

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“VICTORY” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Saturn was getting bored and it tried bullying the cool Fairy. “See, I am the king of vices and you are the queen of virtues. Let us play a game today. Let us choose a person and apply our forces and see who wins. I know in these modern days of Kaliyuga, I have a stronghold on anyone and everyone. But still, let us give a try. What do you say?”Fairy retained her cool calm posture and replied.“I am not into any game. I shall be a mere spectator. You do what you want to do. I will count till ten and you spot your victim and start.”“Why ten? 3-...

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“CERTAIN THINGS DO NOT CHANGE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Saraswathy, by virtue of working in the same house as cook for the past four years, knew too well about likes and dislikes of the family members. She was also aware of frequent visitors to the family and to some extent, their likes and dislikes. It so happened that their ex-colleague, Srikrishna, who worked with them at USA had come with his family to Bangalore and wanted to meet them. So Ramulu invited him and his family for dinner. He also called other colleagues and common friends known to Srikrishna, for dinner on the same day, so that t...

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“MARRIAGE REPLAY” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #28

Sulochana aunty had to go apartment no. A Block 234 and inform the ladies that her daughter in law, Hemamalini, would not be able to attend this fortnight’s kitty party cum get together, arranged in this house. She could have very well telephoned and told them. But then, she was not sure who would pick up the phone. Sulochana aunty was not good at conversing in English nor in Hindi. By going in person and telling the ladies, it was expected that one or the other woman would understand her dialect. By the way it was neither a far away place, ...

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“KALYANI” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #27

Sindhu was travelling from Chennai to Mumbai for attending an official conference. The office had arranged for her train ticket and stay arrangements. Since she thought that she would overstay at Mumbai after her office work was done, she had requested that she might be permitted to get her return journey ticket as per her convenience and it was agreed also. But in her daily chores and other preoccupations, she totally forgot about her return journey rail ticket reservation. Only on boarding for Mumbai, she remembered that she was yet to arr...

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“MAN PROPOSES” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

The private secretary of M.S. Sukumari, a well-known playback singer reminded her that a reporter of a popular magazine, would be coming soon for taking an interview. As a matter of friendly advice, he cautioned her not to entertain any controversial topic. Sukumari was well aware that only controversial news fetched more popularity and popularity alone kept the performing artists in the field and in media glare. Some busy reporters send their queries before hand and at the time interview get the response from the artists without wasting the...

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“UNKEPT PROMISES” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #25

Shakuntala was lying on the table with her skirt lifted a little above, so that her knees were prominently visible. Not that, she was on any photo-shoot or committed to be a poster girl for any popular magazine. She had to cooperate with the radiologist, who could do his job efficiently. Hence the exposure. Shakuntala was suffering from pain in her knee-joints and could not walk comfortably. She was putting up with the pain for quite some time. To walk even a short distance, it was a great attempt for her. Stepping out for taking up small er...

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“GOLDEN FETTERS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #24

Peter along with his daughter, was standing in the queue at Meenakshi temple in Madurai. There was a long queue and tight security. When his turn came, the security guard, frisked him and his daughter. He was about to send the two in. Out of curiosity, he asked the daughter, a charming cherubic cute little, fair skinned girl, for her name. She gave her name very distinctly as M..E..E..N..A..A..K..S..H..I and in clear terms. The security guard was taken aback. A fair skinned foreigner with his pale blue eyes, coming to Madurai, was not any st...

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“ICE TOWERS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #23

Vindhya wanted to go urgently. But do things happen as you want? She was stuck up on road, due to traffic jam. Varun, her younger brother was also with her. He asked her to see the app and gauge the long trail of traffic and also find out if any alternate route was available. Since she was at the driving seat and tucked with seat-belt, she gave the mobile phone to him. He looked for details and immediately said,“Traffic Jam, chi-chi.” She involuntarily responded,“Chi-chi, chi-chi, chi-chi, chi-chi.”It was their childhood game. Anything they ...

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“THE UNDO FACTOR” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #22

8th March…. International Women’s Day. Rotary Club of the city had arranged for a programme. A few women in the town, known for their remarkable contributions, were to be felicitated. Leelavati was one of them. The organisers wanted a wider coverage of their event and had engaged reporters to gather information about those honourable women – like, how they happened to excel in their line of activity, their motivational factors, their mentors, challenges they faced, overcoming funds constraints if any, to whom they would dedicate the memento,...

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“HISTORY REPEATS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #21

Suddenly Susheela asked me, "Why not we go to Thirukkadaiyur this time?""What for?" I questioned. "Your birthday, that is falling next week. Thirkkadaiyur is not any ordinary place, it is Markandeya Kshetram, a holy place marked for seeking longevity in life."Getting irritated I said, "You know I don't believe in such rituals. All spiritual activities have lost their spirits behind them - only rituals are abound. Rituals without involvement of the performer are mere show off. I am not for such fanfare. First of all, who told you birthdays ha...

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“PERSEVERANCE PAYS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #20

Dr. Kandasaami was travelling to Paalayankottai with six boys. Another teacher, Lopamudra, was escorting four girls. All students were in the range of 5 to 10 years of age. It was one of their routine annual features. The number of boys and girls might vary year to year. But their visit to various jails in the state was a routine affair. During the journey itself, he guided them on what they should speak. Very little time would be given for conversation between the parent and the child. Every minute being precious should be spent on telling ...

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