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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of desi short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

430+ Desi Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Discover the magic of Desi stories in this directory of short stories, curated by our panel of judges.

Desi Short Stories – Page 19 of 29

Secrets under the Ghoongat

Submitted to Contest #92

She walked down the busy street, nervously adjusting her pleats, her gait awkward. The streets were filled with jostling devotees, all dressed in colorful attire – churidhars1, sarees with veils and long skirts, their bangles jangling and shining against the hundreds of lamps that seemed to be everywhere. She could hear the lewd comments being passed around, but they were drowned by the excitement in the voices of the other devotees. She felt the long skirt of her saree entangle between her legs, and paused for a moment to readjust it. She s...

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The Street Light

Submitted to Contest #92

He wished to curse those who looked at the rain and wrote poetries of love and life. Bullshit! Not a single of these drops intends love or peace—only ruination and despair. His lips trembled as his shoulders drooped under the weight of splashing droplets, those who did not abandon him. He glanced up at the sky, night stretching its inky hands and smearing the colours across the bluish-grey canvas. In the chorus of hoots and disappointed clicks of tongue from everyone those whom darkness began engulfing as the electricity was sucked out of th...

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Lights Out

Submitted to Contest #92

“What did you eat when you were pregnant with her,” Siya’s father teases. He turns to Siya, “It’s 1:00 in the morning and you have a ball of energy.” She didn’t. “A lot of chilly peppers,” her mother returns his joke with a hint of a smirk.  Siya rolls over onto her back on the bed and props herself on her elbow, “That’s right.” Siya’s mother doesn’t miss her playful wink as the sentence slithers off her tongue. To break the deserted silence, she interjects, “So what’s new with you guys?”  Their upper lips push inward, “Nothi...

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The ramblings of a sad teenager

Submitted to Contest #92

18. The perfect age to have your first sleepless night, isn't it? I stare up at the sky. Why are there no stars? Light pollution. I turn to my side, away from the light night, mum's fallen asleep. I close my eyes. An image appears in my head, the monotonous text my friend sent me, jarring in its monotony and its topic. I haven't replied to her yet. I know I should. I know I should. I keep my eyes shut, the image warps into a news article I saw today, never a good sign. I open my eyes. The light darkness makes slow-mov...

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Blood Blossoms

Submitted to Contest #91

There was no talking allowed in the library. But even outside it, the silence of the night hung heavy with words left unsaid. It was unusually warm for late June. Purple-grey clouds swirled above the three-storey public building. The smell of salt rose from the mangroves nearby. The distant bustle of trains chugging through Mira Road Station was absent. As was the constant buzz of Friday evening shoppers, swarming stores and street-vendors alike on Poonam Sagar Road. Amidst strict night curfew, the lively satellite suburb with its bulging po...

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The Amazing Adventures of Silver and Fish

Submitted to Contest #91

“Fly,” I said, forgetting to use my inside voice. “I can’t find Silver.” Silver was my pet silverfish, who had suddenly gone missing.“Quiet, you little rascals,” Mrs. Aurora’s voice boomed, shattering the silence in the library. Fly and I were in the Leroy Street local library, where I had come to look for whatever was new in children's fantasy. Mrs. Aurora was tall and thin, and always wore a starched blue sari, every fold pressed to perfection. But her eyes. Those are really what made all of us quiver in our Bata shoes. They were a pi...

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On Surviving Death and Other Small Mercies

N K

Submitted to Contest #90

“That’s a beautiful name,” says the smiling portly middle-aged man against whose legs the left side of my body presses and sweats on. I thank God he’s friendlier than the woman across the aisle who kicked the young man at her feet for an inch more of legroom. I suppose I might not be particularly accommodating if I had three bouncing children to keep track of and twice as many suitcases. When the fidgeting boy on her lap dives into the sea of people behind, she spins into the back of the man who is perched atop her backrest and a portion of ...

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The Ghost

Submitted to Contest #90

The Ghost floats through the tall grass. It has been five minutes since he set his sights on the pair of bucks by the pond. The deer took their time grazing the plains as he watched patiently from the distance, and are now busy drinking water from the pond. One of them barely qualifies as an adult. They are turned away from the silent threat, their antlers brushing lightly as they drink. The Ghost raises his head a little above the gently swaying grass. His beady eyes contemplate the prey, and his tongue flicks out to wet his chops. He duc...

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Out Of My Tree!

Submitted to Contest #90

February ’76“What does she even teach them?” Jay Ranjan snarled, walking languidly with his groupies up the unpaved road that led to the spot, making her shape out from a distance. “Who knows,” Santosh replied, kicking an empty aluminum can, raising tiny swirls of dust.“Could’ve stayed home, sewed, knitted, cooked - done anything but decides to teach instead. Strange!” Raju quipped, eager to join the conversation. “She can do whatever she wants,” Jay said, “as long as she stays away from...my tree,” He wanted to say ‘my property’, ...

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The Family Deity

Submitted to Contest #90

“Man! Are you serious? Building a Hindu temple in America is no joke. How are you planning on doing it?” “I don’t think so. I would say it’s easier than doing it in India. A lot of people've already done it, and I've spoken to some of them and understood the nittigrities.” “Still, I don’t think it’s as easy as you want to believe. Which God are you planning to build this temple to?” “I’m going to build this for my family deity. Lord Murugan.” “That makes it all the more difficult. Unlike Lord Shiva or Vishnu, Murugan is not popular i...

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Cricket

Submitted to Contest #90

"Here, I've got the ball" said the kid. "Shall we go home ? It's late. Look! " said another. In a huge zig-zag line, mothers, daughters and sons were lined up,carrying huge containers with them, slowly moving ahead. The other kids went their homes with only sourav left, waving his bat in air. He went to his sister and mother and when their turn came, helped them lift their containers on their head and moved along with them towards their home. It was 9:30 in the night. It was dinner time but home would take half an hour more to reac...

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Mother Nature , I abide in you

Submitted to Contest #90

Raised in a country steeped in religion and mythology , there has been an imprint , naturally embedded deep in our psyche , India the land of God’s and Goddess , eternally blessed . Twame wa mata cha pita twame wa Twame wa bandhuscha sakha twame wa Twame wa vidya  draviman twame wa Twame wa sarvam mama dev a deva An invocation to the Almighty God , saying ,’’O God, You alone are my Mother, my Father,my friend, My brother,You alone are my wisdom and wealth. Indeed you alone are everything to me . These verses were stat...

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Now I Have Seen Everything!

Submitted to Contest #90

My beginnings were humble, a bit shameful and wile. A bird dropped me on a stump. I sprouted from the unsuspecting stump and soon strangled it to rise my head. Today, I am referred to as the Great One. After all, I belong to a tribe under which people have attained enlightenment. My location is such, it’s both a curse and a boon. It is at a doorway, both to hell and heaven. At times I feel I have seen everything there is to see. 250 years is a long time. In my younger days, I was taken good care of. The area around me was filled with green...

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Bonbibi - the protector

Submitted to Contest #90

In an age when Hindu majoritarianism has divided India on communal lines, and Islamic radicalism is on the rise across the globe, a local goddess admired by both Hindus and Muslims shines a beacon of hope on what it means to be truly pluralistic. Sundarbans was spread across Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Bakherganj and almost the entire part of 24 Parganas between Hooghli and Meghna. In the study of folk culture many folk goddesses are found there. One of them Dakshin Rai. The identity of the Dakshin Rai, we know from the various sources that hi...

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The Old Lady Is About To Perish

Submitted to Contest #90

 “The Old Lady is about to Perish” read the email header. Ramya was intrigued, she had subscribed to this news website after she heard her grandfather's stories about this sleepy little town. Nothing of interest ever happened there, she only glanced through it sometimes to get some small-talk material with her grandfather, who was rapidly losing his memory and only remembered his youth and the lazy days in Mahanagar. Named so, as it was designed to become the epicenter of economic growth in the area but became a town nobody knew about. ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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