Vipin lost his wife to cancer about five years ago. Coping with grief was an art he was never really good at, hence, in those moments of weakness he resorted to smoking to drown out the voices in his head, to fill the void his wife’s death left behind, with smoke. His son, a hopeful young soul, however, never liked this coping mechanism of his. He hated it when Vipin’s clothes reeked of cigarettes, of dying lungs and curtailed age. The house filled up with incessant coughs of despair and hopeles...

“Mohanlal and sons, since the 1950s”, engraved in gold letters on a board, stood a gigantic shop in the heart of Nehru Place. The shop possessed a legacy of more than 60 years, having a name for itself in the city. Mohanlal’s great-grandson, Heeralal was currently running the shop, smoothly and with grandeur. They were known for being the best in the game, one of its kind in the tailoring business. But then came the dark times as the pandemic kicked in, at the beginning of 2020.

Fast forwar...

A hunch might not always be simply that.

Summer afternoons are the hottest, especially in Delhi. Most people are inside their homes trying to avoid the scorching sun, leaving the streets deserted. Ansari, a 57-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, was taking his break, busy reading newspapers after lunch. He would deny a ride to any customer if asked for, during that time.

One day, a man came along with a small girl in burkha asking for a ride to the railway station due to an emergency. He...

[Happy] -adj

feeling or showing pleasure

Can I always be happy? Tanya never had an answer to this question.

As a single mother-divorced right after having kids, she was still hurting. It had been a year since her marriage fell apart. Despite the support from her family who loved her so dearly, a 6-digit salary from a very demanding IT job, and lovely 4-year-old twins-for whom she would give up the world, Tanya felt a bottomless abyss inside her. She was depressed.

Her therapist, ...

The year was 1999. Kargil conflict had taken its most sanguinary form as thousands were martyred every day. Weeping families filled the streets of India as mothers wept for their dead sons and children innocently waited for their fathers to return home.

But Sulma, on the other hand, had not shed a single tear in twenty-three years on the loss of her only son, Tashi. Every day she would sit on the porch of her home, innocently waiting for her brave son to come back. The neighbors would repea...

The only path to realising your dreams is surpassing your limits.

Amandeep Singh aka ‘Muchh wale sardarji’, the man who gained worldwide recognition after entering himself into the Guinness Book of World Records for using only his moustache to lift a weight of 60 kg, now sells sabzi kachori in the streets of Chandni Chowk.

When he was younger, he wanted to be famous. He was captivated by a man he watched on the television who was lifting weights using his beard. So, he decided to use his moustac...

Living on the outskirts of Tamil Nadu, Shyamlal was a usual fisherman like most people in his neighborhood. A regular, simple life, a wife he adored deeply, and a warm house with a garden in the posterior. When not fishing, he would often sit in this garden with his wife, playing songs they both grew up listening to, or gardening, one of his favorite hobbies. Everyday he would leave the house in the morning to go fishing in the nearby coastal waters. He was a happy and content man, having everyt...

Divyansh noticed a man reading the same newspaper every day as he crossed the street on his way home from work. He would usually walk by and ignore the man.

One day when he left for home early, he came across the man and decided to ask him, "Why do you sit here and read the same newspaper every day?". The man turned towards him, looking astonished. “It’s been a while since anyone has talked to me”. Pointing towards the paper, he said, “This youngster here is my grandson, but my son moved to Mumb...