Short Story

Halloween Hobgoblins

Lakshmi Narayan

Once upon a time there was a grumpy old lady — actually not grumpy, but timid — who had to leave her home and go live with her daughter in a distant place known as Amreeka. She hated every minute of it there and barricaded herself in their cramped flat when her daughter left […]

Bonfire of Greed

-Lakshmi Narayan

This is the story of a honest and hardworking maid servant who was poor and struggling. She worked in many rich homes. Many were kind to her, but there was always a thick line drawn between what she could have and what they could.

For instance, they didn’t share their party food of biryani and […]

The Bhikshu & the Chamak Challo

Lakshmi Narayan

One bright and early day, a barefoot bhikshu in his ochre robes and begging bowl was plodding along, murmuring “Buddham sharanam gachchami,” when his path crossed that of a chamak challo firecracker, returning from an all-night blast. As they passed by, they sized each other up — the monk, in his simple garb and […]

Island & Resort

Once there was a woman who was really fed up with all folks around her. Her parents, for instance. Every time they came to stay, her mother would whinge about her sisters, her neighbours, her grocer. “My neighbour stole my mangoes,” and “Your sisters think I’m their ayah,” “My grocer cheats me,” and so on.

Her […]

Galaxy Gambles

Lakshmi Narayan

One day in a galaxy, far far away, a group of guardians gathered. They were there for a critical reason. Over aeons, the cosmos had become littered with useless planets that were not contributing anything to the advancement of civilization. It had got so bad that the negative energy they emitted was affecting […]

Guru Dakshina with returns

Journalist, author and animal activist Lakshmi Narayan is a former assistant editor of Femina and former editor of Eve’s Weekly & Flair

Once, a little boy pestered his Grandma to tell him a story. Being an old-fashioned lady, she told him one about rishis and munis who trained youngsters in their gurukul. She said the gurukul […]