Idhar Udhar Ki Baat

  The school staff room was buzzing with its usual mid-morning energy when Manju leaned across the table, her curiosity evident. “So, did he hold your hand?” she asked, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “No, he didn’t!” Pinky replied, her tone laced with irritation, clearly regretting bringing up the topic in the first place. “ Achha , so what would you have done if he had held your hand?” Radhika chimed in, smirking as she leaned back in her chair, ready to stir the pot. “I would have asked him to behave,” Pinky declared, raising a finger in a stern, school-teacherly way, as though reprimanding an errant student. “Oye, Madam PGT English!” Manju burst out, laughing so hard her chai almost spilled. “You were talking to your fiancé, not scolding one of your students! And, for heaven’s sake, stop pointing fingers like that until at least a year after your wedding.” “If he had held your hand, Pinky, I bet you’d start a lecture right there on ‘Appropriate Touch in Public Pl...

  As the dental doctor applied a little more pressure on my jaw, I silently cursed Richard Kiel . Yes, the same guy who played the villain with metallic teeth in James Bond's “The Spy Who Loved Me” . Back in my foolish, impressionable youth, I thought it was “cool” to mimic him. Why use bottle openers on Campa Cola bottles when you have perfectly good teeth? Years later, here I was—half a man and half a dental project—sitting in a chair that felt more like an interrogation device than a dental recliner. Last time, I’d gone to a lady dentist. She shuffled from side to side of the chair. With a lot of huffing, puffing, and twisting, she’d finally yanked the tooth out, victorious but visibly exhausted. That day, I promised myself: next time, a male dentist . I figured he’d have the muscle power for my "special case." Well, today was the day I learned how wrong I was. This tooth was as stubborn. After 10 minutes of wrestling, the male dentist started sweating. His...

  Nikhil and Anu were very happy after the dinner thrown by their mother Amrita on the occasion of Nikhil getting a job in the excise department. As they turned towards their bedroom to change and sleep, their mother said, "I want a gift from both of you. Can you sit here with me for five minutes?" Excited that it was the first time their mother was asking something from them, they quickly sat down on the sofa. Anu said, "Anything for you, Mom. Please tell us what you want. Now that both of us have jobs, there is no problem at all. Isn’t it, Nikhil?" “Yes, Mom, tell us whatever you want,” repeated Nikhil. “I want Azadi,” said Amrita tersely. Both were dumbstruck. After a few seconds' silence, they asked in unison, “ Azadi? ” “Yes, next week I am turning forty. I am planning to move out of this house and live alone. I have already rented a small flat on the other side of Delhi. For the next ten years, I want to fulfil all my desires, which had to be s...