31 Selected Short Stories

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31 Selected Short Stories

Author:

Tamilselvan Ratna Pandian

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Table of Contents

1. Venbaa

2. Mother

3. Parents and son

4. Mother-in-law again

5.Third man

6. Happily ever after

7. Cycle Rickshaw

8. Daughter-in-law

9. Chappal

10. Blessing of life

11. The body about to burn

12. 9 months and 36 months

13. The train and the Bodhi tree

14. Dirty shirt

15. Who is behind?

16. Birth

17. Dumb

18. Mother’s shyness

19. Son

20. Dad is dad

21. The great beauty

22. Eyes

23. The other side

24. Curd rice

25. Dad

26. Palm jaggery (Karuppatti)

27. Discipline

28. Family deity

29. Gratitude

30. Bharathi’s Bharat

31. Respect for father

1. Venbaa

After dumping too much office garbage in Delhi for 20 years, I moved to Chennai and started working 10 am to 6 pm at the TTK Road office. The Vice President promotion was different. The Chennai President called everyone in the office together and introduced them to a prayer hall style meeting. I was astonished on seeing one young woman, 21,22 years old. She reminded me of my wife of 20 years ago. 90 percent of the same shape of nose and forehead. The only difference was that her intelligence was more on her face. It seemed to her that I had been staring at her for more than twenty seconds.What, sir? she said, coming to my side. Stunned. Could it be her? My heartbeat quickened with excitement. I wiped my face.What’s your name?.Venbaa.Come to my room in ten minutes. We need to talk for a bit. Okay sir, she said confused. How does she know what’s on my mind? Ten minutes passed like ten ages. She knocked on the door.

Come on, please.

Do you drink coffee?

No, Thank you, sir.

Don’t be shy. I’m your father’s age. Call me uncle.

Sir... sorry... she stammered...

Which city are you from?

Thoothukudi (I thought so)

What’s your mother’s name?

Suganthi"(It’s definitely her)

I’m also from your hometown. We will meet!

I patted her on the back and said, See you later When she disappeared, I called home.Surprise news honey! Suganthi’s daughter Venbaa works in our office. Now it’s easy to meet your younger sister Suganthi who loved somebody and left parents some 25 years back. On the other end, my wife cried with joy.

2. Mother

Our housemaid Valli washed the dishes with a lot of effort. She cleaned the house with water mixed with Lizol and happily drank the coffee I gave her. She loves to eat our homemade coffee snacks. Her daughter is in the tenth class. Her son is in the eighth class. She enrolled both of them in a school that was beyond her means. Her husband works in the grocery store. He is a hard worker, just like his wife. The family, which is a poor family and has a daughter who wants to study beyond the tenth standard, spends all their money on education in a desperate attempt to ensure that their children study well. If Valli’s daughter has any doubts about her studies, she comes to me and resolves them. Valli is like a right hand to me and the mistresses of three other houses. She is a goddess who is in high demand in our apartment. She is the one who keeps the four houses in order. She is not a woman who is too fussy about money.I had asked her to come in the evening to help tiffin preparation since my relatives were coming today. She said she would give her daughter lunch and finish some other household chores. Since it was too late to prepare breakfast in the morning, Valli’ s daughter must have hurried to school without taking her breakfast. She hurriedly took her lunch box with her head uncovered and a slightly damp saree and ran to the school, which was a kilometer away, sweating profusely. The mother, thinking daughtet was hungry, started running like she was running a marathon. I felt bad for watching it. Valli returned at half past two. Her face was sad, as if she had just witnessed the death of a close relative. Her eyes were like those of a bereaving lady... She was not paying attention to her work.What’s wrong, Valli?

Nothing

Akkaa she cried and wiped her eyes with the hem of her saree. She couldn’t speak. I waited for two minutes for her to come back to her senses.Herdaughter is sitting at school with the other girls to eat. She has returned with a smile after giving them the lunch box. When a girl asked her daughter if she was her mother and said, No, she’s the neighbor’s maid, it felt like she had poured molten iron into her ear. Valli, who was unable to walk and crying, wondered if she had to face this because she was enrolled in a school where rich people study beyond her means.I was shocked to hear this. I’ve heard that some children get embarrassed and tell their friends about their parents when their parents go out in casual clothes. It hurts a lot to feel this way so close to them. Looking at Valli’s condition, Okay, You go home now, get some sleep, calm down, and pick up your daughter at six, I’ll talk to her, I said. Valli, who was already distraught, staggered away, thinking about the fact that she couldn’t do the job I had asked her to do. I’ve never seen her like this before. They both arrived at six. I took them both to the room where my mother was lying. She was lying there, skin and bones, without any flesh or blood, unable to