Archive for the ‘food’ Category
April 11, 2012
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing |
November 18, 2011
Posted in creative, food, india, indian, karve, pune, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, writing |
November 12, 2011
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, sex, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: author, blog, cocktail, deemed, diat, drink, faculty, food, girinagar, karve, management, mba, pune, stories, story, storyteller, storytelling, teaching, training, university, vikram, vikram karve, vodka, writing |
August 5, 2011
URBANIZATION OF THE MOFUSSIL GIRL – Story of a Modern Girl.
Click the link above and read the story on my creative writing blog
Regards
Vikram Karve
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, sex, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: alcohol, alcoholism, author, binge, blog, blogger, blogging, book, career, cocktail, creative, date, dating, drink, drinking, girl, india, indian, inhibition, it, karve, mba, modern, parties, party, rave, relationship, romance, sex, society, stories, student, urban, vikram, vikram karve, women, writer, writing |
July 6, 2011
Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: THE SOLUTION.
THE SOLUTION
Fiction Short Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
“I don’t know how I am going to solve this problem,” Anil said.
Yes, Anil indeed had a big problem on his hands. The problem was his old father. His father had dementia and it was getting worse day by day.
“At first it was okay. We could manage somehow. He used to forget, talk incoherently, have mood swings, get disoriented a bit, needed help doing things – we all tried our best to look after him, my wife, my two kids, all of us did all we could. But now it is becoming impossible,” Anil said.
“I know,” I said, “it must be very difficult for all of you, especially your wife.”
“All these years she really cared for him with love and devotion as if he were her own father. She tolerated his idiosyncrasies, looked after his every need, she has to bathe him, dress him, feed him, even take him to the toilet. Even when he got aggressive with her, she managed to calm him down. But after this morning’s incident she has given me the ultimatum.”
Let me tell you what had happened that morning.
I had gone to Pune Railway Station to receive my daughter who was arriving from Delhi by Duronto Express when I spotted Anil’s father wandering aimlessly on the platform from where the Deccan Queen to Mumbai was about to leave. Suddenly he started walking towards the AC Coach and was about to board the train when I stopped him, caught hold of his hand and pulled him aside. He did not recognize me. He tried to pull his hand free and when I tightened my grip he gestured towards the train and started muttering at me incoherently: “Mumbai … Duty … Mumbai … Duty …” and suddenly he got aggressive and tried to violently break free so I raised an alarm and with the help of some people we overpowered him and then he collapsed and started weeping like a child.
I called up Anil who rushed to the station and we had to literally carry him to the car. Suddenly his condition worsened and it looked like he was having a seizure so we rushed him to hospital where they admitted the old man into the ICU to keep him under observation.
We sat outside the ICU. I felt sad for Anil and his father. Anil and I were “Railway Children” who had grown up together in those typical Railway Townships which adorn big railway junctions all over India. Our fathers, both from the same batch of SCRA, were close friends and we luckily had many postings in the same station, so Anil and I became close friends too. After school we both went to IIT and now both of us lived and worked in Pune. I felt sad for Anil’s father. In the prime of his life he had such a regal commanding personality – and now dementia had reduced him to this misery in his old age.
Soon our wives, a few colleagues and friends arrive and we stand in balcony outside the ICU of the hospital brainstorming to find a solution to the problem.
“I cannot handle him anymore,” Anil’s wife says, “ever since he got this dementia, the last few years have been hell for me. Anil goes out to work, the children go to school, but I have to live with him all the time. I have to do everything, suffer his tantrums, even clean his shit, and now he does this – just runs away from home and gets lost. I can’t take it anymore – I will go crazy.”
“She needs a break,” my wife says to Anil, “why don’t you send him to your sister’s place for a few days?”
“His sister?” Anil’s wife says mockingly, “as long as her father was fine she was the doting daughter ensuring that she got her share in his property. Now that he is sick, she is shirking her responsibility and has washed her hands off him. The last time she visited us I asked her to take her father to her house in Mumbai for a few days so that we could get some respite and do you know what her husband said? He said that he didn’t want an insane man in his house as it would affect his children. So I asked him: what about our children? And Anil’s sister just kept quiet. After that they haven’t shown up. I hate her. All she does is call up once in a while and then tell the whole world how concerned she is.”
“That’s really very sad but even today it is the sons who are expected to look after their parents, especially the eldest son” someone says, and asks Anil, “You have a brother?”
“He is abroad, in America.”
“That’s the best thing to do. Escape abroad to a good life in America and forget about your parents.”
“Longevity is increasing and these old people are becoming a big problem. In our colony almost everyone’s kids are in America and their hapless parents spend a lonely existence with all sorts of health problems.”
“Don’t worry, Sir. At least your father is not as bad as my neighbour. The poor man’s brain cells are dying and he is lying like a vegetable for the last six months with tubes inserted to feed him and take his stuff out,” the recently joined software engineer tries to console Anil thinking that if she tells Anil of someone with a greater misfortune maybe he will feel some consolation but unfortunately it has the opposite effect and Anil asks her, “Did he have dementia? Will my father also become a vegetable?”
“No, nothing of that sort will happen. Your Dad will be okay,” I say putting my hand on Anil’s shoulder.
“But we can’t keep your father at home in this condition. I cannot bear it any longer. I will just collapse one day. And now he has started getting aggressive. I am scared. ” Anil’s wife says.
“Why can’t we keep in hospital?” my wife asks.
“We can’t keep him in this hospital forever,” I say.
“Not this hospital.”
“Then which hospital?”
“An institution. Where they can treat his mental problems.”
“A mental hospital? You want me to put my father into a lunatic asylum?” Anil says getting angry, “My father is not a lunatic, he has not gone mad. Poor fellow has just got dementia for which there is no cure.”
“Cool down Anil,” I say, “she didn’t mean to hurt you.”
My wife says sorry to Anil and we sit quietly till the Intensivist calls us and says, “He has stabilized now. All parameters are okay. We will move him to a special room later at night and keep him under observation. You can go home and relax now. We will look after him. You can take him home tomorrow morning.”
“You all go home,” Anil says, “I will stay with him in hospital and bring him home in the morning.”
“No,” Anil’s wife says, “I don’t want him to come home. You arrange something…”
The Intensivist looks at her quite perplexed, so I gesture to him that all is well and say to Anil, “Okay, you stay here and we will all go home and think of some solution.”
On our way home we pick up Anil’s kids and take all of them to our place. Anil’s wife sleeps in our bedroom with my wife, all the kids sleep in their room and I lie down on the sofa trying to think of a solution to Anil’s problem.
The ring of my mobile jolts me out my sleep. It is Anil. His voice sounds strange, shaky, and he cries incoherently, “The problem has been solved…the problem has been solved… my father is dead…while they were shifting him from the ICU to the ward, he got violent, the stretcher tumbled, he fell on head, broke his neck and died on the spot.”
“Oh My God,” I say, but I can still hear Anil sobbing, “Poor man. He must have heard us. So he solved the problem, his problem, our problem, everyone’s problem…” and then I can hear Anil breaking down into tears.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Did you like this story?
I am sure you will like the stories in my recently published book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships. To know more please click the links below:
Do try out this delicious, heady and exciting COCKTAIL
Cheers
About Vikram Karve
A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures(2008) and is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse – his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Fiction Short Stories Book
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, sex, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: age, author, blog, book, care, cocktail, creative, dementia, home, india, karve, old, parenting, pune, relationship, stories, vikram, vikram karve, writer, writing |
May 28, 2011
KETTI.
KETTI
Short Fiction – A Travel Tale
By
VIKRAM KARVE
From my Creative Writing Archives:
Short Fiction – A Simple Love Story I wrote sometime in the 1990s …
Winter.
Early morning.
Chill in the air.
I stand alone on the metre gauge side of the lonely island platform of Mettupalaiyam Railway Station and stare at the peaks of the Blue Mountains (the Nilgiris) silhouetted in a veil of mist in the distance.
Nothing much has changed here since the last time I came here on my way to Ooty.
It was almost 30 years ago and even now the place, the things, the people – everything looks the same – as if frozen in time.
But for me there is a world of difference.
Then I was a young bride, full of inchoate zest, in the company of my handsome husband, eagerly looking forward to the romantic journey on the toy train of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway on my way to our honeymoon at Ooty.
Then, on my way to my honeymoon, the place felt so exciting.
Now it feels so gloomy.
Strange.
But true.
What’s outside just doesn’t matter; it is what is inside that matters.
I try not to reminisce.
Remembering good times when I am in misery causes me unimaginable agony.
I look at my watch.
7.30 A.M.
The small blue toy train pushed by its hissing steam engine comes on the platform.
Dot on time.
As it was then.
The same chill in the air. The same February morning – the 14th of February – Valentine’s Day.
Then I had the loving warmth of my husband’s arm around me.
Now I feel the bitter cold penetrating within me.
I drag my feet across the platform towards the mountain train – then they called it The Blue Mountain Express – now I don’t know.
Scared, anxious, fear in my stomach, I experience a strange uneasiness, a sense of foreboding, a feeling of ominous helplessness – wondering what my new life would have in store for me.
I sit alone in the First Class compartment right in front of the train and wait for the train to start – the train which is going to take me to the point to no return.
I wish that all this is just a dream.
But I know it is not.
And suddenly, Avinash enters.
We stare at each other in disbelief.
Time stands still.
There is silence, a grotesque silence, till Avinash speaks, “Roopa! What are you doing here?”
I do not answer.
Because I cannot answer.
I am struck dumb, swept by a wave of melancholic despair.
My vocal cords numbed by emotional pain.
I look ineffectually and forlornly at Avinash and I realize that there is no greater pain than to remember happier times when in distress.
“You look good when you get emotional,” Avinash says sitting opposite me.
In the vulnerable emotional state that I am in, I know that I will have a breakdown if I continue sitting with Avinash.
I want to get out, run away; but suddenly, the train moves.
I am trapped.
So I decide to put on a brave front, and say to Avinash, “Coming from Chennai?”
“Yes,” he says, “I’d gone for some work there.”
“You stay here? In Ooty?” I ask with a tremor of trepidation for I do not want to run into Avinash again and again; and let him know that I had made a big mistake by not marrying him – that I had made the wrong choice by dumping him, the man I loved, in search of a “better” life.
“I stay near Kotagiri,” Avinash says.
“Kotagiri?” I ask relieved.
“Yes, I own a tea-estate there.”
“You own a tea estate?”
“Yes. I am a planter.”
Now I really regret my blunder 30 years ago. Indeed I had made the wrong choice.
“Your family – wife, children?” I probe, curious.
“I didn’t marry,” he says curtly. “There’s no family; only me. A confirmed bachelor – just me – I live all by myself.”
“Oh, Avinash. You should have got married. Why didn’t you?”
“It is strange that you should be asking me why I did not marry,” he says.
“Oh my God! Because of me?”
Avinash changes the subject and says, “I’ll be getting off at Coonoor. My jeep will pick me up.”
He pauses, then asks me, “And you, Roopa? Going to Ooty? At the height of winter! To freeze over there?”
“No,” I say, “I am going to Ketti.”
“Ketti ?” he asks with derisive surprise.
“Yes. What’s wrong with going to Ketti?” I protest.
“There are only two places you can go to in Ketti – The boarding school and the old-age home. And the school is closed in December,” Avinash says nonchalantly, looking out of the window.
I say nothing.
Because I cannot say anything.
So I suffer his words in silence.
“Unless of course you own a bungalow there!” he says sarcastically turning towards me and mocking me once again.
The cat is out of the bag.
I cannot describe the sense of humiliation I feel sitting there with Avinash.
The tables seem to have turned.
Or have they?
There are only the two of us in the tiny compartment.
As the train begins to climb up the hills it began to get windy and Avinash closes the windows.
The smallness of the compartment forces us into a strange sort of intimacy.
I remember the lovely moments with Avinash.
A woman’s first love always has an enduring place in her heart.
“I am sorry if I hurt you,” Avinash says, “but the bitterness just came out.”
We talk.
Avinash is easy to talk to and I am astonished how effortlessly my words come tumbling out.
I tell him everything. Yes, I tell him everything – the entire story of my life.
How I had struggled, sacrificed, planned and taken every care.
But still, everything had gone wrong.
Widowed at 28.
Abandoned by my only son at 52.
Banished to an old-age home. So that “they” could sell off our house and emigrate abroad.
“They” – yes, “they” – those two who ruined my life, betrayed my trust – my only son who I doted upon and lived for and that scheming wife of his.
“I have lost everything,” I cry, unable to control my self. “Avinash, I have lost everything.”
“No, Roopa,” Avinash says. “You haven’t lost everything. You have got me! I’ve got you. We’ve got each other.”
Avinash takes me in his comforting arms.
Cuddled in his arms, I experience the same feeling, the same zest, the same warmth, the same lovely emotion, the same love, that I felt thirty years ago, yes, thirty years ago, as a newly-wed on my first romantic journey, on this same mountain toy train, on my way to my first honeymoon, into the lovely blue mountains.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Did you like this story?
I am sure you will like the stories in my recently published book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships.
Do try out this delicious, heady and excitingCOCKTAIL.
To know more please click the links below:
Cheers
About Vikram Karve
A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures(2008) and is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse – his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Fiction Short Stories Book
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: age, amazon, author, bangalore, blog, book, care, citizen, cocktail, coonoor, creative, dating, ebook, english, ezine, fiction, honeymoon, india, indian, karve, ketti, kindle, literary, literature, love, lovedale, marriage, mettupalayam, mountain, mumbai, nilgiri, old, online, ooty, pune, railway, railways, reading, romance, senior, short, southern, stories, story, vikram, vikram karve, wakad, widow, writer, writing |
May 13, 2011
RENDEZVOUS AT CAFE NAAZ.
RENDEZVOUS AT CAFE NAAZ
Fiction Short Story – Detective Fiction
By
VIKRAM KARVE
From my Creative Writing Archives:
For a change, here is a Detective Story I wrote recently. Old timers in Mumbai will surely remember the inimitable Cafe Naaz near Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill overlooking Marine Drive. Sitting at Naaz Restaurant you got the best view of Mumbai. Well Cafe Naaz is no longer there, but memories remain!
A detective always remembers his first case.
Let me tell you about mine.
This happened long back – more than thirty years ago – in the 1970s – when Pune was a salubrious pensioners’ paradise – a cosy laid back friendly town where everybody knew everybody.
And let me tell you – at the time of this story – I was not even a full fledged detective – but I was just a rookie part-time amateur self-styled sleuth – studying in college – skylarking in my spare time as a private detective – masquerading as a Private Investigator for my uncle who ran a private detective agency.
Dear Reader, please remember that way back then, in good old days of the 1970s, there were no cell-phones, no PCs, no mobile cameras, handy cams or digital cameras, no modern technology gadgets, not even things like email and the internet that you take for granted today and the only method of investigation was the tried and tested good old physical surveillance where one spent hours and hours patiently shadowing and tailing your target.
“A woman wants her husband watched,” my uncle said giving me a slip of paper with a name and the room number of a well-known hotel in Pune.
“That’s all…?” I asked.
“He is a businessman from Mumbai…drives down to Pune very often…at least once a week…sometimes twice…ostensibly in connection with business…but she suspects there is some hanky-panky going on…”
One week later, waiting for the client to arrive at our planned rendezvous, I sat on the balcony of Café Naaz in the Hanging Gardens atop Malabar Hill sipping a cup of delicious Chai and enjoying the breathtaking view of the inimitable Mumbai sunset as the Arabian Sea devoured the orange sun followed by spectacular view of the Queen’s Necklace as the lights lit up Marine Drive.
She arrived on the dot at seven and sat opposite me.
I looked at my client. She was a Beauty, a real beauty, 35… maybe 40… must have been a stunner in her college days…I tried not to stare at her.
“Okay…Tell me…” she said, getting to the point straightaway.
I started reading from my pocket-book, “Thursday morning at ten fifteen he left his hotel room…deposited key at reception telling them that he was going for work would return in the evening…started to drive down in his car towards Deccan…picked up a female who seemed to be waiting for him…she sat next to him…and as they drove off away from the city into the countryside they seemed to be getting amorous…lovey-dovey, you know, a bit of kissing, cuddling…”
“No…No…skip the details…just tell me…is he or isn’t he…?” she interrupted me.
She seemed to be in a hurry. Maybe she was not comfortable being seen sitting with me over here and wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
“I think he is having an affair,” I said.
“You think he is having an affair?”
“Yes. I am pretty sure he is having an affair.”
“How can you be so sure…?”
“Well we look for three things.
”
“Three things?”
“Yes, the three key ingredients required to have a affair – Time, Inclination, Opportunity.”
“Time … Inclination … Opportunity…” she repeated looking quite perplexed.
“Well they certainly had the Time … they spent the whole day together in seclusion … and they certainly had the Opportunity … behind the privacy of closed doors in that lonely discreet motel hidden in the back of beyond … and as far as the Inclination part is concerned … well, the way they were behaving with each other … well, I have no doubt about it….”
A smile broke out on her face.
I was flabbergasted. Now tell me dear reader – what would your reaction be if you came to know that your spouse was having an affair? Would you just smile?
Suddenly I remembered what my uncle had told me, so I asked the woman, “Do you wish to increase coverage?”
“Coverage?”
“Yes, full coverage – Photographs, hotel receipts, documentary evidence, round the clock surveillance, explicit details, everything, no holds barred, the full works…” I elaborated. Of course all this detailed investigation would be personally handled in a professional manner by my experienced uncle and his agency. I was very keen that this woman ask us to do a comprehensive investigation. My uncle would be pleased with me and maybe he’d take me along and for me it would be a great learning experience.
“I don’t think so,” the woman said.
“No?” I said perplexed, “but you will require all this as evidence to establish that your husband is committing adultery.”
“Husband? Who said that man is my husband?” she said grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“You said so – to the head of the detective agency.”
“No, I did not tell your boss that the man was my husband – I never said that he was my husband. I just gave him the name of a man and told him that I wanted that man followed.”
“But we assumed…”
“A good detective shouldn’t assume things, isn’t it…?
“But then why did you want that man followed…?” I asked curious.
“Well that’s my private matter,” she said, “but since you are such a cute boy and I like you, I will tell you. It is like this – One day, fifteen years ago, the day I completed my graduation, my parents showed me two photographs. The first photo was of the man you were following and the second photo was of the man who is now my husband.”
The woman paused for a moment, had a sip of water, and continued, “My parents told me to choose one, and I made my choice, but ever since then, during all these years of my married life, I was always tormented by the thought that I had made the wrong choice. But now, thanks to you, I know I made the right choice.”
She took out an envelope from her purse and gave it to me. “Here is your fee, and I have put in a little bonus for you for doing such an excellent job,” she said.
The woman patted my hand, then she got up and walked away into the enveloping darkness.
I opened the envelope and saw that the “little bonus” was much more than the fee – in fact, the bonus for me was more than double the fee for the entire investigation.
I wondered whether she had two envelopes in her purse, one for each eventuality.
So my first case was over.
I never forgot the cardinal lesson I learnt from this case.
Since then, I never assume anything or presume anything – I never take anything for granted. Before I start a new investigation, the first thing I do is to carry out a background check of my client. Maybe that’s why I am such a successful detective.
So if you are thinking of hiring me, remember that the first thing I will do is to check you out.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Did you like this story?
I am sure you will like the 27 stories in COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
About Vikram Karve
A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures(2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse – his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Fiction Short Stories Book
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Posted in creative, english, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, sex, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: arranged, author, blog, book, cafe, children, chowpatty, cocktail, creative, date, dating, detective, fiction, food, gardens, hanging, hill, india, karve, love, malabar, marriage, mumbai, naaz, pune, relationships, restaurant, romance, short, short stories, short story, stories, stort stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, writer, writing |
May 8, 2011
INNOCENT VICTIM.
Dear Reader: Have you read my latest book COCKTAIL – a collection of 27 short stories about relationships?
If you haven’t please click the link below and order a copy:
In COCKTAIL there is a story called A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DIVORCED MAN. This story highlights the negative aspects of divorce on relationships, especially the adverse effect divorce has on children who are supposed to be innocent victims in divorce situations and who suffer for no fault of their own.
Are children really innocent victims and do they actually suffer when their parents divorce?
Well, here is a divorce story from a different perspective — a “happy ending” divorce story where the child is certainly not an “innocent victim” of a divorce situation
Read on and tell me if you like this story:
A Divorce Story with a Difference
Short Fiction
By
VIKRAM KARVE
I am going to tell you about a very intriguing conversation I had with a naughty boy while travelling from Mumbai to Pune on the Deccan Queen last evening.
As I walk towards my seat in the Ladies’ Coach of the Deccan Queen I find a smart boy sitting on my window seat talking to a handsome man sitting on the seat beside him.
“Excuse me,” I say to the man, “this is the ladies’ compartment…”
Before the man can answer, the boy says, “I’m only seven…below 12…I can travel in the ladies compartment…”
“Don’t be rude, Rohan,” the man admonishes the boy, and then he rises from the seat, moves into the aisle, making way for me, and says, “Sorry, Ma’am, I am getting off, I just came to see off my son…is it okay if he sits in the window seat…”
“It is okay,” I say and sit down next to the boy, on the seat by the aisle.
“Actually I was waiting for you to come,” the man says.
“Me…?” I ask, flabbergasted, wondering whether tha man is trying to flirt with me.
“My son…he’s travelling alone…”
“I always travel alone…” the boy interjects.
“Of course, you are a big boy now aren’t you…?” the father says lovingly to his son, then turns towards me and says, “His mother will come to receive him in Pune…I’ve SMSed the coach and seat number to her…and Rohan’s got his cell-phone too…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your son and deliver him safely to his mother,” I assure the man, not wanting to talk to him too much.
“Thanks,” the man says to me, then turns to his son and says affectionately, “Give me a call when you reach…and come next weekend…”
“Of course Papa. I’ll be here to meet you next weekend on Saturday morning…you be here to get me off the Deccan Queen…I’ve got three days holidays…we’ll go off somewhere on an adventure trip…”
“Yes. Yes. I’ll do the bookings…” the man’s words are suddenly interrupted by the guard’s whistle and the train starts moving.
“Bye, Papa,” the boy jumps across me, hugs his father who bends down, kisses his son on the cheek, disengages and quickly moves to the exit, turning once to wave out to his son. The train gradually picks up speed.
Rohan sits down in his seat, takes out his fancy mobile phone, and a pair of earplugs.
My curiosity gets the better of my discretion and I ask the boy, “That’s a real good mobile phone.”
“Yes. It’s cool…the latest…it’s got everything…touch screen…music…internet…”
“Your father gave it to you?”
“Yes. Papa gets me the best…”
“And your mother…”
“Oh, Mama is too good…she loves me so much…takes so much care of me… lets me do whatever I want…oh…before you ask I should tell you…Papa and Mama are divorced…”
“Oh dear, I am so sorry…”
“No. No. It’s okay…I am happy they are divorced…”
“You are happy your parents are divorced…?” I ask aghast, totally astonished and incredulous.
“Yes…for me it is better this way…you know my Mama and Papa now have to share me…they have divided me between them…during the week I stay with Mama in Pune…and I spend the weekends with Papa in Mumbai…”
“But wasn’t it better when you all lived together as one family…?” I ask.
“It was terrible…when we lived together they were just not bothered about me….Mama and Papa were so busy with their office and work and parties and travelling and everything…they just had no time for me…and whatever little time we were together they kept fighting…”
“And now…?”
“After they split my life is just too good…!” the boy says.
“Too good…?” I interrupt, taken aback.
“Yes…after their divorce my life has become real good…I like it this way…now they care for me so much…they never scold me now like they used to before…now both my Mama and Papa pamper me so much…just imagine…I had two birthday parties this year…one by Mama at Pune and one by Papa in Mumbai…”
“Really…? You had two birthday parties…?”
Yes…and now they let me do whatever I want…give me so much time…and presents…they give me whatever I want…they even give me whatever I don’t want…”
“They give you whatever you don’t want…?”
“Now see, Papa has given me this fantastic mobile phone…now Mama will give me even a better one…or maybe some other groovy stuff…it’s like my Mama and Papa are in competition to make me happy…”
“That’s good…you are really lucky…”
“Oh, yes. I am very lucky…but it is funny isn’t it…?
“Funny…? What’s funny…?”
“About my Papa and Mama…when they were together they neglected me…and now they when live separated, they pamper me so much…so it is better isn’t it…that they are divorced… at least for me…”
I am still trying to analyze the uncanny truth in the young boy’s topsy-turvy logic.
What type of parenting is this?
First you neglect your children when you are married together, and then, you spoil your kids to glory when you are separated divorced.
Strange isn’t it?
And I thought children were “innocent victims” in divorce situations…!
Dear Reader: What do you think…?
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Did you like this Story?
I am sure you will like the 27 stories in COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
About Vikram Karve
A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures(2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse – his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Fiction Short Stories Book
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
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April 1, 2011
Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve.
THE EFFICACY OF MARRIAGE COUNSELLING IN THE ALLEVIATION OF MARITAL DISCORD
Fiction Short Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
From my Creative Writing Archives:
Short Fiction – A Story of changing relationships
“Your relationship has become so demoralized by distrust that you two better break up rather than try to patch up.”
“What?”
“Yes. It’s better you split instead of living in perpetual suspicion like this. Why live a lie?”
“How can you say this? You are a marriage counsellor … you are supposed to save marriages, not break them.”
“But then what can I do if you don’t change your attitude?” I said in desperation, “you have to learn to trust your wife … just stop being jealous, suspicious, possessive. Mutual trust is important in a marriage, especially a long distance marriage like yours.”
I looked at the man sitting in front of me.
He was incredibly handsome; mid thirties, maybe forty, well groomed, sharp features accentuated by a smart neatly trimmed beard, clean brown eyes, he looked strong and confident, and his outward appearance betrayed no sign of what was going on inside him.
He looked at me longingly, in a lingering sort of way that women secretly want men to look at them.
I blushed, felt good, but quickly composed myself.
In such vulnerable situations anything could happen and I had to be careful, so I said to him in a firm dispassionate tone, “I think you better go now. It’s time for your flight.”
“It’s delayed.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course. I’m the pilot – the commander of the aircraft. I’ve to report after an hour.”
“I’ll leave? It’s almost check-in time.”
“No! No! Please stay. There’s still two hours for your flight toLondon . I’ll get you checked-in. There’s something I want to tell you,” he pleaded, “I’ll order some more coffee.”
The airport restaurant was deserted at this late hour and wore a dark, eerie look, with just a few people huddled in muted whispers.
“I want to thank you for giving me this special appointment – agreeing to meet me here at such short notice,” he said.
“It’s okay. It was quite convenient for both of us, enroute catching our flights. A nice quiet discreet place, this airport restaurant.”
He paused for a moment, then spoke guiltily, “I did something terrible today.”
“What?”
“I stole my wife’s cell-phone.”
“Stole?”
“Yes.”
“You stole your wife’s mobile?”
“Yes. Just before I left. I took it from her purse. She was fast asleep.”
“This is too much! Stealing your wife’s mobile. That was the most despicable thing to do. I don’t think we should talk any more. You need some serious help,” I said, gulped down my coffee and started to get up.
“No! No! Please listen. It’s those tell-tale SMS messages!”
“SMS messages?”
“From ‘Teddy Bear’.”
“Teddy Bear?”
“Someone she knows. ‘Teddy Bear’. She’s saved his number. She keeps getting these SMSs, which she erases immediately.
“This ‘Teddy Bear’ SMSs your wife?”
“Yes. I think they are having a good time right behind my back the moment I take off on a flight. This ‘Teddy Bear’ and my wife. This evening when she was bathing while I was getting ready to leave for the airport, her cell-phone was lying on the bed, an SMS came from ‘Teddy Bear’ : “I am yearning for you. SPST.”
“SPST? What’s that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I called the number. A male voice said: ‘Hi Sugar!’ Just imagine, he calls her ‘Sugar’. I hung up in disgust immediately. Then during dinner she kept getting calls and SMSs – must be the same chap: ‘Teddy Bear’.”
“Your wife spoke to him?”
“No. She looked at the number and cut it off. Four or five times. Then she switched her mobile to silent and put in her purse.”
“You asked her who it was?”
“No.”
“You should have. It may have been a colleague, a friend. That’s your problem – you keep imagining things and have stopped communicating with her. Ask her next time and I’m sure everything will clear up.”
“No! No! I am sure she is having an affair with this ‘Teddy Bear’ chap. Had it not been for the last minute delay in my flight, I wouldn’t have been home at that time.” he said. And then suddenly he broke down, tears pouring down his cheeks, his voice uncontrollable, “The moment I take off, she starts cheating on me.”
It was a bizarre sight. A tough looking man totally shattered, weeping inconsolably.
“Please,” I said, “control yourself. And you better not fly in this state.”
“I think you’re right,” he said recovering his composure, “I’m in no mood to fly.”
He took out a cell-phone from his shirt pocket, dialled the standby pilot and a few other numbers and told them he was unwell and was going off the roster.
He kept the mobile phone on the table.
“Your wife’s cell-phone?” I asked pointing to the sleek mobile phone he had kept on the table.
“Yes.”
“She’ll be missing it.”
“No. She’ll be fast asleep. I’ll go back and put it in her purse.”
We sat for some time in silence. It appeared he was in a trance, a vacuous look in his eyes. Years of counselling had taught me that in such moments it was best to say nothing. So I just picked up my cup and sipped what remained of my coffee.
Suddenly he got up and said, “I think I’ll go home,” and
he quickly turned and walked away.
It was only after he had gone, as I kept my coffee cup back on the table, that I noticed that he had forgotten
the cell-phone on the table, his unfaithful wife’s cell-phone.
An idea struck me.
At first I was a bit hesitant; then curiosity took charge of me and I picked it the mobile phone.
Hurriedly I clicked on ‘names’, pressed ‘T’, quickly found‘Teddy Bear’ and pressed the call button.
A few rings and I instantly recognized my husband’s baritone voice at the other end, “Hey Sugar, where are you? Why aren’t you answering? Did you get my SMS – ‘SPST’ – ‘Same Place Same Time’. Why did you give me a blank call?…..”
I couldn’t believe this. My dear own husband – ‘Teddy Bear’. Right under my nose. It was unimaginable, incredulous.
I felt shattered. My very own world came tumbling down like a pack of cards.
I cannot begin to describe the emotions that overwhelmed me at that moment, but I’ll tell you what I did.
I put the cell-phone in my purse, walked briskly to the check-in counter without looking back, quickly checked in, and boarded the flight; and, Dear Reader, as you read this, at this very moment, I am on my way to London to present my research paper on ‘ The efficacy of marriage counselling in the alleviation of marital discord ’ at the International Conference of Counsellors.
And till I return, let everyone here stew in suspense.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop’s School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book “Appetite for a Stroll”. A collection of his short stories about relationships titled COCKTAIL has been published and Vikram is currently busy writing his first novel and with his teaching and training assignments. Vikram lives in Pune with his family and his muse – his pet DobermanX girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
Short Stories Book:
COCKTAIL – Short Stories about Relationships By VIKRAM KARVE
Foodie Book:
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Posted in creative, english, ezine, fiction, food, india, indian, karve, literature, novel, online, pune, short, stories, story, travel, vikram, vikram karve, vikram waman karve, women, writing | Tags: affair, anthology, author, blog, book, books, cocktail, conflict, counsel, counseling, counselor, creative, dating, discord, divorce, eauthor, english, family, fiction, genre, guide, humor, india, indian, karve, love, marital, marriage, matrimonial, mumbai, network, novel, novella, online, parenting, plot, pune, relationship, relationships, romance, short, social, stories, story, tale, therapy, travel, urban, vikram, vikram karve, wakad, writer, writing |
March 17, 2011
Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: COCKTAIL – Short Stories about Relationships By VIKRAM KARVE.
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Dear Friends,
I have written a book of short stories called COCKTAIL. The twenty-seven stories in this collection explore fascinating aspects of modern day relationships – love, romance, sex, betrayal, marriage, parenting and even pet parenting. Relationships are like cocktails, emotions shaken and stirred, and I assure you that you will enjoy reading these stories.
COCKTAIL is my first book of fiction. I want COCKTAIL to sell well as I feel that the success of this book will be an important launch pad as I embark on my creative writing journey and help me publish my novel, which I am currently writing.
I seek your blessings and good wishes and I am sure you will motivate me by buying a copy of my book COCKTAIL. This appetizing COCKTAIL costs just the same as an alcoholic cocktail, probably less, and I assure you that you will love it.
Please click the link below to buy the book online:
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/fiction/cocktail_by_vikram_karve.html
You can order it on FLIPKART too. Just click the link below and place your order.
(Please ignore the “out of stock” bit – my publisher assures me the book will be delivered to you by FLIPKART and they will update the status the moment they get an order):
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?ref=f97bb964-c672-44c5-bfe2-f496cf239053
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?ref=53dfd28d-5c31-4e36-b0e2-79d771c06afb
I promise you that you will thoroughly enjoy this delicious COCKTAIL and you will be happy to have this book on your bookshelves.
Warm Regards and Best Wishes
Cheers … !!!
VIKRAM KARVE
Pune
9326177039
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Short Fiction by Vikram Karve 