Liar, liar, pants on fire OR...

28

The river bleeds black Circa September 2007: River bank, semi-naked men, soaking gods It's noon when we reach the banks of the river. And yet the harsh sun cannot pierce its black waters. It's disgusting to think I wash my face with this water every morning. The government says it 'treats' this water. The government says many things. There is a flash of blue in the water. It's a polythene bag from the fancy store, Westside. A flash of gold. A recently immersed idol of Ganesha; next to a lump of.... One had recently eaten and did not want to verify that lump. Splash! A boy dives in amid the plastic, Ganesha and lump. Only the top of his head and eyes can be seen. Then he goes under the surface of the water. Under the lump. He comes out two minutes later and spits out....

Did Papa murder Rizwanur Rehman?

172

Dear Papa, hope you don't misunderstand this, if and when you do read this. I had always thought it was Papa's 'over-protectiveness' that made him dislike the idea of me talking or befriending any boy. I say 'boy' because the first memories of Papa reacting adversely to any male company around me goes back 20 years... I was 9-years-old and the said boy was 12. We were stationed at Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), one of the cities where any Ordinance officer will spend a considerable part of his tenure. This boy was a visiting relative of one of our neighbours. He was about two inches taller than me, had nearly blonde hair (called it 'English' hair back then) and very, very red lips. So he would play with us and we became playground friends. Till the day he pecked me on the cheek for some reason and there was....