Why do I write short stories?

Short stories

As humans, we’ve grown amongst stories – the bedtime tales, Aesop’s fables, Panchatantra, the story of a boy who grew up in a forest, the story of the baby who gave its kidnappers a hard time – stories are everywhere.

Every person has a story.

This moves me to write fiction. What would the cab driver do when a passenger wants to urgently go to the hospital while he is heading elsewhere? Why does the cook go to the same kitchen for fourteen years? Why does the school teacher care so much about the student who is making her life so tough? There are so many characters around us who move us, who affect our lives one way or another. They help us become who we are.

With my stories, I explore such kaleidoscopic personalities.

Combined with the unpredictability of humans, these characters help me explore lives in different circumstances and provide me with several perspectives. I start writing stories to explore ‘What if…’ and end up realizing, “Oh, even this is possible.”

On this website, you’ll find some of my short stories. In these stories, I explore characters that I am familiar with, put them in an unusual circumstance, and let the characters tell me what happens. I’ve intentionally kept the length to around 8-10 minutes of reading time,  which should be good for short commutes or for bedtime.

Do let me know what you think about the stories.

What’s next?

From childhood, I have been fascinated with drivers of all kinds. Truck drivers, bus drivers, train drivers, pilots, ship captains, bulldozer drivers, etc. When I was a kid, I dreamt of being a Vikram tempo driver. While I moved on from that dream as I grew up, my interest in drivers only kept growing.

For about 2 years now, I have been thinking a lot more about drivers, exploring stories of truck drivers, cab drivers, and bus drivers. My book, The Advisory Board, is a collection of short stories with taxi drivers.

If you’d like to know more about the book or stay updated about my work, let’s connect over email?