amit bhatt

It’s a mildly chilly night. Most of the people are already in the bed, warm and comfortable. They are not all necessarily happy, but they are home. Then why am I here, I thought? When I couldn’t find any answer, I decided to walk a little longer. It’s a beautiful city, more or less. There are towering skylines, the newly constructed over-bridge looks like a necklace, it’s beads beautiful tiny purple lights. The roads are beautiful, the streets clean. People are not all so friendly, but they seldom are if you are far away from home. There is a river flowing nearby, it’s flow smooth, it’s water calm and inky black. For the lack of better option I decide to sit by it for a while. The stillness around me is reassuring, broken only by rhythmic splash of water on a rock close to bank. I decide to sit on it, let my feet dangle in cold water. A chill runs through my body. It soothes me, flowing water have always had that effect on me. I look up at the heavens, s...

It was near dusk with the skies darkening on the distance, yet the village was abuzz with excitement. It was the time of their fortnightly ritual, in few hours whole village would gather under the huge Banyan tree. The tree itself was old, as old as time, with roots as deep beneath the earth as tall it stood above the ground, and many other roots stemming from other branches, it looked like a rather large umbrella, an umbrella covering the whole world.  The tree however was not nearly as fascinating as the man sitting underneath it. He was an old man too, though it was hard to tell how old he was, nobody in the village remembered. He had silvery white beard,  he used to limp when walking, he didn't have a home and yet he was the most important person in the whole village. He was not thier leader, he used to tell them stories, everytime when the moon was full and when it was completely disappeared. Nobody even knew his real name, they just called him the storyteller.  ...

Could you please turn the light off good sir, asked the boy, timidly. Why, asked the guard, he was not so fond of the new boy. They don't like to visit when the light is on, they say it shows them for who they are, and they don't like that. Who's them, asked the guard? They never tell me, but one looks like the knight, he even has an armor and a shiny black sword, the other one doesn't look so good, he has a big scar on his right cheek, and he doesn't like fire at all. What are you talking about boy, the guard asked, it wasn't unusual for him to hear such things, but this boy made him uneasy, when he looked at him, he felt that more than one pair of eyes were gazing back at him. Once mommy left the lights on, my sister was afraid of the dark and mom dad were going out so she had to sleep in my room, that night when they came they asked me who she is, she was really pretty you know, and she used to laugh a lot. But when they looked at her, she was laughing ...

She was sitting on the road, bruised, burnt and desolate. She didn't understand, she was a good woman, she prayed everyday to her god, even when her husband died leaving two small kids behind , she didn't blame the god. She decided to fight and fight she did. And today when she thought all her hard work of a lifetime was coming to a fruition, all was lost, in a matter of minutes, she didn't even have time to react. She didn't know what caused some angry young man to storm into her small hotel, some of them even used to come there for tea and occasional kulcha. But the eyes she encountered today wasn't the eyes of the youths she called 'beta'  affectionately. They were cold and there was hate in them, though why would anyone hate her was beyond her comprehension. She remembered how happy she was in the morning, the family has agreed to the alliance, there were times in the past when she thought she'd never be able to marry her daughter, her son joined t...

The little girl was wandering on her own , too cautiously at first, but when she became sure that she wasn't being followed , she gradually became more and more relaxed. It was raining hard , and she was out on her own, a luxury, not afforded to her easily. But she had to meet her friend. She would be waiting, she knew, like she always was. Sometimes the girl wondered what she can do to achieve that kind of freedom.  Her friends at kindergarten told her that she’d have to be a grown up to do that. She was quiet looking forward to it. Well , what did she know. She also realized that she was late, but she couldn't help it. On the way there were these tiny little plants . Her teacher had told her that they were called “touch me not”. Despite the warning embedded in the name and countless warnings from her mom, she always felt inclined to touch them. They closed when she touched them. She got a flashback of how she screamed when the first time it happened. But soon she realiz...

Yes, the date is upon us again. It is that time of the year again, when we all fell patriotic, this time even more as it came on a Monday. There will be loud speakers, there will be parades and in general all acts of patriotism will be on display, and the day will pass. Is this the only way (and time) that we show patriotism, though a lot of people will say yes, I clearly have reasons to believe otherwise? I’ll start with a basic question, are we more patriotic than we were let’s say 5 years ago. I think so and it’s not just based on my gut feeling. No matter if you agree with the mandate or not, you do realize that the mere act of participation (even in areas like J & K) is a symbol that a country is rapidly waking up from its slumber. Of course we still want a good job as a priority and country comes only after that, still fortunately it’s not far behind. There is a collective inspiration to do something for your motherland, and that’s a positive sign for each and every o...