Tara wasn't the type of girl who liked animals. Even though her house was known to be the palace of cats, she wasn't much of a cat lover. Tara obviously loved kittens, but that love disappeared when they grew older. Believe it or not, her family had 64 cats. And she fell only for the last one. The 64th darling, was nicknamed as "Cup Cake" by Tara and that became her real name. But with a twist. Sissy became her offical name with a cute origin tale. And it went like this: "Well, Tara nickname...

It was the December the 25th, 1990, in Moscow. The shivering gusts had finally settled. The snow crystals fell as the people smiled through difficulties. The USSR had almost collapsed, and its people had become more or less feeble, some physically; some mentally. The Kremlin had been trying its best to recover. They were well afraid of the dirty strategies of the west, after a prominent and certain collapse of the USSR. And yet they had learned to smile through the difficulties. After all, it wa...

Today I didn’t wake very early. But when I woke, I quickly jumped out of my bed. Then dressed up and left for school. The thought that it was the first day for my guitar classes kept tickling my mind. I reached school at the correct time. In the first period, a substitute teacher came as the Mao-Angami problem was not yet solved and our class teacher was still on leave. Her name is Ms.Minchin. She was some kind an indescribable teacher. She kept telling crazy ghost stories and almost all the st...

Ilyas. K. P. A When we reached that remote yet remarkably beautiful hilltop called Phek, on our border with Myanmar, we hadn't expected anyone from Kerala to be there. But to our pleasant surprise, there were. Not one, or two, but many of them. Johnson chettan turned out to be our closest acquaintance, almost an elder brother to me and a very cherished, caring, uncle for our kids. He was personal secretary to the District Superintendent of Police, a position he had been holding for long, as he...

By Ilyas. K. P. A. After crossing the many many galaxies I knew, At last I would reach the border.  One carefree leap, Right over the edge of the border of the Universe, To watch a big beautiful valley beyond it, The dim, resplendent lamps of its villages  Shimmering through the wandering nebulae. I am requesting my teacher  Who had  introduced me to the Cosmos To accompany me for the Long Range Patrol over the edge of it.  Thinking of the days I was patrolling the border with Burma, ...

By Ilyas. K. P. A The sweet little one took his naughty noisy bath,  Combed his hair that were jumping here and there,  And put on his ironed, stiff uniform. "Mamma, they think a happy disciplined boy I am. But wash my heart and apply that scent,  Bath my mind and cloth him too,  Comb my will and set me free. Lest I go swirling, whirls galore. Make me steady Before you kiss me good bye for the day." ...

By Ilyas. K. P.A We had gone for Badminton. Papa and I. The trip was actually more about riding the new bicycle Papa brought me. Badminton coach Imty was strict today also and I got scared again today. Every step should be as he says. You have to hold the racquet the way he commands. You have to smash the way he showed you. On our way back, one minute into our ride home, I noticed a little, tiny spider sitting on the front carrier of my cycle. I got scared and stopped the cycle abruptly and s...

By Hasan Wadud I had always feared dogs for many reasons. Even though most of them didn’t have any intention to harm me. When I heard that a dog was about to come next door, I imagined a black, muscular, sharp-toothed, fierce dog. But what came was not that. He was a small, light brown and white, innocent, cute dog. I was happy. His name is Coco. Let’s call him Mr. Coco. Now you see, he was a unique dog. He ate watermelons, bananas, chicken bones but never ate dog food. I liked that. He goes...

By Yaari. S Olaf was a lover of cats(what they call an ailurophile)- an extreme sort of that. Well, he is not to be blamed. He, as a baby was surrounded with cats. Not just two or three but tons! So obviously, he started developing a certain attraction towards them. More and more, as he grew. Sometimes I wondered if this attraction would end him up in some trouble. Though he was the youngest amongst the siblings, he didn’t fear to fight for his cats. For, he couldn’t dare to live without t...

By Hasan Wadud It was a fine Friday morning, and I had written a couple of letters to my best friends and cousins. I had to send it to them. Even though there is WhatsApp and stuff, I prefer post. I also had a badge that I wanted to parcel. After a couple of hours, while I was on my way home after the Friday prayers, I decided to visit the post office to send my letters and badge. The office was in the next colony, at least according to Google Maps. In the photo, it looked like a modern offic...

By Yaari. S Tara was a baby when she entered the library at home for the first time. She was amused, and she did try helping herself by opening the books and staring at the pictures for hours. When her Papa stepped into the library that day, he was beyond shocked to see that eye-popping scene.. he realised his daughter has got a liking to books. Then from then onwards, he told her stories day and night, in fact.. every single day. When she started to grow up.. he taught her alphabets, words and...