A Pause at the Doorway
– a Talesmith Short by Rajesh Muthuraj It was an ordinary evening, the kind that feels longer. Rohit returned home, tired and distracted, when the doorbell rang. A delivery boy stood outside, handed over the package, and should have left like they all do. But he didn’t. “Anything else?” Rohit asked. The boy hesitated, then…
The Quiet Power of the Drumstick
– a Talesmith short by Rajesh Muthuraj In a busy South Indian kitchen, a fresh pot of sambar was coming to life. Tomatoes jumped in first. Onions followed. Carrots rolled in cheerfully. However, in the corner of the chopping board lay a few long, green drumsticks. Silent, unnoticed. The cook picked them up last. The…
Lost in IKEA, Found in Conversation
– a Talesmith short by Rajesh Muthuraj Last weekend, my family and I went to IKEA with a very specific mission: Buy one thing and come back peacefully. Do not buy random storage boxes just because they do not exist at home. Naturally, within fifteen minutes, I had forgotten my mission and was walking through…
The Tadka Theory of Life
– a Talesmith Short by Rajesh Muthuraj There are two kinds of coconut chutney in this world. The first kind is technically chutney. It has coconut, chilli, tamarind, and salt. You taste it and politely say, “Nice.” This, in Indian food language, actually means, “There is something missing, but I don’t want to hurt your…
What Do You Want to Hear First? Good News or Bad News?
– a Talesmith Short by Rajesh Muthuraj Ravi stared at the cracked screen of his phone while sitting on the edge of his bed. It was 6:12 a.m. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but sleep had left him anyway. Three rejection emails waited in his inbox. He didn’t open them. He didn’t need to.…
The Ingredients Are Already in Your Kitchen
– a Talesmith Short by Rajesh Muthuraj Everyone in Kaveripatti knew Meera as the woman who watched dreams instead of chasing them. She sat outside her tiny tea stall every evening, stirring sugar into boiling milk, watching buses go past the crossroads heading to cities where people wore sharper clothes, spoke faster English, and probably…
The Day the Keyboard Forgave Our Handwriting
– a Talesmith short by Rajesh Muthuraj In school, handwriting was not just a skill. It was a character certificate. Good handwriting meant you were sincere, obedient, probably drank milk on time, and would “go very far in life.” Bad handwriting meant you were careless, the most dangerous category known to teachers. Every exam paper…
Learn the Art of Being Useful – From Sugarcane
– a Talesmith short by Rajesh Muthuraj In a sugarcane field somewhere in India, stood Ramu the Cane; tall, green, and extremely proud of himself. Ramu believed height was personality. He often looked down (literally) on shorter plants and said, “Look at me. Six feet of pure potential.” The grass rolled its eyes. The tomatoes…
