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The Slimy (Z)ombie

The Slimy (Z)ombie The next morning found Gayatri and Varun standing at the point near the river where the filming had taken place. The time was 6.30 AM, and the Sun was rising. Varun did not want to attract too much attention to what they were doing. He wanted to get it over with quickly. […]

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A Voice From (Y)onder

A Voice From (Y)onder By the time Varun and Gayatri got back to the inn, it was 8 PM. They went to Gayatri’s room. She said, ‘We need to look at the last 5 lines of the verses to proceed further. They still don’t make sense to me.’ She pulled out the piece of paper […]

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A Talk With (X)avier D’Cruz

A Talk With (X)avier D’Cruz Aravankolom was a small village and Gayatri and Varun did not have to travel far to reach their destination. The auto-rickshaw soon stopped by the side of a bungalow. There was a security guard sitting in front of an Iron gate. They paid the auto driver and walked up to […]

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Deep (W)aters

Deep (W)aters Gayatri and Varun walked back to the inn. They went to Gayatri’s room. Varun asked, ‘So what do we do now?’ Gayatri said, ‘I think it is time we looked at the second stanza of the verses we heard during the seance with Loveleen. We need to unravel that now.’ ‘Okay let us […]

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The (V)anara Bhaktas

The (V)anara Bhaktas Udayashree Patti sat on her chair rocking back and forth. She looked at them and asked, ‘Well dears, what do you want to know about our quiet village? I guess you know by now that during the times of the British Raj, it was called Aravankolom. Even now old people like me […]

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(U)dayashree Patti, The Grand Old Woman of Aravankolom

(U)dayashree Patti, The Grand Old Woman of Aravankolom Aravankolom or Narnommalporom proved to be a quaint little village with a beautiful river in tow. Varun had already been there and seen the place, so he knew something about it. During the times of the British Raj, there had been severe caste discrimination in this quiet […]

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At Narnommalporom Village In (T)irunelveli District

At Narnommalporom Village In (T)irunelveli District Gayatri and Varun had booked their flight tickets to Tuticorin which was the nearest city to Tirunelveli with an airport. From there they planned to go by car to Narnommalporom village. They boarded the flight at Shimla airport and relaxed in their seats. They had booked business class as […]

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At (S)himla

At (S)himla Varun woke up in the morning at 7.30 AM. When he went to Gayatri’s room, he found she was wide awake. Her eyes were slightly reddish as if she had been crying. The moment she saw Varun she gave a ghost of a smile and tried to grin. Varun remained noncommittal though every […]

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(R)ehman And (R)ani

(R)ehman and (R)ani Varun opened the car door quickly and said to the guide, ‘Would Rs 75 be of any use to you? If it is, get in and tell us all about it.’ The guide’s face brightened, and he got in. Once the guide was inside Varun shut the door quickly. He asked the […]

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Monkeys At (Q)utub Minar

Monkeys At (Q)utub Minar When his eyes opened the next morning, Varun found that Gayatri had already left his room. Varun felt extremely guilty about what had happened the night before. He had acted like a fool. He had allowed a moment of weakness to land him in a mess. He dressed up and went […]