Stories
These are short stories in which a scientific idea is essential to the plot, a character or the world. You discover it through what happens, not through explanation.
8 pieces so far- Editors’ pick My Phone Died at 20 Per Cent in Spiti At the top of Kunzum Pass, at the exact moment I wanted a photo, my phone gave up. An hour later it came back, looking innocent.
- New The Rajma That Defeated My Grandmother On a family trip to Leh, a pot of rajma refuses to soften, and a pressure cooker suddenly makes sense.
- My Sister Versus the Thunderstorm It starts with a power cut, a thunderstorm and a little sister who won't come out from under the blanket until somebody can tell her exactly how far away it is.
- My Grandmother's Secret Is Bacteria Every night, Ammi saves one spoonful of curd. It takes a week away, a cold December windowsill and two ruined batches for anyone to ask why.
- The Matka That Sweats to Stay Cold Nani swears matka water is the only water that tastes like water. In Jodhpur, her pot beats the heat by eleven degrees. In Mumbai, in July, it barely tries.
- The Day My Cricket Ball Refused to Swing Arjun polished the ball like a fast bowler on television. It went perfectly, disappointingly straight, and the reason was in his fingers.
- The Mango That Ripened All the Bananas My brother hid three green bananas and a bunch of grapes in Mummy's mango box. Two days later the bananas had overtaken the whole bunch. The grapes had not moved.
- How We Found North in a Power Cut The lights went out across the whole campsite, and the only phone with any battery went with them. Our instructor pointed at the sky and asked for our fists.
