A Streetlight Story by A Panos A very depressing story. Don't judge it by that though. The ending is up for interpretation... [2,216 words]
The Small Black Object by Michael G Barbieri A soldier in a battle fatally wounds an enemy, only to realize the family his opponent l... [1,256 words]
Wine And Owls by Zdravka Evtimova A woman is left by the person she loves. her reaction to that. [2,804 words]
We Attack At Dawn! by Gregory J Christiano Toward the end of WWII, an army platoon encouters German resistance. [1,391 words]
The Wars Of Belfast Part 1. by Sasu A story about a city searching for hope through war, based in the late eighties. Co... [1,221 words]
The Final Statement. by Bradley Grimes A man about to be executed makes his final statement. [1,221 words]
The Braided Belt by Michael Lowell A man learns about love and its loss one summer. [501 words]
Stranger Underneath by Keivn Luk Have you ever heard the sound of heavy breathing? Imagine it, the noise of someone or somet... [1,123 words]
Shadow Walker by Albert Davis This is a short story for the warrior in you or anyone, the mentality needed to be a destroyer an... [837 words]
Scenes From A Memory by Michael Armstrong Stefan Kaufmann reflects on his past. [1,064 words]
Nunnada'utsun't'yi - The Trail Place Where They Cried by Desi Williams It is about a white girl and her father during the 1800s ... [1,675 words]
Nothing But Touch by Rae Haven't had inspiration lately, so I picked ten random words and wrote around them. [239 words]
Melanchony by Vodka Ryuki Mint The title says it all. [620 words]
Lottery Ticket by Kid Mercury A man goes on a quest in search of the unthinkable: a hot date. [2,658 words]
Life Is Full Of Virtues by Brodie J Hughes Read the title again. [226 words]
His Wings by Vodka Ryuki Mint I've always dreamed of this scene, don't know why, somehow it gives me an indescribable feeling. not ... [553 words]
Here Today, Gone Fishing Pt.1 by Sullivan Of The Sea A little after-drug-deal excitement. [1,105 words]
Fixing A Broken Heart. by Keivn Luk What you seek is hidden in the shadows. [234 words]
First Meeting by Charity B Baez Erotic tale of a man and woman who met online, and are meeting face to face for the first time. [2,501 words]
Fading Away With The Rain by Desi Williams I wrote it based on the cover of "Fallen" by Evanescence. [137 words]
Fade Away by Vodka Ryuki Mint About a father and a son. [650 words]
Drop Dead Gorgeous by James C Bernthal A very light-hearted horror short. [875 words]
Discovering Truth by Kelley Rose This is a story about a girl who tries to find the truth about her sister's death. [5,089 words]
Anthropomorphia by Jeff Hunt A short story about people and animals. [1,754 words]
And You Thought Today Was Going To Be A Good Day by Michael Spiegel A day in the life of a very strange indvidual, written in 1st ... [4,840 words]
... And She Would Tell Her Story by Animesh Kar A fairy tale with a twist! [1,915 words]
Alexander Khri'pher by Draco Streaver As a young child, a Bengal tegal looses his father/mentor in a battle to save their village... [26,332 words]
A Soul Sold For Ten Seconds Of Heaven by Lithium - [479 words]
A One Night Stand by Animesh Kar A young single working lady and a piece of her mind. [4,101 words]
10:34 by Danielle You describe it. [276 words]
The Teen Girl Suicide Story by Riot This is satire. Keep that in mind. [575 words]
The Sob Story by Riot Alchohol does not equate responsibility. [1,116 words]
Walking The Road by Keivn Luk Two strangers, with no recollection on how they got there meet each other in a strange place w... [2,166 words]
Unexplained by Trax A man and his dog go on a walk they will never forget.... [430 words]
Undefined by Josh Anderson What do you tell yourself when you don't know the answer? [408 words]
The Way Life Is... by Vanessa Moya - [285 words]
The Radical.
The Lady And The Train by Michelle Lynn Clements A tragic short story about a woman running away from her husband and troublesome daughte... [1,980 words]
The Closing Of The Eyes by Steve Deutsch A man has to overcome his fear and destroy a part of his life. My first real descriptiv... [1,175 words]
The Assassin by Susan Brassfield Cogan What lurks in the chill of the night? [440 words]
Sue Aside by Andy Kim May not be suitable for children. [255 words]
Step Three by Steve Deutsch A boy sets up his camera and wants to tell his story. This is the beggining. [657 words]
Slipping Away From Me by Josh Anderson The 7th part of Serra's swamp, suspense filled, and back on track… I hope. Theres another... [1,145 words]
Self Defense by Naya Renee A'Janae is a young mother caught in a relationship she can't seem to get herself out of. Determine... [5,202 words]
Q by Don F Vaccarino A story about the man who created James Bonds "toys" when he was in high school. [18,783 words]
Project Chyooryooku Akiraka by Josh Anderson Sci-Fi, about how the world has a Chi and how the people who inhabbit it are linked... [1,157 words]
On Her Way Home by Bancy Mwihaki A partly romance and partly drama short story about a young lady and her oddyssey in conjugal l... [2,785 words]
Of Bikes And Boys by Ali Rizvi A tragic memoire of a young character that reveals a story of loss of innocence. [1,965 words]
Nothing Here by Ally K - [2 words]
Not Without My Future by Steve Deutsch A group of boys pertake on their weekly tradition of figuring out what to do next in thei... [926 words]
Much To Do About Nothing by Armand Waksberg A short story. [1,496 words]
Mexican Soul by Steve Deutsch Elementary students enjoy their favorite part of the day--lunchtime. However, today is extra speci... [1,074 words]
John Nikolaus by Tim Gorichanaz The story of John Nikolaus's journey from Croatia to America in the early 1900's. [1,589 words]
Jessie's Friend by Mike McWade A strange visitor warns Jessie of impending danger. [2,370 words]
Hunter by Hayden Woods Story about a female werewolf... [1,833 words]
Homeland Ssecurity by Firsttime Story When the moment comes that people realize that government can only give its citizens what it... [19,563 words]
Hi by Gary R Hoffman This is a true story of a dog my family once owned. [1,444 words]
Fine Weather For Ducks by Josh Anderson Love Short Story in poetry form. Inspired by the meeting of a friend of mine, I had a re... [1,683 words]
Empire Park by Aaron Er Lozier Carl finds himself lost in "Empire Park" late one night, chased by a glinty-eyed monster, and assau... [588 words]
Effects by Kevin Costello EFFECTS is an existential story which delves into the psyche of a college professor who just lost his w... [4,079 words]
Behind These Eyes by Vanessa Moya - [884 words]
Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 [24] 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
| |
TITLE (EDIT)
The Radical. |
DESCRIPTION
-
[589 words] |
AUTHOR
Amit Shankar Saha |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Amit Shankar Saha was born in Calcutta. He did his schooling from St. Anthony's High School. He received his B.Sc. from Maulana Azad College; and from Calcutta University he received a Special BA and an MA in English. He is currently working under Dr. Santanu Majumdar for his Ph.D. thesis.
[March 2005] |
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (3)
Ruins (Short Stories) - [1,644 words] [Literary Fiction]
The Silk Pajama (Short Stories) - [1,866 words] [Literary Fiction]
With The Rain Comes The Damp (Short Stories) This story was composed after reading Arundhati Roy's Booker winning novel "The God of Small Things". This short story was first published at www.ourecho.com [1,524 words] [Literary Fiction]
|
The Radical.
Amit Shankar Saha
Though it was not the first time Indira Gandhi died, she was killed for the first time. Sukhbir used to say, "She is a coward."
But that day he was not himself. In the dim light of the night lamp he looked like an apparition.
"But you didn't kill her," I argued.
"Yes. But I couldn't save her either," he replied.
"How can you do so when you are in Calcutta and she in Delhi."
"But everyone knows that I never had a good word for her and…"
"You never had a good word for any other politician too," I interrupted.
"But they didn't die."
I tried to convince him that there was no need to fear for him. If he was afraid to live alone in his house then he can come and spend a few days in our house. He was adamanant and whispered, "They are after me."
Sukhbir was against all the politicians. He found faults in all of them. According to him they were all divided into four categories: debauches, stooges, insanes and cowards. He used to say that Indira Gandhi was a coward, not inspite of the emergency and nuclear test, but, because of them. Hearing his views we began to call him Sukhbir - the radical. But it was not until a couple of days later when he came at midnight to give us the keys of his house that I realised that if views could kill he was first in line. Again in the dim light of the night bulb he was a phantom - clean shaven, both head and face. Now even physically he didn't resemble his former self.
Often Sukhbir told me that if he shaved his beard then he would like "the angry young man", Amitabh Bachchan. Instead now he looked timid, insecure and old. That made me angry and I shouted at him, "Are you a coward?"
"What can I do? They are after me," was his melancholic reply.
"Who?"
"I am going by the early morning flight?"
"And what are you going to do in London?" I asked.
"Maybe I’ll start a business; a hotel, a departmental store, or I can drive, I can be a bus driver. I have enough money. I am sure I’ll meet some good, helpful people there."
"And your family in Delhi?"
"I have no family now. I’m getting late. I’m getting late."
That was the last time we saw him. Early next morning I heard the sound of an aeroplane. I looked up and saw and felt as if he was waving at me. I waved back at the plane. Did he reach his Utopia in that plane? Did he start a business in London? How many types of curries the menu of his hotel shows? Or, what is the yearly turnover of his departmental store? Or, is he still a bus driver in London? But first of all, did he get past the airport officials with a forged passport and visa? Or, he got caught, and is in jail, or even hanged! They were after him. Who were "they"? What happened to his family?
It’s been years. I still have the keys of his house. He might return one day. With time the house has aged and with age came diseases. One day the parapet fell down, the other day the plaster came off and today it deceased. What can we do? The tiled roof just caved in. No one really cared. If Sukhbir comes today, what will he say? Will he open his big mouth? Will he show his radicalism? Or, was he really a coward?
|
|
Submit Your Review for The Radical.
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.
|
|
Submit Your Rating for The Radical.
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 1999 Amit Shankar Saha |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
March 2005 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2082
|
|
