Different Tunes

By Radha Ramana

Her Sainted Aunt', about an aunt teaching her niece the ropes of lfe, leaves us to choose the more surprising between the racy conversation and the unnamed narrator.

'The Subjugated' is about choices made by a rich woman and her maid and their lives.

'Demon in the darkness' is the story of a lonely man on a dark night facing the fear of paranormal.

'Ponts of View' is about two men with each considering the other to be the luckier one and wishing to have what the other has.

'When he became his wife' is the comical turn of events for a newly married couple when the husband has to play the role of being a woman.

'Behind the curtain' is about how our understanding of history can change if there are new and impartial participants.

Of these stories, some might make you smile and some might make you sigh at the turn of events. They are based on the premise that each of us have innumerable experiences but remember only a few and acknowledge fewer still. But no experience is insignificant. What is mundane to one person can be paramount and life changing to another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Jun 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482822830

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Radha Ramana.

ISBN:          Softcover          978-1-4828-2284-7

                   eBook              978-1-4828-2283-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Contents

1     HER SAINTED AUNT

2     A DIPLOMAT’S MISSION

3     THE SUBJUGATED

4     DEMON IN THE DARKNESS

5     HEN HE BECAME HIS WIFE

6     POINTS OF VIEW

7     MY FIRST WISH

8     FOREVER YOUNG

9     AN ACQUAINTANCE

10   BEHIND THE CURTAIN

11   THE PUNCHLINE

FOREWORD

W ho does not like stories? I have always liked them, even since before I could read; I would listen to them. After becoming a father, I had to start telling them. We always tell stories—like, after taking a day off, when you tell the boss how a simple dish the night before had a difference of opinion with your pancreatic juices and threatened your life and limb while the other revellers did not feel a pinch of it, all the while hoping that the pervasive television camera at the soccer ground has not captured your screaming image and telecasted it to the boss’s drawing room (the boss too would have had a headache and rested at home).

We like some stories more than others—irrespective of the genre. Why and what we like is as much determined by personal choice as by the craft of storytelling. In a collection of stories by the same writer, each of us would come out with a different story as the best of the lot.

The other day, I was reading a verse on cow by Robert Louis Stevenson and explained to my children how he had given a different perspective when mostly, the cow is described as an animal with two horns, two ears, four legs, and one tail, giving milk and producing all buttery things for human existence and that it is, therefore, sacred in some societies and so on. My children were delighted at the unusual perspective on a familiar animal.

We all have our experiences. We might even have similar experiences and incidents in our lives but our learning from them can vary. Even if our learning were to remain the same, even if we were to arrive at exactly the same conclusion, we would arrive at it by different ways, means, and paths. What appears mundane to one can be a life-turning event for another.

The experiences and incidents in our life appear disjointed. But the seemingly unrelated and random incidents and experiences in a day seamlessly flow one after the other and each day flows into another day and our life retains a common thread. These stories are borne out of similar disjointed experiences and incidents I came across.

A person’s experiences are borne out of her or his life. Invariably, the people in a person’s life have a bearing on such experiences (I hope someone will not interpret it as my saying that our misdeeds are not ours but the result of other people in our lives). We never realise how our life is guided by the seemingly small things in life. In childhood, I broke my arm once and was bedridden. Seeing my misery, my father brought home stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I still do not know whether to thank my father or my late cousin who broke the arm for my love of reading. A couple of years later, my brother casually took me to a movie on wildlife. A private affair with wildlife started and now my son seems to be getting into it (it is one affair a child can have without the parent getting worried). Shalini, whose husband I am, brought western classical music into my life—the last thing on my agenda when I proposed to her (I refer to the music and not life as the last thing on the agenda). I owe a great deal to my family, relatives and friends. They always took care of my comfort and well-being and have always been there for me. Then there are my friends from school, college and workplace who keep the joy of smiling at inane things in life strong and growing. I learnt something or the other from each and every one of these people in my life.

Sidharth and Namita, my children, remind me constantly about originality of thinking and how we miss the joy of life by taking life around us for granted. Then there is my best half—Shalini—who bears all the tantrums of my intolerable worst half (me) with a smile and supports me in a way that would have been impossible for everyone else. Anything good in these stories is a tribute to each and every one of all these people in my life—not to forget the editor, the publisher, and the designers. It is not possible to name everyone—so everyone who has ever known me may please feel named personally by me. The mistakes are solely mine—you would agree that I do have a right to take credit for something.

Finally, they are just stories and are not intended for any personal likes, dislikes and provocations.

Radha Ramana

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HER SAINTED AUNT

1

A s I was set to retire today, I thought of all the days I had spent and all the wonderful conversations I had been privy to. It was then that I remembered a particular conversation. While it might not have been the best I had heard, for sheer innovation and breathtaking vitality, it would top the list.

I still remember the day. It was dull and cloudy and a sense of anticipation crept over me when I saw the aunt and the niece stroll in to be seated by my side. But even I was not prepared for such a spicy conversation and in no time my attention was drawn to it completely.

I still remember the aunt’s words: ‘How was the sex?’ It is not a question that one puts forth to an unmarried girl who does not even have a boyfriend—or girlfriend, if you are the type who takes a contrarian view. The aunt had the reputation of being a kind of bohemian soul and expressed her thoughts and opinions unabashedly and unreservedly. But her question somewhat shook even me while the niece almost spluttered the drink and controlled herself with great difficulty.

The niece’s face turned a scarlet red, and her eyes worriedly scanned the surroundings to see if anyone had overheard the question. The aunt continued to munch on her French fries nonchalantly while letting her niece cough uncontrollably. A few seconds after regaining her breath, the teary-eyed niece asked the aunt what exactly she meant.

The aunt smiled sweetly and asked, ‘You really don’t know?’ I was by now flabbergasted. The niece began to explain in hushed tones that she must have been imagining things. I could see that the girl was worried if any stranger had heard it—the aunt was capable of saying anything she liked to shock some stranger anyway. I had been listening to her for

Reviews for Different Tunes

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this years ago, it was interesting. Talking aboutwomen and how definition of sexuality and how a lot of how women have defined their sexuality is from taking the example from men which is not necessarily true.Read this originally by borrowing a copy from the daughter of the author!