The Vantage Point

By Arunima Hoskote

The Vantage Point is a collection of slice-of-life short stories, dealing with contemporary themes, relationships, and angst of human existence. The protagonists break the proverbial glass ceilings. The characters fight and survive all odds. Issues of familial bonding are captured within the evolving social milieu.
The Elephant Ride is a charming story of a young couple and their child, who is suffering a serious health issue. Shanta’s World is a story of determination of a village belle, who fights serious odds to make her place under the sun. The Winning Hand is a poignant story of Pia and her elder sister Ria, who out of habit usurps everything that Pia likes, until she faces the day of reckoning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto
• Release date: Aug 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005082956

Book preview

cover-image, The Vantage Point

The Vantage Point

Arunima Hoskote



Picture 1

Ukiyoto Publishing

All global publishing rights are held by

Ukiyoto Publishing

Published in 2021

Content Copyright © Arunima Hoskote

ISBN 9789354901935

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

I dedicate my endeavours to my father’s memory

Acknowledgements

I take this opportunity to thank my parents, family, and friends for supporting and encouraging me to always reach for the stars. I thank my guide at the CityLit Institute in London, Vicky Grut, whose guidance motivated me to write some of these short stories and whose intellectual and creative inputs and feedback have immensely benefitted my writing.

A special thanks to my publishing team at Ukiyoto Publishing, the editor Isvi Mishra, and team member Anindya Sengupta; thanks to their encouragement, which has been vital in completion of this book, I am inspired to work on my next project.

Also, I am part of a writing group, which meets every Friday to discuss published and unpublished work. I have received some great constructive criticism and feedback from my friends in this group on my short stories, which has helped me improve my work. I am enormously grateful to all of them – Nicky, Rosemary, Louise, Jill, Johanna, Teddy, Janet, and Jo.

Lastly, I am grateful to all the people who have been directly or indirectly linked to this project and to those who have helped shape my views and gain perspectives, which I have tried to chronicle through my short fiction.

CONTENTS

The Elephant Ride

Shanta’s World

The Winning Hand

Full Circle

The Interlude

The Mango Tree

About the Author

The Elephant Ride

"E

lephant! " Gautam shrieked, raising his voice by a few decibels, stretching his seven-year vocal cords to the maximum they could reach. His joy knew no bounds as he saw this huge pachyderm come out of the corner, magnanimously waving his royal trunk to and fro.

Megha and Rishi knew there was no controlling him with an iron fist anymore. They must get him an elephant ride before their picnic at the children ’ s park was over, or else they would be subject to a wailing that would break all previous decibel records. There was no escaping this one, they thought, as they rolled their eyes at the magnificent animal in front of them, carrying a bunch of excited schoolchildren and gently ambling his way around the park.

Elephants are liked for many reasons, one of them being that they are a rare sight, even in India, which is a famed destination for elephant rides and elephant trunk baths. They are usually a favourite among young children, who like everything about them, including listening to their favourite stories of the elephant-headed god Ganesha. Their huge, paunchy bodies and frivolously swaying trunks add to the curiosity and intrigue they pique in young children, especially the ones like Gautam, who have grown up on their fair share of their favourite Lord Ganesha stories.

Both parents knew they could not dodge their way out of this one. Megha reluctantly approached the ticket counter and asked for a single ticket for the elephant ride.

Age? came the raspy voice from the ticket window. 42, she said, before realizing that the man at the window had asked Gautam ’ s age, not hers. She corrected, 7. A moment later, she squared her shoulders and said, " My son