Fiction: Will Sonali forget her bitter marriage and start afresh, or will she be happier on her own?

“What would I do without you two? After all, one needs worthy opponents to feel the satisfaction of a win,” Malini laughed mischievously. Aakash and her had won yet another round in the game.

As she glanced fondly at Meenu and SP, she thought of the hundreds and thousands of times she had uttered these words or formulated them in her mind in the last few decades. Each time, SP would come up with a witty response, and they would laugh off the moment’s seriousness. Meenu, vibrant and lively, now calmer with age or may be marriage; and Satya Prakash, the perfect complement to her vivacious personality, ready to take on any challenge head-on. The two pillars in her life that had allowed her to build a new world when there was little to look forward to. And today, they had it all – love, laughter, life, Sonali, Karan and little Pihu.

Malini looked across the table at her daughter, Sonali. Wise men say that time flies. One hears this cliché but does not believe it till time slips, like grains of sand through a closed fist. You don’t even realise when the palm is empty. Sometimes, you try to hold on,...

Read more