MICROFICTION

Jai Ma Durga. The oil lamps in the Durga temple went off suddenly, inexplicably, as there was not even a light breeze. When the oil lamps miraculously got again lit by themselves, the prasadam ( food offering to the Goddess) was nowhere to be seen. When the puzzled villagers fanned out in the village, they found out angrily that a small orphan lad was eating the prasadam. An old lady was feeding him with a kind smile. When the irate villagers tried to attack her, she stopped them in their tracks with a single wave of her hand. When they realized who She was, they bowed their heads in stunned obeisance as she growled, " No prasadam in my temple any day till this boy eats! And therefore no one else can eat till this poor boy is fed." Jai Bhavani!

Vani grows up. Arumughan was very depressed that his daughter Rekha, living abroad wasn't coming back or even contacting him over phone. His son didn't have the heart to tell him she wasn't alive. Vani, Rekha's daughter was living with them here. She was now almost a teenager. To cheer him up, Vani decided to call her grandpa pretending to be Rekha. Accordingly one day, Arumughan's son told his father,  " Your daughter Rekha is on the phone, dad!" After talking to her to his heart's fill, Arumughan called Vani to his bedside, and said, " You know you resemble your mother very much." Then with a wink, he continued: "And today I understood you can talk exactly like her too." Then to everyone's relief, he threw back his head and laughed aloud for the first time, hugging Vani.

Experience counts. ( based on an actual event) Sailesh, the new chemistry lecturer was demonstrating an experiment to his class 11 students.  As he was about to add some chemical salt , the aging lab attender shouted, " Sir, don't mix that, it will explode!" Sailesh, the chemistry postgraduate scoffed at the attender contemptuously and went ahead. Luckily, the resulting explosion didn't hurt anyone- except the postgraduate's ego. 

Professor Nikhil was very happy. His detested rival, Professor Akhil hadn't yet reached the conference venue for the inauguration. More than 40 minutes had elapsed.  He decided to take advantage.  " Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have to do without the presence of Professor Akhil today, as his car has had a breakdown." Before the gathering could react, Professor Akhil walked in with an apologetic smile. Patting his rival on the back, and with a mischievous wink, Akhil told the gathering, " Professor Nikhil is known for his humorous pranks...Thank you Nikhil, for keeping the honorable guests engaged with your wit." He continued, as the red-faced Nikhil watched, " Dear guests, sorry for keeping you waiting. Now shall we begin please?"

Ouseph, the auto driver stopped his  autorickshaw, seeing a man in white uniform, most likely a doctor. The middle aged man was getting drenched in the light showers, which promised to increase soon. " Hop in, doctor, I will take you to your destination," said Ouseph. The doctor hesitated saying, " My car won't start, and I haven't brought any money to pay you." " Hop right in doctor, no worries. This is my last trip of my driving career, so I will take you there for free." The doctor got in, grateful to be safe from the showers. As they approached the big hospital - the doctor's workplace- Ouseph suddenly collapsed, writhing in pain. He was having a massive heart attack. Then, the miracle happened! The doctor who was one of the most famous cardiologists in that State, ordered his staff to bypass all queues and personally attended to Ouseph, reviving him . The doctor ensured that it wasn't Ouseph's last day in the world.

Seeing an elderly man at the stop approaching his bus with a very slow, shuffling gait, the driver patiently waited for him to board, though the conductor had given his whistle. He was in a kindly mood today and wanted to do a good turn to the poor old man. " Roasted peanuts, roasted peanuts," shrieked the old man cheerfully, delighted that the bus was waiting for him to conduct his business.

Kuppan, the coconut plucker was at the door, scratching his head and with a leer. Bijoi paid him, but was furious.   "Stop blackmailing me! I have already paid you enough for seeing me with my mistress from your vantage point on the tree." A couple of days later, when returning from an outing,Bijoi was horrified to see Kuppan talking to his wife. He thought angrily that he should teach the double crossing guy a lesson. It was then he saw his wife handing over some money to Kuppan and pleading with folded hands.

Six year old Kittu was throwing his usual tantrums at the shopping center, but for an unusual thing- an ordinary, large cotton bag. His dad obliged, though puzzled. When he told this to his pregnant wife, she too seemed amused. Later, a few days after his baby sister was born, Kittu came to his mom's bedside, dragging the very same cotton bag, now full and heavy. Then he sat himself down, and took out patiently all his toys, as a gift to little sister.

Dhanya, with a heavy heart, broke off her engagement after knowing that Rakesh secretly had another girl friend.  When he returned her ring, she declined, saying it wasn't hers. Then he showed her another, then another, then another... Finally, he dumped a boxful of engagement rings in front of the shell shocked Dhanya, and said scornfully, " Now you find out your ring yourself!"

" You have earned your dirty money 'framing' innocent people," said the intruder to the infamous lawyer, Rattan. He then continued in great rage, " So now I will frame you." Rattan laughed uproariously, and said scornfully, " You! How will you do that without being a brilliant lawyer like me!" " Like this!" Said the intruder and shot him. Soon, Rattan's photo was framed and garlanded in his house.

The telephone rang insistently in the tycoon Wilson's office. " Sir, I would like to take your measurements today. May I come over?" Wilson replied gruffly, " Who on Earth are you? I didn't ask for any tailor!" " I am not a tailor sir. I am from 'Quick coffin services" Wilson, angrily, " How dare you! Who asked you to call me?" When he got the answer, Wilson fell down in a dead faint.

Jojie had dozed off in the time machine. He suddenly woke up with a start and screamed on seeing a weird  old man looking at him. Then he realised he was looking at a mirror. He fumbled frantically to find the 'return' button in the machine.