Muralidharan Parthasarathy

 

 

Muralidharan Parthasarathy

 

Vacuum

 

That was a rare night of

alcohol and the

semi-conscious physical intimacy

with the partner

 

the rhythm and the relief

and the melody moments

vanished when she woke up

around midnight and

found the partner’s bed empty

 

she went around the small household

to find he had vanished

and returned to wet the pillow

with her tears

 

this may not be happening to

those falling under either of the

genders and there will be no vacuum

in the other half of the bed

she realised

 

 

Debate

 

The minister highlighted

his government had been the

best to serve the urban and

rural poor as well

 

The opposition were raising

slogans about the indebtedness

poverty and malnutrition of poor

women and children

 

The speaker allowed the

debate to extend beyond midnight

and decide the fate of the bill

for FDI in rural industries

 

In the same moments far away in Mumbai

a hungry infant woke up and wept profusely

in one of the millions of dungeons in slums

The mother who went to bed

with empty stomach had

no milk secreting to feed her

 

 

Too Long A Midnight

 

That the blood bath will repeat

and the intolerance towards other religions

will take deeper roots

 

That the caste and region based

division and exclusiveness will

be the legacy and curse for ever

 

That corrupt and useless rulers

with their flags and ideology only varying

will take the reigns alternatively

election after election

 

That the pollution will worsen and

rape of mother nature will go on and on

unchallenged

 

That the literate’s percentage will never

Increase substantially

 

That the rural masses won’t be getting

quality medical care or education or jobs

 

That the divide between the haves and

have-nots will endlessly be widening

 

That patriarchy and gender bias will

remain as brutal as in the era of epics

 

That the greatest reformers of the

nation will be forgotten and

opportunists will be celebrated as leaders

 

That people will never wake up from the

Baseless pride of the linage and culture

and forego reason and rights for better living

 

None in the august assembly in New Delhi

nor any of the thirty crore citizens foresaw

in the midnight moments of August 15, 1947

 

MURALIDHARAN PARTHASARATHY

 

MURALIDHARAN PARTHASARATHY: A versatile thinker, critique and writer’s nonfiction 'BUBBLES BURST' has been widely appreciated by readers. A well known writer in Tamil for more than two decades and now contributing in English only. In English, not only have his short stories been included in a few anthologies including HydRaw's, several of them have also been published in online  magazines and publishing house portals. He lives in Chennai, India, and has contributed in English and Tamil in the creative arena. HydRaW chose his short story ‘Shoulders’ written in English for their annual Anthology 2020 and his another short story ‘Rupees 500’ part of their Anthology on lockdown ‘Coronicles’.  Another story on lockdown ‘The departed soul’ has been selected for the upcoming ‘Quarantine tales’ of Bluerose Publishers, an anthology on Covid19. ‘Disposal’ another short story has been published in the emagazine Activemuse in their June 2020 issue. Indian Periodicals in their April 2020 published his short story ‘Riverbank.’ He is an active member of many global literary societies who have shared his critical review of books and poetry on their social media platform. His contributions have been bilingual, He has also translated 2 books including Shashi Tharoor’s  ‘Why I am  Hindu' into Tamil. He is currently nominated as a panel judge for an ongoing interactive novel contest. His two completed fictions 1.Short story collection ‘Draupadi’s only partner’ and 2.’Boomerang” novel were shortlisted by Cherrybook Awards for the year 2020-21. The short story collection has been published and the novel expected in a couple of months.