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I am a Middle-Class Indian and I Can't Help Freaking Out!
Kush Tandon
Sometime ago, I had written some flash fiction for Sepia Mutiny. These are 55 word-flash fiction - a small story that carries its essence in exactly 55 words.
I am bundling three of them together as a collection of 55s under the title "I am a middle-class Indian and my obsession is - I just can't help freaking out". Enjoy. Help.
Number 1 55 Flash Fiction: First, can we stop loving India ever?
Amsterdam to Delhi flight, 2001
Gurdeep: "Can I please sit next to you? Those bhai sahibs over there would not let me drink."
Me: "Where from? How often to India?"
Gurdeep: "A Canadian through political asylum. Every six months."
Me: "Shouldn't you shun India?"
Gurdeep: "Were no jobs in Punjab. Had to."
We both laughed.
Number 2 55 Flash Fiction: But only in English.
Overheard at Delhi National Airport, while waiting for a flight.
Mrs. Mehta, a top executive at McKinsey telling her daughter over the mobile phone, "Now Pinky darling listen, tell Ayah Ma (nanny), if she speaks in her Hindi again to you, we will deduct 10 rupees each time from her salary. Our house, always English."
Number 3 55 Flash Fiction: So long as I go to my own restroom (toilet) rather than one in Chandni Chowk.
June in Delhi. Sweltering heat in Chandni Chowk.
"Bhai Saheb, is there a public lavatory nearby?"
"This way, Sir. Twenty steps next to the paan shop."
"Shukriya ji."
Half running, half walking. What the hell is this? Why didn't I think when I left home?
"Scooter Rickshaw, Janpath Road, please."
"No meter. 200 Rupees."
"Yes."
Do you guys see the big picture? Nobody Home.
temporal
URL
February 28, 2006
11:28 AM
Kush:
nice flashes
why 55 words only?
temporal
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February 28, 2006
11:43 AM
ps: just received an email...83 words in original...i chopped it down to 53...here it is
pizza slice
i went to this little pizzeria and ordered a slice of pizza....fried eggplant and mushrooms
as i sat down he yells across the counter "bella! come over here, let me cut that up into pieces for you"
just like mum used to when i was little
khair that's my story for the day
Jawahara
URL
February 28, 2006
12:31 PM
Kush, these are very telling little insights. Very well done. I need to practice the art of brevity in my own writing but I like words too much.
Kush Tandon
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February 28, 2006
12:46 PM
@temporal
On internet, there is 55 words flash fiction going on for a while. iI do not the origins of 55 limit. It could linked to friday (5th day of the week).
@Jawahara,
At Sepia Mutiny, Anna runs 55 flash fiction almost every friday. As you are a writer yourself, you might to participate. Thanks for kind words.
@Everyone,
Feel free to leave your 55 here if it tells how you sometimes feel freaked out about India/ Soth Asia
temporal
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February 28, 2006
02:00 PM
Kush:
this is what i found:
flash fiction
In brief, flash fiction is a short form of storytelling. Defining it by the number of words or sentences or even pages required to tell a story, however, is impossible, for it differs from writer to writer, editor to editor. Some purists insist that it is a complete story told in less than 75 words; others claim 100 should be the maximum. For less-rigid flashers, anything under 1,000 words can be considered flash-worthy. And there are even a few who stretch their limits to 1,500 words. Jason Gurley
Kush Tandon
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February 28, 2006
02:07 PM
Temporal,
I think Flash Fiction is very broad in its scope. Ernest Hemingway wrote them in very short sentence.
Sometimes, messages on buses and trucks in South Asia are masterful flash fictions.
I think 55 has to do with its link to Fridays on the internet.
On my blog, I have written flash fiction that has no word limit. I thought they needed slightly more words to convey the message.
Feel free to deviate from 55 rule, if your heart desires.
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