Read: Ten flash fiction pieces by Joginder Paul in their first English translation

Rahman Babu, he did not forget his shoes here. Just that those who run our lives made him take them off, right here at this threshold, and with bare feet he stepped over it outside, hoping to return soon. No, little did he know that once one crosses over the threshold, one cannot come back.

No, Babu, the inside of the outside is hardly like what is within us. The inside of the outside is without an end, once entered, who knows where you may get lost. Yes, Babu, when you know not where you have reached, where will you return from? No, now he will never return.

Yes, yes, why not? If the shoes fit you, feel free to put them on, and from here to here itself, wander around happily wherever you may wish. No, if you do not step out of your skin, how will you ever be lost?

No, Rahman Babu, I am not mad...What? Why do I talk to myself? You tell me, Rahman Babu, how else does one reach those who are lost?

No Rahman Babu, I was born in my own land and there I grew till my youth, but most of my countrymen thought a country is made...

Read more