RAJI WRITES
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Raji's Short Stories
Dear Reader, I have published a few short stories, and thought you might like to read one or more. I'd love to hear your responses to them, so please feel free to comment.
I am deeply interested in interiors - of the mind with its strengths and frailties, and of the body, its capabilities and constraints - from the vividness of our earliest memories to the shadow of what remains when mind and body deteriorate.
Every now and then, the muse injects some humor. One example is Chef (below) as well as a couple more stories that are making the rounds, collecting the requisite rejection slips.
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Forget-Me-Not
Forget-Me-Not was published in Wilderness House Literary Review in October 2026. It was inspired by reflections on time, memory and friendship, and contemplation of what remains when memory fades. You can read it at the WHLR website, or here.
Kite
Kite was published in Gold Man Review in November 2024 (2025 issue).
The years pass, and memory starts to fade. Even so, despite the changing world, some images from long ago can seize hold of one’s mind, coming up front and center when we least expect it. A man, almost 100 years old, recalls flashes of incidents from when he was a boy, and struggles to understand what happened decades ago.
My write-up about the story is here.
You can read the story itself here.
Dreams
Dreams was published in Weaver’s Literary Review (Volume 1, Number 2, 2025)
My mother died in 2009. Like all those who leave us, she is always with me, and comes for visits now and then in my dreams.
My write-up about the issue and its beautiful cover is here.
You can read the story itself here.
Chef
In the fall of 2025, I came across a writing competition run by NYC Midnight, and decided to participate in the 500-word Fiction Challenge 2025. Once the assignment is provided, a contestant has 48 hours to complete it and submit a story! I was assigned the genre of “Romantic Comedy”, and the story needed to include an object (“tin foil”) and an action “job hunting.”
I had huge fun writing it, and was very pleased to receive honorable mention, even though I did not advance to the next round.
TITLE: Chef
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A out-of-work musician auditions for the job of a chef at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm and finds romance instead.
Read the story here. Hope you get some chuckles. :-)
If you like, you can read the feedback from the writers here, along with comments from a couple of fellow contestants.