Rain arrived with discipline, not force. It tapped the tiled roofs in measured intervals, a sound that kept time rather than demanding attention. The cantonment lay quiet under it, its roads rinsed clean, its hedges holding their lines. Eucalyptus hung in the air, sharp and medicinal, as if the city preferred clarity to comfort. Bengaluru, still young in its ambitions, wore restraint like a uniform and found reassurance in order…

---

To read the full story and 19 other short stories in this series click on the links below:

This story is a part of the book “Lives Between the Dates“, my first printed collection of short stories, bringing together twenty well thought moments from twenty well known lives across twenty Indian cities. These stories do not revisit achievement. They enter the quieter hours around it. The hesitation before action. The doubt behind conviction.

Rooted in real places and shaped by history, this collection gathers the unrecorded moments that define a life more truthfully than any monument.

---

If you have found something here that stayed with you, some of my other books are now available in print and digital editions. They gather longer journeys, quieter questions, and stories that continue beyond this page.