The sky had closed itself early, a high, unmoving lid of grey that admitted neither sun nor explanation. From the terraces of the observatory, the city spread out in careful order, its avenues aligned, its walls washed in a pink that softened authority without denying it. Jaipur was ceremonial even at rest. Its symmetry suggested agreement. Its geometry promised sense. Above it all, the clouds held…
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.
Weekend Stories by Trishikh 
An astrologer perhaps? Or one who is seeking answers in general
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Dear MM, I like the way you are already searching the sky for clues.
An astrologer would be an easy answer. But I was more interested in someone who looks upward not for prediction, but for reassurance. Sometimes we turn to the sky not because we believe it will speak, but because we need somewhere vast enough to hold our questions.
In this story, the seeking matters more than the profession. It is less about reading stars and more about confronting silence. And what happens when the sky, immense and watchful, chooses not to respond.
I am glad you are guessing. That means the sky is still doing its work.
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The Sky is wondrous thing my friend. It’s not wonder man look to it to find God
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Dear MM, that is a really beautiful may to put it. Indeed the Sky is something wondrous, and man for the very beginning of consciousness has been looking up to it.
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And pondering it’s endless mysteries
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🙏👍
Aum Shanti
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Thank you so much.
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What a beautifully evocative introduction—you’ve created such a rich sense of atmosphere with just a few lines. The imagery of Jaipur under that still, watchful sky is especially striking, and your phrasing carries a quiet elegance that draws the reader in. I love the concept behind your collection as well—focusing not on loud achievements, but on the subtle, human moments surrounding them. It feels thoughtful, refined, and deeply reflective. Truly captivating work!
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Dear Verma’Ji, your words feel like that same watchful sky, attentive and quietly luminous.
Jaipur has always seemed to me a city that carries its silences with dignity. I wanted the sky not merely as backdrop, but as a presence that withholds, observes, almost tests the human heart beneath it. If that stillness reached you in just a few lines, then the atmosphere found its way.
Your understanding of the collection’s spirit means a great deal. I have long felt that achievements speak loudly enough for themselves. What interests me are the pauses around them, the human tremors that rarely make it into the record. Those are the spaces where vulnerability and courage often sit side by side.
Thank you for reading with such care and generosity. When a reader calls the work reflective, it reassures the writer that the quiet has not gone unnoticed.
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The observatory suggests certainty — angles, alignments, a belief that the sky can be persuaded into order. Yet above that careful geometry, the grey remains unmoved.
There is something quietly humbling in that contrast. The city promises sense; the heavens withhold it. Perhaps the act of looking upward is less about securing answers and more about accepting proportion — realizing that not every silence is absence. Some silences simply refuse to be reduced.
Thank you for allowing the sky to remain larger than the mind that measures it.
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Dear Livora, you have read the sky exactly as it wished to be read.
The observatory stands with its instruments and angles, confident in its geometry, believing that with enough precision the heavens will yield. And yet the grey above remains sovereign. That contrast has always humbled me. Human certainty is meticulous, admirable even. But the sky answers to no alignment drawn on stone.
I am moved by your thought that looking upward may not be about securing answers at all. Perhaps it is about proportion, about remembering scale. Some silences are not voids waiting to be filled. They are immensities that refuse to shrink to our need for explanation.
Thank you for accepting that largeness and for allowing the sky to remain unmeasured. When a reader does not demand an answer, the silence becomes complete.
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Amazing 😍😄
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Thank you so much.
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Welcome 🤗🤗
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This is such a beautiful and thoughtful opening. The way Jaipur is described, calm, ordered, and quietly waiting, really draws you in. I love the idea of exploring the moments behind achievement rather than the achievements themselves. It makes me really curious to read more.
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Dear Daisy, thank you for stepping so gently into that opening.
Jaipur, to me, has always felt composed on the surface, yet quietly waiting beneath it all. I wanted that sense of order and expectancy to draw the reader in before anything is explained. Sometimes a city says more in its stillness than in its monuments.
I am especially glad the idea behind the collection interests you. Achievements are visible and celebrated, but I have always been drawn to the quieter intervals around them. The doubts, the pauses, the unanswered questions. Those are the spaces where a life feels most human.
Your curiosity is the best encouragement a storyteller can receive. I hope that if you get a chance to buy my book (kindle or paperback) and when you read further, the sky continues to withhold just enough to keep you looking up.
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I’ll find it on Kindle. I’d love to spend time in those quiet spaces you described.
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Thank you Daisy. That really means something to me.
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Are you currently working as an author, or do you mainly consider yourself a writer?
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Hi Christopher, thank you ffor your interest in my stories. I am not looking for any kind of marketing or promotional initiatives for myself. My entire writing experiment is a study in organic growth. To answer your question, no, I am not working as an author currently, I do not consider myself as solely a writer. I am what you call a communication architect.
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Okay that’s great
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🙂
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