Short Story: An Incidental Bond by K.S. Subramanian

K.S. Subramanian narrates a poignant tale about the bonds we form with strangers who go on to become invisible ties that keep us deeply connected.

It was a spacious flat – about 1000 plus sq ft – but the space hardly mattered to the 80-year-old man on whose shoulders time sat as an unheralded, sometimes scary burden. 

Venkatachalam had gone through a lot on the steppes of life, highly qualified and versatile that he was. He owned the flat, bought it two decades back, and had been living there since in one of the acclaimed and posh areas of Chennai. 

An auditor that he was his enterprise took him far up the ladder, gaining an enviable reputation, a wide arch of loyal clients, a couple of staffers to do the nitty-gritty, and a bursting bank account. He was never in want of money or affection as the case may be – his wife Santha was devoted to him as his lone daughter, Sharmila.