Short Story: Cooling Glass by Ganesh Venkatraman

Ganesh Venkatraman shares a poignant story about love and loss, intertwined with the art of storytelling and how it is viewed.

Manju and I had always been different. She lived for romance, while I leaned towards stark reality. Her world was filled with the dreamy haze of movie love stories, whereas I preferred films that mirrored life as it was.

“Isn’t romance a part of reality?” she would ask, teasingly.

“Of course,” I would say, “but we shouldn’t always see life through rose-colored glasses.”

Unfazed, she would slide on a pair of sunglasses—just like Kareena Kapoor in Dabangg 2—and grin. “Cooling glass is cool,” she’d declare, swaying playfully. Behind those dark lenses, I imagined a mischievous wink, as if she were challenging me: Has romance swept you off your feet yet? Then, with a lilting voice, she’d sing, “Main toh kab se hoon ready tayar, Pata le saiyan miss call se,” making the moment hers.