Short Story: Clean Underpants by Parthosarothy Mukherji

In this short story, Parthosarothy Mukherji showcases the tragic consequences of literal-mindedness in a child, layered through the lens of maternal love, social class, and the silent burdens of neurodivergence.

Like all middle-class housewives with aspirational hopes for their child, Stella D’Souza was hypersensitive to the possibility that her son might be shamed at the “convent school” she had wrangled admission to for him, deploying every guile a mother on a mission could deploy for a filial cause.

Her secret weapon? Influence over her employer, Dr. Arun Wardekar, MD, MRCOG—the male gynaecological surgeon with a celebrity female fan following. Bollywood heroines booked him months in advance. His calendar was blocked out with an even-handedness a Supreme Court judge would envy—reserved for cine royalty and wives of the Bombay Billionaire Club.