Short Story: Ice-Fruit 

Ganesh Venkatraman’s story is a heartwarming tale of love and loss through the journey of two people who grew up together, went on different paths, only to have those paths collide again, after decades.

Long before she became Madonna Raj, before her name danced in stadium lights, she was Meenakshi, the girl who bit into orange candy, squinted at the sun, and whispered,

“You know what this tastes like? Ice-fruit.” 

“What’s that?” 

“It’s not a real fruit,” she said. “It’s something cold… that melts in your mouth… and makes you forget you’re in school.”