This short story by Debashis Chakraborty explores the psychological conflicts of a small-town cyber café owner, tracing the echoes of his past trauma against the backdrop of the collective, normalized aggression of the society around him.
The black dog terrifies Tabun. Its coat is a glossy, varnished black, and its eyes blaze like fiery fountains of rage. Whenever anyone approaches, it barks relentlessly—a low, menacing growl. The entire neighborhood is fed up with this black dog’s thuggish behavior.
Tabun Roy, 37 years old, runs a cyber café. Technically, it belongs to his friend who has settled in Bengaluru, but this arrangement makes Tabun the undisputed king of the establishment. With a chuckle, Tabun often says, “I may not have a crown or official ownership, but does that make me any less of an emperor?” The phrase ‘crownless emperor’ wasn’t coined for nothing—it was made for people like him.