A Deep Fried Love Story -- By Diptee Raut

Her stomach was growling. Winters made her hungrier than usual. She hated it. But this time she was determined to get her diet right. She had to lose weight. She had stood in front of her mirror last night and seen herself properly (this was not exactly very common; standing and staring at self in front of the mirror was a luxury for her these days). She had not liked what she had seen. Na, she was getting too fat. Weight loss had to be the agenda now…

…The only part of the day he truly looked forward to, was his evening at the metro station biting into that hot, greasy, delicious bit of alur chop. He loved tele bhaja ? assorted vegetables/pulse mixes dipped in besan and deep fried. And he loved alur chop the most. He loved it even more since he had been detected with cholesterol and it had become a forbidden food. He usually took an assortment of bhajas but on days that were exceptionally bad, he stuck to the trusted, no-nonsense alur chop. The thrill was greater because he would always manage to sneak it inside the metro station from the prying eyes of the policemen who did not allow food items inside.

————–

Excerpts of all shortlisted stories are available here.