As always, a great job sum_off. Your O'Henryesque endings have become a trademark at sajha. Thanks for the great early morning read. BTW, Looks like you've read/researched about the whole maoisit issue and the details you provided...Well, I can't disagree as I've never been to one and know not much about the Maoist camps. All in all, a wonderful piece of work and where do you get such great lines from?? THese are exquisite: "A boy in his late teen, with a face as blank as a diary of a blind man" "To Nirmala, the third man sounded most credible, since he was the least articulate of the three. She believed him, because, unlike the other two, he lacked the eloquence to express half-truths in full sentences. :...NO wonder I hate those telemarketers and their revised and re-revised scripts that they;ve momorized. hahaha "The men ate, as though they were not there to eat, but to participate in an eating contest. The tall man in particular had an appetite of a pregnant whale. Every bite he stuffed into his generously accommodating mouth was as big as a soiled diaper of an overfed baby. When the four ravenous men finished maseura and saag quickly, the tall one relished his last plate of rice with just salt, green chilies, and six slices of uncooked radish" "Theirs was a friendship built not in the preparation of hopes, rather, by means of exempting hopes. They never dwelled on their past to make the present feel gloomier. And they never made a contingent plan for the future, because it required untying knots to their past and overcoming constraints to their present" "When they wanted to cry, they shut their ears and listened to each other’s eyes." Let me stop before I quote the entire story...Once again, an excellent piece of work!!