The Great Divide

October 5, 2009
By

children thumb The Great Divide Shivani stepped in nervously.

“Alone! Mom?” She asked.

“Market” Ayush replied. “Ice-cream?”

She nodded.

He watched, while she relished it.

Suddenly he exclaimed, “Mom’s back! Run! The back door!”

She escaped just in time.

He smiled innocently at his mother , sauntering in.

Little Ayush was not supposed to play with Shivani, the maid’s daughter

This  55 fiction format story is written by Mani Padma.

For more about 55 fiction click here

 The Great Divide

Mani Padma

She is a Doctor by profession , working in Delhi. Loves traveling, mind games and playing with words… And also the chief-co brewer of GingerChai. She is the chief brewer of some of the interesting categories you see in GingerChai.Follow @manishalsam

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23 Responses to The Great Divide

  1. Mr. Pramathesh Borkotoky on October 5, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Beautifully Crafted out.

    ^O^

  2. Sojo Varughese on October 5, 2009 at 1:54 pm

    Beautifully written:)

    I don’t know if there is any way we can bridge the Great Divide! Cast System in India triggered it. The new Liberal Economic Policies are sorta keeping it alive :)

  3. Sojo Varughese on October 5, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    Sorry, the E on my pad did not work…I meant Caste System

  4. rocksea on October 5, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    does it happen still? may be in some parts of the country. but what you talked, is it abt caste system or just abt people from two standards of life?

  5. Ambi on October 5, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    @Mani Padma: nice one!

    @Sojo: What do you see in this story that relates to the ‘caste’ system?

    The ‘class’ system (read high, upper middle, middle, lower middle and low and such) that is inherent in the world’s most prevalent economic model (the one driven by economic opportunism and military might) and the prejudices of people, influenced by the idea of money alone being a status symbol, are the main reasons that these kind of divisions exist.

  6. Vipul Grover on October 5, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    @Ambi.. Sojo is right when he says, the caste system triggered it.
    In India the caste and class hierarchies were similar as long as lower castes were concerned.
    It was Louis Dumont who showed that how these hierarchies started changing during as late as early twentieth century.
    Today, while political reforms and land tenure reforms have brought about vast changes but still things have not totally changed.
    U r right is asserting that it is class divide that matters here but that doesn’t negate Sojo’s stand.
    Evn his assetion that new economic policies are perpetuating it, is spot on.

    @Mani.. Nice 55er. Keep thm cuming:)

    • Vipul Grover on October 5, 2009 at 4:26 pm

      correction : not Dumont but Andre Beteille

    • Ambi on October 5, 2009 at 4:54 pm

      I didn’t see as much of a ‘caste’ based influence in the story line as I did of the ‘class’ based divide.

      The best person to correct that impression would be Mani Padma.

      • mani padma on October 5, 2009 at 5:09 pm

        First of all, Thanks for all the apreciation.
        About the issue of class vs Caste, Actually when I had written I had the class in mind. But maybe Soho has some point in saying that the caste system triggered the class system which I think he said just as a passing thought.. But of course I am sure nobody has said the 55 fiction is based on class system.I think that point is clear enough

  7. Bharathi on October 5, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    I loved it. excellent one. Probably the best 55 fiction I read ever. I liked your Mani Rathnam kind of dialogues too :-)

  8. Mandeep on October 5, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    Well written. I think in Metros Caste system is no more exist. It is replaced with class system ofcourse. When my kids play with their peers, I think I have never objected to any caste, but perhaps I may mind class !!!

  9. Guria on October 6, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Whether it is class or caste, the issue remains the same. You are judged by who you are born as, and not who you grow up to be. Great 55, one of the bests I’ve read too.

  10. shankar on October 6, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Hey..really a great one… a beautiful 55… kudos to mani padma…

  11. sharat on October 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    well said!

  12. chetan on October 6, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    hey, gr8
    when i was reading this one, i was thinking whether i will get it or not, but i got it

    • mani padma on October 9, 2009 at 2:12 pm

      @ bharathi, sharat, shankar, guria. Thanks.I am a bit late in replying.
      @ mandeep.Very honest of you to confess so
      @Chetan- Thanks for the back handed compliment

  13. rahul on October 10, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    beautiful……..

  14. rahul on October 10, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    beautifully scripted i meaN

  15. shilpa on October 10, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    Very beautiful 55 fiction.

  16. mani padma on October 11, 2009 at 9:04 am

    @ rahul, shilpa Thanks!

  17. Avada Kedavra on October 13, 2009 at 6:29 am

    A very nice post.. :)

  18. Mahesh on October 14, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    Simple, real, pragmatic yet impacting and thought provoking.

  19. Gyanban on June 13, 2010 at 9:56 am

    hmm – I thought this had a better title than snuffed, and snuffed had a better story to tell.

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