Shon Mehta

“ Soulmate is not who always brings you flowers. Soulmate is who gets rid of the flowers because they know you are allergic to flowers.” —— Shon Mehta

You count my mistakes, and believe I lack any will. You tell me, how badly my life has gone downhill. By calling me worthless, you get a vicious thrill. Your words hurt, cause even though a failure, I am a human still. —— by Shon Mehta The Uncharted Mind : Hurt Poem by Shon Mehta Shon Mehta is an author and philosopher, creator of the Jivavarta Universe —a grounded sociopolitical world exploring human resilience, social dynamics, and moral philosophy through systems thinking. Her novels (The Timingila, Lair of the Monster), poems, aphorisms, parables, and stories are used in academic curricula internationally and featured by Oxford University Press.

  Full moon above, I was sitting in a desolate cremation site deep in the valley, waiting for midnight. A bunch of dogs were howling at a distance, occasionally joined by shrieks of owls from the banyan trees above. I was cold, and a little scared. I am not afraid of living souls, but ghosts scare me -- they say that at full moon, ghosts can possess the living. I was carrying Sarvabhu's talisman in my hand. I was sure that it would protect me. Sarvabhu is the supreme god of all living, dead, and in-betweeners. I clutched hard at the talisman as I reached for the three pots I had brought with me. They were still warm. Sarvabhu would be pleased. You must be wondering what I was doing here, all alone in the dark, if I am so afraid of ghosts. This all started late one night almost two months back, when Rakha came looking for me. This was surprising, for he had never even talked to me earlier. I work as an executioner for the city and, like everybody else, Rakha considered me an outcast...

Illustration for  The Scholar and the King  by Shon Mehta Once there lived a great scholar. In the course of his travels, he chanced to visit a distant kingdom. Seeing the respect the scholar commanded, the king was impressed. He thought that if the scholar stays in his kingdom, it will increase its prestige in the lands. So he invited the scholar to his palace, and asked whether he would like to stay. “I only stay at places where freedom is valued,” the scholar replied.“Of course,” said the king. “Come with me for a tour of the capital, and see for yourself how much we value freedom.” As they left the palace, they came across a group of people. On seeing their king, they started dancing vigorously. “See,” the king exclaimed, “See how happy the people are in my kingdom! They are celebrating their freedom by dancing.” “What tune are they dancing to?” the scholar asked. “I can’t hear any music.” “Oh, I don’t like music.” the king informed. “As long as you don’t play music, you w...

In the ancient land of Jivavarta, there lived two friends. One day, they both got poisoned. Fortunately, they recovered. After recovery, one of the friends started poisoning others, in a hope he would kill whoever had poisoned him. The other friend started distributing antidote to others, so that they would recover in case they get poisoned. In this world, we all get poisoned or harmed some way, and it is up to us how we react -- do we want to seek revenge and harm others, or show compassion and help them.  

It was almost noon, and the worker who I had hired for cleaning my tavern hadn't turned up. I cursed aloud. My back was sore and I was looking forward to rest a little, but now I will have to work more than usual. "Do you need help, sir?" said a voice. It was an elderly woman with a wrinkly face. It is tough to guess the age of poor people, they tend to look older than they are, due to all the hardship they face. She had a hunched back and sunburned skin, common among the workers in the paddy fields of Vidari . I noticed how frail she was -- no, the kitchen utensils would be too heavy for her. "Yes," I replied. "I need help, but I don't think you can do the work." "Try me," she replied with determination. "I am fitter than I look." I gave it another thought. I wouldn't be able to clean too well either, so there was no harm in giving her a chance. "I need someone to clean the large kitchen utensils, and the oven al...

The Dare There was a girl named Claire. For her, life was lonely, it was so unfair. She longed for happiness, but found it nowhere. And felt that when she is gone, no one will care. Then, one day, she decided, and took the dare. Years gone by, her family still lives their nightmare. Her mother's eyes, they are never without a tear. Cause, death without grief is rather rare. Someone, somewhere will always care.