The end of the road
Ankita Anand
When it gets uphill
The rickshaw puller
Stops pedalling
And pulls with his hands
Our weight
So we can reach
Where we want.
One day
At that point in the road
He may just walk off
Leaving us stranded,
Not out of anger, hatred or vendetta,
But because in that moment
We’d have ceased to exist for him
Like he had for us
Ages ago.
In that moment
He would have decided
He couldn’t care less.

credit: Junoon Photography Club, NSUT, 2019
Ankita Anand’s writing has travelled through India, Pakistan, Singapore, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, the US and the UK. She is also a journalist, and her work has been supported and awarded by multiple fellowships and awards in India and abroad.