I have started noticing Buddhist monks lately. The umbrella of the monk sitting at the far end of the train compartment comes rolling towards me and I pick it up. He thanks me as I place it on the top shelf again. When I’m about to go back to where I was standing, I see that he’s about to say something. If he asks me whether I’m a Buddhist, I’m going to say: “I don’t know.”
But he doesn’t …
Bio:
Ciara Mandulee Mendis is a Sri Lankan writer. Her debut collection of short stories, The Red Brick Wall, and her next collection of stories, The Lanka Box, were shortlisted for Gratiaen Prize 2020 and 2021 respectively. She holds an MA in English Studies and is currently serving in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. Her writing has appeared in Riptide, Southeast Asian Review of English, Indian Review, Midway Journal, Ekphrastic Review, Monograph, and Channels: Journal of the English Writers’ Collective of Sri Lanka. She has work forthcoming in the Bombay Review.
IMAGE CREDIT: Artwork by Xiaorou Fan