ABSTRACT
Christopher Merrill begins his essay on Joginder Paul’s afsanche – variously called the short short, mini-, micro-, or flash fiction – with an apology for having missed out reading till now what he considers an unmissable offering in the world of international flash fiction. Merrill likens the genre to modern-day stand-up comic and oral storytelling techniques for better grasp of how flash fiction works, and also points out how Paul’s success with it depends upon the elements of timing, concision, and surprise, elements integral to his work. Paul’s short creative stories function like aphorisms, compact and epigrammatic. They belong to the tradition of wisdom literature: a wise elder finding the words to guide his readers and spiritual adepts on their way. These are creative pieces that provoke existential doubt and raise vital questions about the nature of artistic creation, the place of religious ideas in the practice of faith, and the relationship between good and evil, all of which remain unanswered and endlessly interesting.
