Personal Essay by Devanshi: ‘Your favourite movie is probably not your favourite movie because it was the best film you have ever seen. It is your favourite because Zee Cinema played it a zillion times in the summer of 2014 while your mother folded clothes in the next room, and you unconsciously absorbed its dialogues through domestic osmosis.’

Partition is not so much a mere plot device in Imtiaz Ali’s Main Waapas Aaunga, but a ghost that continues to haunt the people who survived it—in memories and regrets. By Deepansh Duggal

Bena Sareen, winner of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, speaks about her latest honour and the “huge responsibility” of designing a memorable literary cover. By Chittajit Mitra

The problematic representation of women in many recent Telugu blockbusters like Peddi and the Pushpa films have stoked controversy. When mainstream commercial cinema consistently turns the sexualisation of women into entertainment, who should be responsible for the world these images help create? By Sumithra Prasanna

Poem by Anju Devadas R D: ‘someone once said / the soul is lighter than breath / but the soil keeps secrets / the sky cannot hold.’

Personal Essay by Prachi Sharma: ‘My father pauses in every retelling of this tale. He wants me to see it. A man in the uniform of an Indian working for the English, in a village courtyard in the late 1920s, his face turning to one side from the force of an open palm. The villagers watching. The Daroga’s hand going to his cheek. A pigeon somewhere on the roof, taking off.’

Seated among old paintings, clocks, clothing, trinkets, and valuables, 76-year-old Hamiz Rizwi maintains a kaleidoscopic antique shop in Lucknow, revealing new stories with every glance. By Ishita Yadav

Poetry by Saoirse: ‘let us build a night on the marble edifice / of silence. Spread freshly laundered sheets / over the freckled sky and light / the twin candles of our bodies.’

Poetry by John Copley Alter: ‘In the proximity / of other gods—other sutras— / we muttered our creed—you // pecking / away at your manual typewriter— / carbon copies of personal letters / home—to the diaspora—we // noodling on the keyboard of happiness’

Featuring dozens of literary conservations, book releases, film screenings, live music, art exhibitions, folk dances, and more, the second edition of LLAF saluted the resolute spirit of the Himalaya. By The Chakkar and Mussoorie Heritage Centre

Shaped by Kerala’s mythology and folk art, Anupama Alias Anil weaves textures that introspect the gendered self . By Anna Lynn

In the solo play Adhura, Vivek Vijayakumaran explores how, even as we idolise historical and mythological figures, life tests the ideals they embody. Do these tests still liberate us, or do they become burdens that make it harder to make choices? By Sravasti Datta