A poem by Sayani Mukherjee: ‘where Jargons kept our brew alive and we sat cross legged with armours high up from howling screams’

Personal essay by Dhani Muniz: ‘What is Australia then? The name itself conveys a ruddy blankness. Deserts rising out of ocean like heat from a radiator. Twenty months since I’ve left India and the old-Old World of the East.’

A poem by John Copley Alter: ‘what was indigenous / in our childhood’s garden? became / native, mother tongue—our flora— / blossoming…’

Poetry by Harsh Anand: ‘everyone pointed out, / the crevices in my bones, / as if I am unaware of my own biology, / as if my suffering is more endurance than expression.’

Poetry by Sana Ahmad: ‘Why more poems are created at cemeteries rather than nurseries; and the living seek to write the voices of the dead.’

An overpopulated trip to Kedarkantha made Aman Panwar reflect on the dangerous rise of ‘tourist-trekkers’ in the Himalaya, where unprepared throngs are destructing the natural habitat and profits are being made at the cost of environment.

Poetry by Karan Madhok: ‘the plants once shared an iridescent home / but nothing on the balcony survives / exposed under the naked rays’

Original poetry and art by Shamayita Sen: ‘whirring ceiling fan / performing Kathak tarana in solitude’

Poetry by Shivangi Mishra: ‘The calm stillness of those frosty mornings of yesterdays / Still echo in my dreams, / Ruffled within a distant silhouette of past’

Poems by Kashiana Singh: ‘meanwhile, you stir life / into us, our faces cupped / in the folds of your / turmeric stained / hands – / held by a firm wrist / draped / in a beaded rosary’

‘I simply mean: our image of forever / Is not forever, the way a painting / Of an ocean is not wet.’

The pandemic presented fraught challenges to our connections with the rest of humanity, the people and acquaintances in our world. In her personal photo-essay, Sufia Khatoon attempts to forge links with the strangers with whom we share our breaths.