The History Of An Entire Nation
A poem by Ashish Kumar Singh: ‘…even though we have always slept that way, this big word none of us knew the meaning of, made us afraid and we let you bring other hefty men to fix what you said was broken…’
The Curse of Beauty: The last letter of Gopi Kishan Purohit, my grandfather
Personal Essay by Aseem Sundan: ‘I remember both the man and his art as a montage of arbitrarily-arranged memories of all seasons and sentiments. Each unique in its way, some of them a fragment of his youth, some of his absurdity, some of his longing, and some just of beauty.’
Of Mahalaya, Memories, and Moksha
Personal Essay by Mallika Bhaumik: At the Bengali festival for the goddess, the pomp and grandeur involved in the worship of ‘Nari Shakti’ is in stark contrast to the apathy shown towards the Durgas whom we come across every day.
A Street Taught Me How to Count
Poetry by Shivangi Mishra: ‘Forgetful of two lithe directions, that damned street, / Faced and faced not in retreat, / Turning its back on dense civilisation’
And If The Rains Don’t Stop
Short story by Chitra Gopalakrishnan: ‘The river always makes a mockery of these predictions, bursting its banks when least expected, and changing course as it wills, when it wills. The only certainty is its uncertainty.’
Favourite Horror Story
Flash fiction by Karan Madhok: ‘Kunal imagines Yashaswi Sir running in the dark, back towards the bus, through the grass and the weeds and the shrubs. Over snakes and rabbits and frogs. Away from the light, seeing nothing, vacuum only making way for more vacuum.’
A Searing Little Fire in Mumbai
Photo Gallery: Infrastructural concerns and safety negligence have led to multiple major fires in Mumbai in recent years. But there are fires that often go unreported, small flares that alert the Maximum City of the rising infernos to come. By Altamash Kadir