The Call of the Past
It was a balmy March evening in Udaipur. The sun had set behind the Aravalli Hills, leaving a faint amber glow in the sky. In the corner of the drawing…[...]
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Playing With Destiny
Content warning: Injury, trauma, mental health strugglesStaring at my freshly bandaged fingers, I wished for only one thing. To go back in time and prevent the accident. Okay, maybe I…[...]
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Until Satyid Voices Wake Us
If my mother reaches Loki’s Star, I wonder. I wonder if she’ll remember us. Remember the day she left me on Earth, on the beach in Varkala. It was the…[...]
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A wicked cup of coffee
Raman’s Narration It was one of the big American brands that had set up shop at a prominent spot of the circular market that was the famous Connaught Place of…[...]
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Childhood long lost
“Maasi, you don’t have to look after me anymore,” Jagrut said.Hena caressed his arm over the blazer and said, “Those whom I have helped grow up mean a lot to…[...]
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Belle Nessa – A Gothic Story
How much did other journalists have to beg the editor to write a story? "I will come back with THE story, a wonderful one, an honest, personal account from the…[...]
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Rohan’s Birthday Wish
It was eight o’ clock. Papa was going to knock at the door any moment now. Rohan felt his heartbeat rising, and his feet start to twitch. But they were…[...]
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Diwali, 2026
When you’re young and world is still full of wonder and things to explore and places to be, and the prospect of a job has no relation to the drudgery…[...]
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What I Would Give
I’m about to enter Café Ira when the sign on the door makes me stop.Come in for an unforgettable time!My nostrils flare. It’s mocking me. I’m sure of it.Shaking the…[...]
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My Father Shares Fruit
My father shares fruits with the family. Every morning, he leaves me some on our kitchen counter. Sometimes it’s one slice from the fruit he was eating that day, or…[...]
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The Last Kiss
He looked at the creature for four minutes straight. It was writhing on the ground, ebony skinned with a boil ballooned up from its calf. It smiled with its mangled…[...]
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there is no hiding inside the passage of time
The ache is bone deep. Nova’s eyes fixed on the page. Tapah, in Sanskrit, meant both “involuntary pain experienced by the senses” and “voluntary control of the senses.” An itch…[...]
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My first air travel
The very first time I flew by an airplane was when I was in my early twenties. I was in my first job and was asked to travel from New…[...]
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The colors of life
"Would you like to have another cup of chai?" Geetha asked her husband. It would be the sixth cup since morning if Bharath agreed. He needs a cup of tea…[...]
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story inspired by my favorite color
There is nothing like "perfect life" and you as a person own emotions vs habit. Living in a huge city is like exploring life closely and every day is an…[...]
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Five Letters
My dearest one,The story that you ask me to recount to you has been one you’ve desired since you were old enough to eavesdrop on my conversations with your mother.…[...]
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Everthing Except the Wedding
Today wasn’t important because of the holy matrimony of two people. The joining of a union and what have you. Today was important to the staff of the wedding venue…[...]
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I Just Wanted to Help
The garage door hissed open with a pneumatic sigh, and Rohan stepped inside with a box nearly as tall as him. “Alright, everyone—come here! You’re gonna want to see this.”Divya,…[...]
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A question of life and death
Tick-tock, tick-tock, went the clock, as slowly and disparagingly as it could. Ameer was listening the clock tick patiently from atop the roof. He hesitantly placed one foot over the…[...]
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Here, You Are Already Enough
When the letter arrived, Ali nearly tossed it into the recycling bin. It was tucked between credit card offers and a takeout menu, and it bore the familiar handwriting of…[...]
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Becoming Lily
Becoming LilyChapter 1: The Platform Lily stood on the cold, graffiti-covered subway platform, a large suitcase in one hand and a stiff coffee in the other. She checked and double-checked…[...]
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One-in-a-Gazillion Chance
One-in-a-Gazillion ChanceSharon sighed heavily as she looked out the window at the tourist signs, but didn’t say a word for a while. Finally, she exploded, “This has been a very…[...]
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Dear Diary, Reminder: Delete Mum
Chapter 1 Tuesday, 14th MarchSchool was… meh. Maths test. I think I failed. But then Riya said she guessed every answer and got 80%, so there’s hope for me. Mum…[...]
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Echoes of Dvaraka (Part 1)
The year was 12491 AD.Humanity’s descendants, part-organic, part-synthetic, no longer called Earth home. Their bloodlines flowered among the stars — from fragile colonies on ice moons to sprawling cities orbiting…[...]
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Under the Tiles
Sadiya walked up to the lime tree and set her suitcase down, staring at the dried up leaves resting atop the red clay tiles. They made an interlocking pattern spanning…[...]
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Lost on a jarred ear
Airbase in Assam - Rakesh and Maya (Evening)The fluorescent lights of the officers' common room cast long shadows as dusk settled over the Assam airbase. Rakesh sat on the edge…[...]
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Edison Lights
When you have a gendered take on your undergraduate thesis, you presume it will circle to the violence that women face at the hands of men, particularly intimate partners. You…[...]
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The Lost Love
July 2025, New York - “Breaking the News”Her eyes show the unconditional love he didn’t know he needed until he met Kathrine for the first time in a park. Siddharth’s…[...]
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The Earrings
FADE IN: EXT. SIDEWALK - NIGHT It’s raining hard, creating puddles along the corners of the sidewalks. People rush past, umbrellas bobbing, as some stores’ neon signs flicker on and…[...]
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If It’s Not Chocolate
At last, it was quiet — the kind of calm that settled over the ward once the trays had been cleared and the evening meds had made their rounds. The…[...]
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For the Noble Cause
They had nothing. One morning, Sara would look for work in the dhopa ghat, where she and her mother would wash clothes for the richer people in their village.Sara was…[...]
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Where the Silk Cotton Tree Grows
They say the old silk cotton tree in Crabwood Creek can swallow souls.That its roots drink more than water. That sometimes, late at night, you can hear drumming from its…[...]
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Portions of Love
As every Sunday went, Preeti stood barefoot on the warm hardwood floors of their kitchen, her toes sinking into the vivid runner she had carried back from Rajasthan - deep…[...]
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Letters from Lucknow, 1886
“Intercultural Book Club. Join us! Every Sunday 6pm.”The poster hung alone on a blank wall in my dorm building. As someone who had just moved in and loved novels it…[...]
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Remembrance
Remarkably I found myself cleaning out an old closet space. Full of past present and today's current events. Unlike any other soccer mom I was determined to transform this space…[...]
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The Mango Heist
The day was hot and sticky and with a hint of hot air blowing in from the south, and it promised to become even brutally hot before cooling down in…[...]
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Pari’s Reflections
The morning began like any other. The metro line rumbled with its usual rhythm, carrying office-goers to distant parts of the city. The cars sped in opposite directions across the…[...]
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Shifting “Lakshmi”-Abandoned on 1.1.1970
I was born a girl in India in the 70s—a healthy 7-pound “Lakshmi” in the making,to my parents-a banker and a housewife until I wasn’t.. My mother had gone to…[...]
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Echoes of an Unfinished Love
Unspoken, UnforgottenThe café was almost empty that rainy evening, a hush of porcelain and steam that made everything feel closer than it was. I had a book open in my…[...]
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Patient Zero
2049 Saanvi walked happily, her high heels click-clacking on the road, two shopping bags hanging from each hand. As she walked, she gazed at the roadside shops selling fancy accessories,…[...]
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The Prince’s Shadow
Sometime after the British India Company started advancing its control across India, there lived a young nawab of the Mughal court. He was a prince out of the fairy tales;…[...]
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Fake It Till You Make It
The stench of cheap beer and regret fills my nostrils as Gavin presses me against the Kappa house bathroom's marble tiles. His hands fumble with my shirt buttons while I…[...]
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The Garden of the Blessed Destoryer
The temple bells had been quiet for three days when they finally rang for her.Ishaan felt the vibrations through the marble floor before he heard anything, a thrumming that seemed…[...]
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The Kapalik’s Disciple
I am devastated.My parents have left me at the age of 25.As I stand next to the funeral pyre, tears falling, I feel an eerie breeze brush against my skin.If…[...]
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Icarus Was Warm
The thing about stories—real stories—is that they give you something to believe in when nothing else will. Maybe that's why the Greeks turned heartbreak into myths. They knew what falling…[...]
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Let’s Start Here
“Where are we going?” Nusrat questioned, her voice groggy with sleep and curiosity. “Just a few more steps,” Rafiq reassured while covering her eyes from behind. He guided her slowly…[...]
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Meethe Chawal
I was only ten when the kites stopped flying in Lahore. Before "partition" was a word adults whispered, Lahore still felt like it belonged to all of us. Our gully…[...]
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The Road Not Taken
CW: Addresses abortion, emotional abuse, and themes of oppression. My mother was a twenty-four-year-old woman with a bright red bindi between her soft brown eyes, dark hair flowing down to…[...]
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Through the Cracks
Don’t forget to defrost the meat.Last time you set it out too late.Make sure you wake up early and do it this time.Samira repeated the instructions to herself, burning them…[...]
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Copper and Cast Iron
Khalid had never seen so many different kinds of steel before. The textures were so visceral; the copper, the stainless steel, the cast iron and the latest carbon steel, they…[...]
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An Empty Plate Is Never Empty
I wake up knowing I am eighteen years old.I know this the way you know your own name, the way memory settles into bone and refuses to leave, even when…[...]
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The Recipe I Didn’t Write Down (Begun Bhorta)
The plate is empty when it starts to burn.Not the food—the thing I left too close to the flame. A corner of paper, curled and blackening, the smell thin and…[...]
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Chicken Curry
Brown the onions, and don’t fry them like last time.Fahim stirred the cubes of onion, watching them slowly take on the warm brown hue his mother always insisted on. Behind…[...]
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Sundarban Wood
Kajol scraped the last smear of molasses from the pot, the wooden spoon warm from the stove. He rinsed the remaining sticky, brown filling and packed the rest of the…[...]
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He Didn’t Look Back
It was raining harder than usual.Jay sat at the bus stand, his foot tapping against the damp concrete. Water crept in from the edge of the roof, darkening the ground…[...]
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Journey by the paintings
As he walked on to his home from the school (don’t get him started about the pains of being in high school), he had to pass an alley on the…[...]
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The Night’s Mourning
Today I’d like to read to you the story of a boy whose first experience with life was watching me take his mother away.Allow me a moment to find the…[...]
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A Mind For Numbers
Fahim sank further into his seat, in a classroom with fellow STEM majors sitting upright and diligently taking notes. He doodled drawings on the margins of his notes, away from…[...]
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The Disappearance of Low Tea
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed as her cup of tea brushed against mine by accident. Her words took my breath away. It had been a while since I had been…[...]
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No Love On Fulton Street
The corner of Fulton Street was always busy- clamoring with a stampede of New Yorkers exiting the G train station situated at the corner. There were always honking cars deadlocked…[...]
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What I Meant to Say, Was
Fahim glanced over Samara’s shoulder, careful not to wake her. The clock had just slipped past two. Her neck rested comfortably on his arm, her breathing slow and even. He…[...]
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Between the Lines
05/23/2026 — 7:45 pm Dear Diary, I know I said I’d write consistently, but here I am, after almost two weeks. I don’t usually carry you around with me, but…[...]
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White Onions
Naima let the oil heat up on her cast-iron skillet slowly. The rustic stovetop grew old with a charred cast but withstood the test of time over the last three…[...]
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Mogra and Daffodils
The daffodils had opened overnight.I noticed them while walking back home, the sun was unusually generous for early spring. They leaned toward the light, bright and unapologetically yellow against the…[...]
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Fifteen Pounds
Mahin knelt in front of the suitcase carefully organizing his essentials. The suitcase rested on a weight scale with the dial measuring just over three pounds. He continued packing clothes…[...]
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The School Topper
Initially, I’d held my head high in the deep green, silver-bordered saree I was wearing. But walking through the gargantuan crowd of hundreds of students in the school lobby, every…[...]
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Safety First – A girl’s first lesson in how love reshapes freedom
They can sense our fear. Keep your spine straight. Don’t be afraid. Don’t hesitate to look them in the eye. And in the worst case, always remember to pick up…[...]
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The Wedding Pact
The Wedding Pact -- By Neelam Chohan-Jagait Chapter 1: The Dinner Party A warm drop of sweat trickled down Samira’s spine as she poured herself a generous glass of chilled…[...]
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A cup of cold chai
Aroma of ginger and cardamom lingered in her daughter’s living room. Saraswati was sitting in her usual chair, a small table on her right-hand side, with a steaming cup of…[...]
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Between Acts
The sink is backed up. Again. That’s the life we live: a bowl of shaving cream and soap that drains slower than the water we pour into it. I think…[...]
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The Good Dalit
Rishi sought the itinerant guru he heard was traveling through the area. The guru went by the name Guru Ved, which was almost sacrilegious in itself, except for the rumors…[...]
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A Pink Flower Called Hope
Click. “Chin up,” commanded the photographer. Rani confidently raised her slender, recently-threaded chin. Click. “Okay, now do this,” ordered the photographer. He set his camera aside and contorted himself into…[...]
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The Liberation of Sisyphus
I drift up the mahogany stairs, the colour of freshly brewed tea. I slide along the pristine floors until I come upon a room. Her room. Our room. Once. She…[...]
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The Delicate Straw Hut
Dawn. Tara walks to the well outside the village, a pot in her hand. Two years into adulthood, her green bangles clink as the pot bounces against the side of…[...]
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The Gravity of Being Upright
I think it had started to happen a long time back—bit by bit—but I only noticed it this morning. Gravity was dead. Like Queen Elizabeth. Both of them. Yesterday, it…[...]
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Moonlight and Madness
Your eyes pour the moonlight on my path as I turn my back to you. In the dead of the night, I walk with my family, away from my home,…[...]
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Letters from Lucknow, 1886
“Intercultural Book Club. Join us! Every Sunday 6pm.”The poster hung alone on a blank wall in my dorm building. As someone who had just moved in and loved novels it…[...]
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Voluntary Amputation
I didn’t notice the exact moment you began to disappear. That’s the problem with people who have survived for too long. They fall apart quietly. No drama. No warning. Like…[...]
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Apology in Porcelain
The morning sun blinds Tom Watkins when he steps out on the back porch to toss a leaky garbage bag into the old, dented metal can. He has been cleaning…[...]
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What She Kept
The apple tree had been there longer than the house. She had watched the road arrive one summer, a scar cut through the field that healed into habit. She had…[...]
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Lifandi Fiskur
As Kevin entered the water alone, in the dark, with no sound but the small waves crashing on the shore and the wind blowing peacefully around him, he realized the…[...]
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Destination to Somewhere
Destination to Somewhereby Spartacus Lawrence— — — It’s Friday evening, and there’s a holiday on Monday. I’m in my car in bumper to bumper traffic — my old blue Buick,…[...]
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Blood Debts
Rui “Ray” Chang was an immigration and real-estate attorney in Fort Lee with a tiny office above a karaoke bar a stone’s throw away from the George Washington Bridge. But…[...]
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@Mods, She Wrote
TadGhostal asks: How do I train my dog to lick things? Should I use peanut butter? ->GromitsGF1990 3mo“Kisses” is an easy enough to teach. I did it for my dog…[...]
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The Sanctuary
The warmth of the state park cabin made it easy to forget the bitter winter waiting outside the frosted windows. My soon-to-be husband, Nephets, had chosen this rustic sanctuary for…[...]
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