fiction

FICTION / The vanishing Ramanujan

The night after the story got published, Jamal stormed to my home at around 11 PM, drenched in the rain. That was the first and only time Jamal raised his voice against me

Reader Submission / States

"That’s why I have jars of jealousy, anger, sadness, monotony, but this – it’s important."

Love poem for the reflection in the mirror

I will not even begin with the skies

FICTION / At the birth of death

One sits silently. Her eyes blink sometimes. Sometimes her lips tremble a little, or they don’t tremble at all.

FICTION / An interview with Shakchunni

Behind the bangles that jingle ominously in the dark, there is a voice—a voice that has long been silenced

FICTION / Leave of absence

“Residents usually get 30 days of observation period,” said the man at the reception, “but since it’s a leap year, you get an extra day.

FICTION / The hawk and the mice

Bolstered, the six little mice lead their army up–up–up the trunk of the poor, ravaged oak they were so desperate to save. 

FICTION / Ira in my town

After many years, Ira has returned to my town. She hops four towns to get here. We are supposed to meet today. I’ve been ready since morning. We will meet by the lakeside.

The Box

She frantically whisper-screamed at him, “Stop yelling! And this is serious Fayaz, we need to find that box.

August 29, 2024
August 29, 2024

Sufism and the emergence of Bengal’s syncretic culture

Review of ‘Needle at the Bottom of the Sea: Bengali Tales from the Land of the Eighteen Tides’ (University of California Press, 2023) translated by Tony K. Stewart

August 24, 2024
August 24, 2024

I heard they are changing the dictionary

I heard they are changing the dictionary.

August 24, 2024
August 24, 2024

When the streetlights flicker, think of revolution

When the streetlights flicker, think of every doe-eyed child that the city swallows

August 17, 2024
August 17, 2024

A “knockout” debut from Rita Bullwinkel

The eight girls in Headshot clearly hope to escape the chaos of their lives in the ring.

August 16, 2024
August 16, 2024

'Prophet Song': Full of sound, fury, and significance

The 309-page-long dystopian novel is an oppressive account of Eilish who tries to keep her family from falling apart as everything around her crumbles.

August 3, 2024
August 3, 2024

Pest control

Geronimo rushed inside the hole coughing, somehow managing to shut the door behind him. His mother Telapatra grabbed her son, hugging her tight for an instant before smacking him across the back. “How many times did I tell you not to go out at this hour?” cried Telapatra.

July 25, 2024
July 25, 2024

Motion

There are no lamplights in this end of the neighbourhood. Only tall trees standing upright on either side of the road, their leaves drooping down in lament for a long-forgotten motion.

July 25, 2024
July 25, 2024

Otherness and invisible identities

'The Hippo Girl and Other Stories' holds up a mirror to a society that judges and ridicules those that do not adhere to its shortsighted vision of a homogenised culture.

July 10, 2024
July 10, 2024

‘Decibels, dollars, days: down’: An experiential novel about hearing and loss

Callahan’s novel came to her during the pandemic when she found herself waking up with a large ringing noise in her head.

July 4, 2024
July 4, 2024

A wound in our experience

“An exceptional novel that makes gender disappear to build unconventional love and friendship”