catch

Catch a shooting star by Kankana Basu

Catch a shooting star   If you proceed cautiously holding a man-sized kerchief in your hand You might chance upon the shooting star that fell behind the building that faces our house.   That derelict building with dim neon-lit rooms and tired laundry hanging on limp clotheslines stretching across dark smelly verandahs lined with old […]

Read more

Only words…and far away. Jaipur Diary by Anil Dharker

Jaipur Diary January 30 2017 A local newspaper in Jaipur interviewed some of the bright young things thronging the packed central square at the event venue. “‘Festival dressing is the in thing’ “’ exclaims Juhi, a final year B.Com student at a city college. Everyone wants to look cool and fashionable and so do I.  […]

Read more
too much

TOO MUCH WILL BE LOST IF WE DON’T SPEAK

TOO MUCH WILL BE LOST IF WE DON’T SPEAK Muslim Women Lead the Way! Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz We as Muslims are going through very difficult times. There is Islamophobia on one hand and an increasingly dangerous and inhuman set of emergent Muslim groups on the other. Both are bent on destroying the Muslim community […]

Read more

Short Story : Songs of the Ocean by Kankana Basu

Songs of the Ocean A maiden voyage for any new sailor is an unforgettable experience. In my case, I remember getting much more than I had bargained for. My husband’s merchant navy vessel- a seventy thousand ton oil tanker named M.T Jewel- was berthed off the coast of Spain, I was informed shortly after getting […]

Read more

‘Why does it have to be a poet?’ by Sampurna Chattarji

SAMPURNA CHATTARJI ‘Why does it have to be a poet?’   A piece dedicated to all the poets I have read, translated, loved   Space Gulliver’s sadness is monumental Monumental her desire for friends Who will draw her back into joy Poets who will write songs for her Poets she will write poems for Poets […]

Read more
NO-EDM

No Women No Cry by Anil Dharker

EDM, as you would know if you are young, ( and are behaving young anywhere in the world), is a happening thing. However, if you are young in Bengaluru or in Mumbai, you would know that EDM is not happening. Not happening at all. That’s because the authorities, whose job is to authorise, decided that […]

Read more
140728083545anil blur

True Lies by Anil Dharker

TRUE LIES Anil Dharker   A new year is a time of look forward to new beginnings, new adventures, new explorations. It says something about human beings’ innate optimism, that however bad the previous year has been, we gather together with a cheerful spirit on New Year`s Eve (which is only partially due to the […]

Read more
Anil_Dharker_Image_2

What’s In A Name? by Anil Dharker

Bombay Diary January 9, 2017   About a month ago, the Maharashtra government changed the name of Mumbai`s Central Railway terminus and its international airport. Again. To recap, the railway terminus at Bori Bunder, a prime example of the Indo-Saracen style of architecture as well as a UNESCO Heritage site, was commissioned in 1887. For […]

Read more
anil-litlive

Look at the Bright spot By Anil Dharker

Bombay Diary January 2, 2017   Resuming this column after a mere six weeks, I find that the whole world has turned topsy-turvy. For starters (and middles and enders), Donald trumped Hilary. And Narendra Modi, India`s best Foreign Minister ever, and occasional Prime Minister, showed us why it would be good for the nation if […]

Read more
ll

Partition and the Idea of Pakistan : Venkat Dhulipala

The road to new Medina. THE YEAR 2017 will mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of India and Pakistan. While official Independence celebrations will no doubt be organised on both sides of the Radcliffe Line to mark the event along with a host of patriotic observances and festivities, Partition itself is certain to receive […]

Read more
sandor-jaszberenyi

To Kill An Arab : Sándor Jászberényi

To Kill An Arab A Short Story by Sándor Jászberényi   We put the two machine guns on the kitchen table. “I’ll take them to headquarters,” said the colonel to the boys, who then stepped back outside as he closed the door. The engine started up and the jeep took off, carrying the fellows we’d […]

Read more