The piper’s solace

After a hard day at work, leaning against the concrete wall, he picked up his only precious possession – his flute, his solace.
3 August 2026

Sweet in the palm of your hands

My acquaintance with Parveen Apa was initiated almost five years ago. I was appointed as a private-duty nurse at Mrs Aleya Khatun’s residence to look after her ill mother.
25 June 2026

Sins of the blameless

Suffering in a world where the victims get blamed, and the tainted hearts get praised
20 May 2026

Sorceress

By the flickering stove, blue potion jars cradling in-between worn-out fingers swivelling amidst cracks of skin meld into warmth.
1 May 2026

When time stands still

Inside the glass walls of my hourglass, I have always felt the inevitability of decline, yet I never realised that even falling is beautiful.
1 May 2026

Letter from my dead grandmother

By virtue of my untimely demise, it appears that I have all of a sudden been promoted, quite without my consent, to somewhat the rank of a posthumous enigma.
27 March 2026

Names written on lists

Remember that you are human, even as the world tries its best to erase you.
27 February 2026

The limerence of ghats

The ghats, each a storyteller, offered us a promise to take us to our destination.
26 February 2026

To exist in two places at once…

Between these two forms — the held and the moving — lies an ongoing experiment with distance.
30 January 2026

Survival should not cost them their souls

When her back bends, call it devotion; when his silence deepens, call it strength.
30 January 2026

Alone and lonely

The same one that once pleaded, cried, and whimpered had then whispered.
26 January 2026

Where they all disappear

All he hears is the weight of his right-hand trembling as the frantic sound of beak against wooden board grows louder and louder.
28 November 2025

The mirror between us

And for the Oldest, the mirror wounds as well.
25 September 2025

It’s all in my head

In the silence, her mind ruminated on every little detail.
31 July 2025

Maybe a mirage

Something you may... You may never find again.
26 June 2025

How to: live

My love always arrived wrapped in silence, wrapped in dust. But that was childhood.
26 June 2025

Heart, cling to me

We will make meaning out of the holes in the sun
26 June 2025

Once, spring stayed longer

He brought the jasmine to his nose, inhaled its narcotic sweetness, and wondered if maybe, just maybe, it was true.
29 May 2025

When they look away

“Do you think they think about us?” Asgar muttered.
25 April 2025

Hair

I love the texture of your hair and I wanted to tell you about it in far too many words than either you or I are comfortable with.
6 April 2025