Sujoy Roy Chowdhury Chapter 1: Arrival in the City of Joy Alex stepped off the plane at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport with a sense of excitement buzzing inside him. He had read countless travel blogs about Kolkata’s Durga Puja, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him the moment he arrived. The terminal itself was decorated with banners showcasing the festival—bright reds, golds, and oranges, images of the goddess Durga in all her glory, and the words “Welcome to the City of Joy” beaming from every corner. Outside the airport, the humid October air…
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Rohit Agarwala 1 The journey from Bangalore to Goa felt like a quiet escape for her, though the weight in her chest did not let go so easily. She had left behind not just the chaos of the city but also a relationship that had once defined her days and dreams. As the bus wound through narrow coastal roads, the salty breeze drifting through the window carried with it a promise of something lighter, something unspoken. When she finally arrived, the sight of the sea stretching endlessly before her felt almost unreal. The turquoise waves lapped against the sand as…
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Srirupa Deka The story begins in the sprawling tea gardens of Assam, where the rolling hills are carpeted in green, and the morning sun often struggles to pierce through a shroud of heavy mist. For the laborers who spend their days plucking delicate tea leaves, the mist is more than just a veil of nature—it is the cloak of a tale whispered across generations. They speak of the “White Lady,” a spectral figure said to wander the gardens after dusk, her presence heralded by a voice so hauntingly sweet that even the strongest men cannot resist its pull. By day,…
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Mridul Sharma Rhea stepped off the train at Madgaon station, her city-weary eyes widening as the first monsoon drops kissed her cheeks. The air in Goa was thick with the scent of wet earth and salt, a combination that seemed to cleanse the dust and stress clinging to her from months of relentless deadlines. The usual din of Delhi—honking cars, shouting vendors, and the unending pulse of urgency—was replaced by a soft, hypnotic symphony of raindrops pattering on tin roofs and leaves trembling under the weight of water. Every corner of the small station seemed alive with the season’s lush…
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Shubrangshu Roy Shadows Beneath the Sky, opens with Mira’s world pressed in tightly around her, as though every breath she takes has to fight its way through invisible walls of worry. At sixteen, she often feels like a spectator in her own life, watching her classmates laugh and chatter as if they belong to a world just beyond her reach. Every morning is a struggle, each step into the bustling corridors of school amplifying her sense of being out of place. Crowds make her heart quicken, sudden noises coil around her nerves, and even silence at night is filled with…
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Prabir Arora The first chapter of the story plunges the reader straight into the heart of a lavish South Mumbai wedding, a world that Diya, an introverted and somewhat socially awkward book editor, finds both dazzling and suffocating. From the moment she steps into the sprawling banquet hall, she is overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of colors, sparkling sequins, and the constant hum of chatter and laughter. Every corner is crowded with impeccably dressed guests, eager to showcase their latest outfits and perfect social media selfies. Diya feels out of place, a silent observer in this whirlwind of glamour, her discomfort…
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Asit Rana Chapter 1 – The Disappearing Drivers The first whispers began as roadside gossip, exchanged over steaming cups of chai at dhabas dotting the endless stretch of National Highway 44. A driver from Punjab was said to have vanished in the dead of night, leaving behind a truck still humming on the shoulder of the road, headlights flooding an empty stretch of asphalt. Within days, another truck was found in similar fashion near Nagpur — its cabin door swinging in the wind, the driver nowhere in sight. Soon, the pattern became undeniable. Drivers who set out with their consignments…
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Ethan Ray Episode 1: The Chamber Beneath the Library The storm over Florence had come without warning. Thunder rumbled across the Arno, rattling the glass panes of the Biblioteca Laurenziana as Professor Adrian Keller leaned over a spread of faded manuscripts. The medieval library, usually hushed in reverence, vibrated faintly with the sound of rain pounding against the roof tiles. The air smelled of ink, vellum, and age. Keller’s fingers, ink-stained from decades of work, trembled slightly as he turned the page of a sixteenth-century codex. He wasn’t supposed to be here alone. The library’s director had granted him a…
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Rishabh Malhotra Episode 1: The Fading Connaught Place The night was unusually warm for late October, and Delhi’s streets pulsed with their familiar energy—autos rattling through intersections, street vendors shouting over the hiss of frying oil, and neon lights reflecting against colonial pillars. At Connaught Place, the heart of the city, Arjun Malviya adjusted his satchel and checked the time. His phone screen glowed 10:57 p.m. He had promised to meet his younger sister, Kavya, at the outer circle after she finished her theatre rehearsal. She was never late. Tonight, however, the crowd seemed thinner than usual, and Arjun noticed…
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Ria Mukherjee Episode 1: The First Beat of the Dhaak The city was already stirring with the rhythm of autumn. By late September, Kolkata had begun to smell different—air thick with the sweetness of shiuli blossoms, streets filling with bamboo scaffolds, and paints drying on vast clay structures that would soon transform into gods and goddesses. For Anirban, this season had always meant a sense of homecoming, even though he had never really left the city. Every lane seemed alive with anticipation, and every face carried a hint of secret joy. Durga Puja was not just a festival; it was…