• English - Romance

    Chai, Sweat & Secrets

    July 30, 2025 - By 

    Sanjana Kaul 1 The Bengaluru sun pierced through the glass walls of the co-working space like a daily ritual, washing the industrial-chic interiors in gold. Tanya Rao stood at the head of the long wooden conference table, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight, the glow of her smartwatch reflecting her rising heart rate. Another pitch meeting loomed, another investor to impress, and her team was scrambling to pull the demo together. Her co-founder, Rishi, had the audacity to be late—again. “Just wait, you’ll like him,” he had texted about the new UX designer joining today. Tanya didn’t care. She didn’t have…

  • Crime - English

    The Puppeteer of Howrah

    July 30, 2025 - By 

    Souradeep Dutta 1 Rain drummed steadily on the rusted iron roof of Subhro Dutta’s apartment in Shibpur, blurring the already smudged cityscape outside the window. The walls inside were yellowed with smoke, time, and neglect, just like him. He sat in his old cane chair, a half-filled glass of Old Monk dangling loosely from his hand, watching the flickering television news bulletin like a man watching ghosts dance. “Another body discovered in Howrah Maidan area,” the anchor was saying, tone flat, professional, unaffected. But what made Subhro sit up slightly wasn’t the death—it was the image that followed. A photograph…

  • English - Romance

    The Monsoon Retreat

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Leena Iyer 1 The train slid into the Konkan station just as the sky began to gather weight. Rhea stepped down with her backpack slung across one shoulder, her camera case banging gently against her hip. The air was thick with the smell of wet earth and seaweed, as if the land itself was waiting to exhale. She hadn’t told anyone she was coming here—not her friends, not her ex, not even her editor. Gokarna was meant to be anonymous, a soft, green escape with coconut trees swaying and time ticking at its own pace. She hailed a rickshaw and…

  • Crime - English

    The Midnight Autopsy

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Shanaya Rao 1 The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting an antiseptic glare over the chilled walls of the AIIMS mortuary. The smell of formaldehyde clung to every surface, a scent Dr. Ira Bhaskar had long since stopped noticing. It was nearing midnight, and the corridors were mostly deserted, save for the hum of distant refrigeration units and the soft thud of her footsteps echoing in the tiled corridor. Inside Autopsy Chamber 4, a body lay under a white sheet — Case #N-4521, a twenty-two-year-old woman named Niharika Sharma, found murdered in a park near South Delhi. The case had…

  • English - Horror

    The Last Sermon at Kohima Church

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Niraj Kashyap 1 The road to Kohima was narrower than Dev Malhotra expected, its serpentine curves stitched into hills that breathed mist with every mile. His cab driver, a lean man named Lipok, didn’t speak much beyond gestures and short English bursts. The air grew thinner as they climbed, and pine forests swayed like silent sentinels watching their passage. Dev kept his DSLR beside him, ready to catch any atmospheric shot that could set the tone for his article. A seasoned investigative journalist, he’d covered riots, cults, and graveyard confessions in Bundelkhand—but this was different. Stories of a phantom priest…

  • Comedy - English

    The Accidental Groom

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Tara Ellison Ray Jay Parker hated weddings. He hated the drama, the speeches, the couples gazing into each other’s eyes like the world was a chocolate fountain. But most of all, he hated commitment. So naturally, when his best mate Ollie invited him to a week-long bachelor party in Goa—far, far away from London’s relentless drizzle and his ex-girlfriend’s constant texting—Jay booked the flight without a second thought. He didn’t bother to read the fine print. Details bored him. That’s how he ended up sleep-deprived, slightly hungover, and entirely confused when a chauffeur holding a sign that read “Jai Prakash…

  • English - Romance - Travel

    Saffron Kisses

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Ira Devyani Sen It was the kind of evening that carried warmth on its skin — not from the sun, but from the longing that hung in the air like unspoken words. The rain had stopped just an hour ago, leaving behind a breathless hush. The windows were still misted, half open to the scent of soaked earth and hibiscus. She stood by the sill, fingers tracing the wooden frame, her saree a soft rustle of maroon and gold wrapped tightly around her curves, as if the fabric itself remembered touch. Down below, the courtyard glistened — bricks slick with…

  • English - Romance

    Woh Chitthi Wala Pyar

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Arjun Sharma Part 1: The Letter in the Attic The hills of Ranikhet were wrapped in their usual mist, like a half-remembered dream refusing to fade with morning light. Anaya Mehra sat in the back of the shared taxi, her fingers clenched around the strap of her leather sketchbook bag. The sharp scent of pine mixed with damp earth rushed in through the half-open window, unfamiliar yet oddly calming. It had been ten years since she last came here — as a teenager, arms crossed in rebellion, dragged by her parents to visit her grandmother. Now, she returned alone, thirty…

  • Crime - English

    The Third Immersion

    July 29, 2025 - By 

    Aparajita Tiwari One The train to Prayagraj rolled into the station just before dawn, its rusted wheels screeching softly against the tracks as if whispering secrets to the holy city. Nandita Mukherjee stepped out, clutching her leather satchel and the fading warmth of a voice note from her brother, Neel. It was barely thirty-six seconds long—his voice low, deliberate, and edged with urgency. “They’re watching me… The third dip is a front. Too many missing faces. If anything happens…” Then silence. No location. No follow-up. Just those words, haunting and cryptic. The air smelled of smoke, camphor, and wet earth…

  • Crime - English

    The Cochin Conspiracy

    July 28, 2025 - By 

    Krishnan Iyer 1 The coastal air of Fort Kochi carried a certain salt-heavy stillness that morning, interrupted only by the frantic footsteps of an old caretaker rushing through the arched corridors of St. Francis Church. Sunlight filtered lazily through stained glass, casting jewel-toned halos on the ancient tiled floor as birds fluttered from the rafters. The caretaker, Murali, breathless and trembling, pointed to the raised altar where a priceless relic once stood — the intricately carved Pietà, gifted by Dutch colonists in the 17th century, now gone without a trace. No broken locks, no forced doors, not even a footprint…