• English - Romance

    Burnt Sugar and Monsoon Kisses

    July 26, 2025 - By 

    Adrit Desai Chapter 1 The rain came down hard, blurring the neon chaos of Bandra’s streets into watercolor smears. Aaliya Mehra stood behind the counter of her quiet patisserie, La Madeleine, watching droplets slide down the glass like they carried stories. It was just past 9 p.m., and she was wiping down the last tray when the door creaked open. A man stepped in—tall, soaked, with a week’s worth of stubble and the disarming confidence of someone who never asked for permission. His leather jacket clung to him like second skin, water dripping from his fingers onto her freshly mopped…

  • Crime - English

    The Frequency Killer

    July 26, 2025 - By 

    Kalyan Mukherjee One The rain had turned Hatibagan into a mosaic of puddles and reflections. Rickshaws creaked over slick tram tracks, and yellow taxis honked in frustration as they weaved between vegetable carts and slow-moving pedestrians. Amrita Dutta stood before the rusting iron gate of her grandfather’s house, staring up at the dark, crumbling façade as though it might swallow her whole. It had been over a decade since she’d stepped foot in this neighborhood, and yet the smell of damp paper, incense, and frying telebhaja felt too familiar. She entered cautiously, key in hand, pushing open the heavy door…

  • English - Suspense

    A Silent Apartment in Andheri

    July 26, 2025 - By 

    Pranoy Kr. Shah 1 The rain had been falling since dawn, washing the dust off the skeletal towers of Andheri West as Vedant and Nayantara Chitnis entered their new home on the sixteenth floor. The apartment, 1604, was tastefully modern—a minimalistic shell waiting to be warmed by the presence of a newly married couple. The realtor had called it a “luxury compact,” but Naya thought it felt like a box floating in fog. White walls, dark wood paneling, and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the blurred skyline of Mumbai gave it the illusion of space, though a strange emptiness clung to…

  • English - Horror

    The Baul’s Final Song

    July 25, 2025 - By 

    Asit Chowdhury 1 The red dust of Birbhum clung to Dr. Soumita Sen’s sandals as she stepped off the rickety local bus into the drowsy village of Palashpur. A warm wind carried the scent of mahua flowers and something more ancient—old wood smoke, dried hay, and the faintest echo of a tune no one seemed to sing. Her DSLR swung at her side, and in her leather satchel rested her most important equipment—a portable sound recorder and an archive notebook with trembling pages of half-remembered Baul songs. Palashpur had not been part of her original plan. She had been chasing…

  • Crime - English

    Salt in the Wound

    July 25, 2025 - By 

    Mukta Joshi 1 The sun had not yet risen over the vast white plains of the Rann of Kutch, but the world was already glowing. A ghostly sheen hung over the salt flats, where the land met the sky in a silent, horizonless stretch of emptiness. Abdul Rehman Shaikh squinted into the distance, the crunch of salt beneath his sandals breaking the stillness. He had walked this path for over thirty years, guiding workers and checking the progress of the salt beds, but this morning something was different. There was an unnatural stillness near the third trench—where the water had…

  • Crime - English

    Cyanide at Chowpatty

    July 25, 2025 - By 

    Akash Tripathi 1 The salty breeze of the Arabian Sea drifted through Girgaon Chowpatty, curling around sizzling pans and the spicy perfume of crushed coriander and garlic chutney. Tara Joshi stood behind her grandfather’s chaat stall, apron tied around her waist, expertly arranging plates of sev puri with the finesse only years of helping at the stall could teach. The sky had turned a buttery orange, and the usual crowd of couples, college kids, and beach walkers had begun to gather around the row of food carts. Dattatray Joshi—Dada to everyone—stood beside her, his wrinkled hands moving steadily, his voice…

  • English - Travel

    Terracotta Trails: A Journey Through Bishnupur

    July 24, 2025 - By 

    Bhaskar Majumder 1 The attic of Daipayan’s ancestral home in North Kolkata smelled of old books, mothballs, and the faint aroma of his grandfather’s pipe tobacco — a scent that clung to the wooden trunks and rusted almirahs like a memory too stubborn to leave. Dust motes danced in the slanting beam of afternoon light that filtered through a broken ventilator, casting long shadows on the faded floor mats. He wasn’t supposed to be here — just a short trip home for his cousin’s wedding — but the pull of nostalgia had dragged him up the creaky stairs to explore…

  • Crime - English - Suspense

    The Last File of Officer Rane

    July 24, 2025 - By 

    Nabin Mishra Chapter 1: The Cassette The rain had returned to Mumbai like an old debt collector—persistent, uninvited, and soaked in memory. Officer Vinayak Rane sat by the rusting grill of his Dadar flat, the yellowed curtains barely swaying as he watched water trickle down the windowpane like the slow bleed of time. His apartment was a museum of silence, its walls lined with worn furniture and an old transistor that hadn’t caught a frequency in years. He smoked his first cigarette of the day at 4 p.m., his back aching from sleep he never remembered falling into. When the…

  • English - Romance - Young Adult

    Biryani for Two

    July 24, 2025 - By 

    Pramit Dutta 1 The sun peeked through the jharokhas of the old Nawabi architecture as Zoya Rehman adjusted the camera angle for her vlog, the aromatic chaos of the Battle Biryani set behind her in full swing. “Good morning from Hyderabad, doston!” she chirped, her voice crisp, her tone animated. “I’m Zoya, and today I’ve entered a biryani battle that might just change my food blogging life!” She smiled into the lens, then clicked it off as a crew member yelled for participants to gather. Clutching her notebook, apron, and an oversized cloth pouch stuffed with secret ingredients, Zoya bounced…

  • Crime - English

    Red Threads of Malappuram

    July 24, 2025 - By 

    Prakash Iyer 1 The heat of the festival hung heavy in the air, thick with sandalwood smoke, jasmine petals, and the rhythmic thud of chenda drums echoing off ancient temple walls. Women moved through the temple grounds in waves of red and gold, their sarees shimmering under strings of hanging oil lamps. In the courtyard of the Thirumandhamkunnu Temple, amidst the pulse of ritual and devotion, a body lay sprawled near the banyan tree where devotees tied threads for wishes. The crowd had not noticed her at first, assuming she was just another woman overcome by the rush of the…