English
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Whispers of the Dandak
Priyanka Banerjee 1 The newsroom was always a chaotic orchestra — ringing phones, furious typing, coffee-fueled conversations bouncing off walls lined with award certificates and framed newspaper clippings. But Aparna Banerjee thrived in this cacophony. She sat at her desk near the window, where the Kolkata rain tapped like a Morse code from the skies,…
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When the Bell Rang Twice
Advika Nair Chapter 1: The morning bell rang with the familiar sharp clang that echoed across the corridors of St. Mary’s High School, announcing the beginning of another Wednesday, another series of classes, and another chance for students to shuffle into their assigned seats like the pieces of a living, breathing jigsaw puzzle. In Class…
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The Ganges Chronicles
Prakash Tripathi The Invitation Raghav had spent most of his life chasing stories, following leads across cities, through crowded streets, quiet villages, and hidden corners of the world. But Banaras was different. Banaras had always fascinated him. The city’s name alone carried an aura of mysticism, an invitation to a deeper understanding of life, and…
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Whispers of the Himalayas
Rinchen Lama 1 I hadn’t planned to go to Sikkim. In fact, Sikkim was a word that had only floated around in conversations—half-remembered from childhood geography classes or heard during travel shows playing in the background of my mother’s living room. What I had planned, after six years of numbing spreadsheets and artificial smiles in…
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The Last Passenger
1 The rain hadn’t stopped in twelve hours. It came down in long, dirty sheets, soaking the streets of Mumbai in a miserable, sticky silence. Neon signs flickered through misty glass. Puddles pooled over cracked footpaths. And somewhere between the dripping lamp-posts of Andheri East and the rust-red gates of Lokhandwala, a yellow-black Premier Padmini…
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The Kalighat Murders
Ritam Sen The Body by the Ghat The tram squealed as it curved past the Kalighat temple gates, the clattering wheels echoing through the alleyways still soaked from last night’s drizzle. The city was stirring — morning prayers floated out from open windows, chai stalls hissed to life, and vendors set up shop like they…
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The Fifth Floor at Dadar Heights
Karan Mehta 1 The humidity hit Nisha Deshmukh like a slap as she stepped out of the cab in front of Dadar Heights. Her cotton kurta clung to her back, damp with sweat. It was past 11 p.m., but Mumbai’s summer showed no signs of cooling down. The street outside was quiet, punctuated only by…
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Windswept Roads
Ishani Sen The Road to Leh The plane shook with a sudden jolt as it dipped through clouds, drawing a quick gasp from the passenger in seat 14A. She gripped her window armrest instinctively, then laughed at herself under her breath. “Relax, Tara. You’ve been through worse,” she whispered. Below, the Himalayas looked like a…
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The Howrah Hunting
Aritra Mukherjee Chapter 1: It was a sultry April morning in Kolkata, the kind where the air feels heavy enough to drown in, thick with humidity, sweat, and the dull weight of unspoken things. The city, always loud and unapologetically alive, had barely opened its sleepy eyes when the scream echoed along the concrete ribs…
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Stardust and Shadows
Mira Devika The Girl Who Dreamed in Technicolor Aarya Vardhan arrived in Mumbai on a humid June afternoon, the kind where the sky smelt of wet rust and ambition. Dadar station was a swarm of people—hawkers shouting, suitcases clattering, children crying. She stepped off the train in worn jeans, a cotton kurta, and sneakers that…
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Echoes of Delhi
Rahul Kumar The sun had barely risen over Delhi’s hazy skyline when I stepped off the train at New Delhi Railway Station, my backpack slung over one shoulder and a nervous excitement buzzing through me like static. I’d heard stories about the city, each one painting it as a place of endless motion, where ancient…
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The Red Envelope
Raghav Sethi Hauz Khas, 3:47 AM It began with the sound of dripping water. Inspector Ayaan Malik wiped sweat from his brow despite the midwinter chill and stepped further into the abandoned house in Hauz Khas. His torchlight danced across graffiti-covered walls and shattered glass. Rats scurried over dried leaves on the floor. The report…