• English - Young Adult

    The Algorithm Knows

    August 14, 2025 - By 

    Lia Kapoor Part 1: The DM That Wasn’t Me The first thing I see when I wake up is my own face telling me not to ignore her. I say “her” because the mirror version of me on my lockscreen feels like a different person: last night’s eyeliner smudged, hair in a tragic bun, caption under my last selfie begging for the sun to rise late. The notification is from Insta. I swipe. My DMs have a new message from… me. My verified-not-verified, 1,247-followers, curated-just-enough-to-look-natural account. The blue circle next to my own name glows like an eye. I open…

  • English - Young Adult

    Chai & Chalk Dust

    August 12, 2025 - By 

    Ananya Pradhan One The mist clung thickly to the hills of Darjeeling that September evening, wrapping the sleepy town in a soft, silver-gray blanket. Outside the gates of St. Augustine’s Hill School, where ancient pines swayed gently in the cool breeze, Anaya Gurung tended the modest tea stall her mother had set up years ago. The worn wooden counter was streaked with years of spilled chai and chalk dust, a testament to its humble history. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the streetlamps flickered on, casting pools of warm yellow light on the wet cobblestones. Anaya moved with quiet…

  • English - Young Adult

    The Firefly Pact

    August 8, 2025 - By 

    Isla Verma Mira Patel wasn’t expecting to find anything interesting in a house that smelled like mothballs and mildew. Her grandfather’s old bungalow in Elmsworth was the kind of place that felt stuck between timelines—one foot in 1973, the other refusing to acknowledge anything after dial-up internet. Still, here she was, sleeves rolled up, armed with cardboard boxes, and guilt-tripped by her father into helping him “sort things out.” “Start with the attic,” he’d said, handing her a flashlight like they were preparing for a cave dive instead of old furniture and dead spiders. The attic door groaned like something…

  • English - Young Adult

    Before the Sky Falls

    August 6, 2025 - By 

    Saanvi A. Menon The rain started sometime after midnight, stealthy at first, tapping like fingers on the tin awning outside Mira’s fourth-floor window. She didn’t get up to look. Mumbai rain, especially in late June, had a way of arriving without ceremony but leaving a trail. The fan above her bed slowed, hiccuped, and then stopped altogether. Silence followed, thick as wet wool. The power was out. Again. She lay still, waiting for the noise to return — a whirr, a click, the hallway inverter kicking in — but the darkness held. Beyond her shuttered window, thunder cracked the sky…

  • English - Suspense - Young Adult

    The Echo Between Seconds

    August 6, 2025 - By 

    Kael R. Nakamura The Man Who Didn’t Blink They say the moment you begin to lose time, the rest of you follows quietly. Elias Shin first noticed the distortion on a Thursday, when his breath no longer misted the mirror. It wasn’t a trick of light—he leaned closer, rubbed the glass, even switched rooms—but his reflection stared back unbothered, lips parting, chest rising, yet no fog, no condensation, no presence. Just a face suspended in permanence. He didn’t tell anyone. Not his father who still texted him riddles in Sanskrit, not his friend Jun who managed a Zen café near…

  • English - Young Adult

    Lagaan Girls

    July 26, 2025 - By 

    Avinab Seth Chapter 1: The Ball That Broke Tradition The dusty field behind the temple wasn’t much—a patchy stretch of cracked earth, a pair of mismatched wickets, and a tattered red cricket ball held together more by tape than leather—but for sixteen-year-old Meera Patil, it was a universe of freedom. That late afternoon, the village sun was merciless, but her focus was sharper. Dressed in a loose kurta and borrowed pajama pants, she took her stance like she’d seen her heroes do on TV. As the boy opposite her bowled, Meera swung with every ounce of her strength and connected…

  • 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…

  • English - Young Adult

    The Solar Eclipse Diaries

    July 22, 2025 - By 

    Riya Bhattacharya 1 The sun hung low in the Kolkata sky, its light strangely muted as if nature itself was holding its breath. The city buzzed with excitement over the impending solar eclipse, the rare astronomical event that had drawn both superstition and science into equal frenzy. But sixteen-year-old Isha Sen couldn’t care less. Trapped in her family’s ancestral home in North Kolkata, a crumbling mansion older than the city’s electric lines, she fidgeted through incense smoke and the endless drone of priests chanting shlokas. Her mother had insisted they be there for “tradition,” and her grandmother, Dida, had only…

  • English - Young Adult

    The Last Game of Polo

    July 17, 2025 - By 

    Arun Bhatia ONE Samir Singh stood at the edge of the polo field, the sound of hooves thundering in his ears, as he watched his father, Veerendra Singh, ride across the vast estate that had been the heart of their royal legacy for generations. The sprawling grounds, dotted with grand palaces and ancient temples, had once echoed with the clink of polo mallets and the cheers of onlookers. Now, the grandeur of it all felt like a distant dream, fading with the passing years. Samir, at just seventeen, had inherited his father’s love for the game. Polo was not merely…

  • English - Young Adult

    The Elephant Festival Club

    July 15, 2025 - By 

    Kabir Malhotra One Dev Mehra had always believed his camera saw what he couldn’t say. It was easier to stand behind the lens, to frame color and light into quiet stories, than to face people and speak his thoughts aloud. When his cousin Anika tugged at his arm that morning, excitement glinting in her eyes like the sunrise over the old havelis of Jaipur, Dev had only intended to nod politely. But Anika, relentless as the Rajasthani heat in May, wouldn’t take no for an answer. “You’re joining the club this year, Dev. Enough hiding,” she declared, dragging him across…