Pavan Deshmukh 1 Aisha Kapoor stepped off the small propeller plane onto Goa’s sun-warmed tarmac, feeling the first twinge of relief in weeks. London, with its grey skies, endless deadlines, and polite pretenses, had begun to suffocate her. The sabbatical she had taken from her demanding PR firm was supposed to be a pause, a chance to breathe, and perhaps even to find pieces of herself that had been buried under boardroom meetings and social obligations. She hailed a small taxi, the air already fragrant with salt and blooming hibiscus, and wound along narrow roads lined with swaying palms, colorful…
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Ritam Ghosh 1 Camille’s journey to Kolkata begins under the oppressive weight of the city’s humid air, which clings to her skin like a second layer of consciousness. As she steps out of the train at Howrah station, the cacophony of honking taxis, shouting vendors, and the rhythmic clatter of the tracks overwhelms her senses. The air smells of sweet smoke from nearby tea stalls, mingled with the faint metallic tang of the river water, and for a moment, she feels suspended between fascination and disorientation. Every turn of the bustling platform offers a new sight: porters balancing impossibly large…
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Leena Roy ONE The air was thick with the scent of wet stone and jasmine as Clara Reynolds stepped off the rickety bus that had rumbled its way from Jaipur through dust, thunder, and time. Udaipur rose before her like a faded painting—its cream-colored palaces floating on mirrored lakes, its crooked alleys climbing hillsides like vines searching for sunlight. She pulled her rucksack tighter over her shoulders and adjusted the scarf around her neck, a habit she’d picked up to blend in, or perhaps to hide in. The city seemed drenched in something beyond rain—melancholy, perhaps, or memory. Raindrops clung…