STORIES OF INDIA is a series of story-led conversations from various corners of the world, curating the experiences of being Indian. What is the idea of India? What does it stand for? Which stories of life are reflective of the country and its culture? The objectives of the STORIES OF INDIA series: 1. to understand the past and present of India from the perspectives of various thought leaders and change agents, making a difference in diverse disciplines. 2. to discuss the stories representative …

Abstract: In a year that overwhelmed us with the many lives lost, the promising young actor Sushant Singh Rajput passed away on 14th June, 2020. We delve deep into the Instagram posts of Mr. Rajput in an attempt to understand his cerebral and stirring posts. He contemplated the universe, life and the human condition in several posts, characterized by an economy of words but a striking beauty of expression. We try to unearth his philosophy of life aided by his interviews and other secondary sourc…

Bollywood Cinema brings together the sweetness of love and happy memories and the unsettling social realities of our times blending together dichotomies like Gulab Jamun or Gajar Ka Halwa, with opposites like Aam Ka Achar and the bitter taste of Karela. Film narratives and life experiences of audiences do not just remain contrasts but intermingle to produce cultural identities linked to and inspired by cinema. The mixture of fantasy, comedy and melodrama provides essential survival tools for lon…

The universe, like a giant balloon, expands every day, every moment. If you come to think of it, the edge of the universe is in fact the very brink of our imagination too. Hence, whilst sinking on our pensive chairs, we often tend to feel the inhibition of this expanding yet entrapping balloon. The years flow in accordance with the mortal dimensions of time. Lives and relations drift apart into mundane, conformal corners. The deepest wound and the saddest thought fade into the immense abyss of a…

“How much it would cost?” Sheetal asked. “Forty Thousand Only!” came the response from the salesman. “Isn’t it too much for this portrait?” Sheetal tried to negotiate. “You can buy some other portrait, madam. This one is special.” “What’s so special about this one?” she couldn’t take eyes of the green eyes of the man in the portrait. “Do you know Raja Kishan Singh of Rajgarh?” “Heard about him!” “Well, this is his portrait.” “So what? Aren’t their other King’s Portraits in this world? What’s s…

I enjoy time travelling. No it’s not as technical as it sounds. All you need to do is pick up a memory from the past and revisit it. The link to time-travel is usually around you, like some song, some jokes or maybe a face. For me, this time it was newspaper headline on current situation in J&K. My memory immediately transported me to my regiment, back to my first experience of this beautiful state. The year was 2003. I was only 8 months old in my regiment; “baby” of the unit as everyone would…

[A story for Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to his memory] Never been able to quench her thirst, she perennially remained dry and the villagers had aptly named her Bhookhi Nadi, the Hungry River. Often she would compare her name with Bengal’s Subarnarekha or Mayurakshi and would feel aggrieved about her name! But bhookhi she always remained! Once in a while if rain gods were in good moods, Bhookhi would turn voluptuously mad. Flooding! Chhasara is a village of my childhood memories and therefore it e…

The story is the winner of the Best Thought Leader title from Simon & Schuster India, and Best Language and Expressions title from Pan Macmillan. Submitted for a competition themed on Sensuosity & Sexuality hosted under TMYS Review. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The prodigious stairway that led to the entrance to of MARCO museum in Rome was decked in decorative boughs on e…

We all wear black, here, most of the time. I often ask my mother and my six other sisters that, why when we go out, which is once in a blue moon, we can only see each other’s eyes. Whereas I see them with big beards laughing out loud, playing games, driving big cars, singing, going to the mosque. My mother tells me that our god, our almighty is present everywhere, he loves all of us and that he wishes the best for all of us, he alone is our true father, but I condemn her words. Everyone in my vi…

POEMS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Title: It's Not 1947 Anymore Poet: Nida Shah Poet Intro: Nida Shah is an aspiring poet based in Lahore. She is a lecturer of English at Government College University, Lahore. She teaches courses in Romantic and Modern Poetry, and Modern Novel. She is currently working as the co-advisor of RAVI (annual literary magazine GCU). She is also a member of GCU Press. Her area of research is Great War Poetry and Afro-American Fiction.…