Rhea Lopez
An excerpt from Earthbound: Climate Stories from South Asia, a forthcoming anthology.

Devina
A thoughtful urban tale from the perspective of a water pump.

Rohan Dahiya
The odyssey of a grieving queer man traveling across Italy.

Yash Bisht
A propulsive tale of gender, family weddings and siblings.

Shruthi Murali
A wise, funny and speculative tale of development and progress, or what passes for it.

Lian Dousel
A Northeastern folk tale that blends magical realism and sensitive writing.

Anisha Lalvani
An excerpt from a riveting new novel about Noida, murder and more.

Subarna Mohanty 
A deeply compelling story of a woman who thinks she is turning into sand.

Bashari Chakraborti

A memorable folk-leaning tale from Shillong is the next runner up from this year’s Deodar Prize.

Ritika Bali
This story of lost innocence and the conservatism of Indian housing societies was a runner-up for the 2024 Deodar Prize.

Vikram Mervyn
The poignant, hilarious tale of an old man’s haircut.

Karan Mujoo
An excerpt from a poignant book on Kashmir.

Kshitij Bahl
A shocking speculative tale in which it’s literally raining men.

Aashna Jamal

A story of Kashmiri wedding feasts, family ties and more.

Shruti Sonal
On motherhood, legacy and Shahrukh Khan.

Kariajja the Storyteller- Kum Veerabhadrappa, translated by Srikar Raghavan

Samruddhi Ghodgaonkar

An immersive tale of drunken despair from the heartland.

Ratul Ghosh

This reflective story of caregiving and age is one of the awarded stories in the 2023 Deodar Prize.

Shruti Sonal
An exploration of class, bias and ageing.

A heartfelt, reflective look at returning home while coming into your own is this week’s short story.

Sonal Sher

An eerie, dystopian work of speculative fiction follows a woman trying to reconstruct her childhood Kheer recipe.

Prthvir Solanki

A hilarious and absurd tale about friends in the afterlife and final requests.

Dilsher Dhillon

A gripping trip down memory lane questions the laws of timing, potential and fidelity in this short story.

Manoj Rupda

A translated story about a boy who wanders far from his village into the forest is about formative experiences, told with the simplicity and fluency of a time gone by.

Ajay Patri

A wealthy widow has to manage the inheritance of her late husband and changing family dynamics while reflecting on the past in this sparse and affecting short story.

Ash Shah

An isolated writer in a Goan village finds a muse of sorts in this tale of missed opportunity, timing and the creative process.