April 2026

As a child, I always wanted to be invisible. It seemed like such a fun thought. Now, after all these years… the blank stares, the silence at the dining table, the lack of response… have I finally become invisible? cracks on ice

The lesson’s familiar, yet incomplete,For safety’s sake, we must redefineThe boundaries of touch, the invasion of sightWhen eyes devour, and privacy takes flight Private spaces, once sacred, now breachedBy hungry gazes that linger and clutchThough assault and murder loom larger stillWe mustn’t

standing underthe showerwatching the water flow…what’s it about betrayalthat excites us so striking Plutoout from the planetsnot realisingwhen I stopped beingpart of your universe deadheading rosesin one fell swoopafter our fighthe sends mea shrink’s number wonderingwhether to lie yet againabout my bruises…I

We grieve,we mourn,we love again.Offering the pliant vessel of our heartsInto another’s hands.Because, in loving,we are sheddingour past skinsAnd, the weightof weary expectationsSome…our own. The beauty of this worldis in the retrieval of lost thingsA reverenceA redressal, of sorts.The 10, 000 joys

[Dedicated to the phenomenal black poet and activist Nikki Giovanni from Virginia, USA, and to her poem ‘Lemonade Grows from Soil, too’, from her book ‘MAKE ME RAIN’: Poems & Prose.] The raw, spiraling dance that sprang like unseasonal growthof turbulence, reeking

Once upon an autumn ,I held an ashen memory ofa greyish sky which coveredOur play evenings.We were in bunches .. Once we became athletes,I have a scratched memory of her.She wore a blue frockwith gigantic white flowers.We used to call her “Rosa

“My husband is travelling in business class,” she had said to the man sitting next to her. Sitting next to her means sitting very close to her, since this was Economy. What one politician had recently described as ‘cattle’ class. To drop

What a careless driver, must be a womanI hear many men say.They drive so slow andjam the entire traffic, stopping randomly in the middle of the road.They can’t drive properly at nightand make journeys even longerwhen on a country wide drive.That’s why

It’s as though the elements sensed somethingthey seemed to collude in unisonto place obstacles in our way. Two days before we leavean uncertain future in our luggageas if it wanting us to staythe rain starts falling in sheetsthere are rumors of a

violin auditionsfor Philharmonic Orchestra…golden rain closed city –the cherry-plum tree keepsyesterday kids laughter a sky of blossomsthrough the apricot branches –bustle again on my street spring cleaning…the green silicone utensil setmy wind chimes project one night at Balchik…a white flowering cherry treesteals

Seven-year-old jaws are very very sweetShark-shielded gaps are nestlingBetween apprentice teeth Upper maxillary, lower mandible, withCentralInsicorFirstBicuspid___LateralCanineOn retreat Bunch some sevens togetherYou’ll find the missing fleetThread the fallen togetherTo make Kali’s new wreatheYashodha scolds open Krishna’s mouthThe universe lies underneath Cliche: Eyes are

Three loose womencrossing the streetsheddinglayers of sinunder moonlight

the small hoursbeginning with songthis afterlightwhispers of healingsoftly, softly… will you hold onthe way leaves dothrough the winnowingof every raindropupon your heart sometimesthere is a voicereaching back to me…as if you remain

    I will be on leave in the second half today, as I have a check-up at 4. Akila notified her team in the group about her early absence. She shut her office laptop and unlocked her phone with her thumb. She

We have Eid here Showkat sahab*And my children have crammedwhat we will sacrifice on Eid:Bakhra…Bakhra…BakhraRepetitively… Religiously…Rigorously.My mother has cleaned the fridgeFive timesShe has thrown out leftover dishesAnd she has wiped off every trace ofButter chicken tooLest some food police mistake themAnd shout:Beef

At fivemy feet did not touch the floor.The rocking chair kept meafloat. Nothing chased me.Time sat nearby,unbuttoned,watching dust learn sunlight. The world arrivedat a size I could hold.A day bent easily,slid into my palms,and stayed. Now my son countspast his hands.Six arrivesalready