Soibam Haripriya’s poetry takes you into the dark recesses of the mind that have been locked away. Not because they cannot be projected in the day light but the sadness that surrounds the words – the inability to be understood and the suppression of one’s emotions linked with one’s memories makes her works extremely sensitive ones. Her poems encapsulate the never ending search for oneself; the breaking down of oneself to understand what lies deep within.  (Feature)

Habib Mohana’s  heart wrenching story is all about the lines that we draw between what is sane and what is deemed insane. How definitions collapse in front of the heart and to what extent it stretches a person to take steps just to stop the screams that arise from one’s heart.  The story is a sensitive portrayal of a son and his unwavering loyalty towards his mother in the face of drastic changes that destroys the world around them. (Feature)

Jhilmil Breckenridge’s observations in her conversation with Dibyajyoti Sarma will open up so many ways in which one can approach the idea of mental health. The discussion shows the taboo that surrounds such a discussion and the efforts that are being made to break those stereotypes and bring to peoples’ attention to how important it is to discuss these topics without flinching about them.  (Feature)

Pinaki Roy writes about pre-Second World War writings from Germany and shows the spectre of exclusion at play in these writings, and how they act as a reflection into the politics and ideologies commonplace in popular culture and psyche before emerging as intellectual discourse and a part of broader history. (Literary Section)

Krishanu Adhikari writes on the emerging genre of campus novels in India. For long a dominant format in traditionally English-writing nations, the genre has of late made headway into Indian literatures. He looks into the specifications of the developing genre in a different national and literary context. (Literary Section)

The story ‘Tell me that you love me’ by Anu Kay looks at the fragility of relationships when surrounded by the world and its questions that continue to goad a relationship. The continuous questioning that resides at the back of one’s mind and is brought forth, has been beautifully depicted by her. (Fiction)

Jyoti Verma’s story ‘The Delivery’ is about a constant tussle between a husband and a wife. The differences of opinion that emerge as one moves along a singular path; how divergence is not an option and many more such questions are thrown up in this tight knit story, to ponder upon. (Fiction)

Shaikh Sumair’s poems are the amalgamation of mundane experiences of a young adult. The tiny details that are overlooked by most, are presented as important aspects in his poems. His poems question the ignored thoughts that seem to be inferior, which however, are the fruits of life.  (Poetry)

The central theme of Riyaaz ul Hassan’s poetry is the agony of a wailing heart felt by cruel separation of dear ones by inhuman power and war mongers. His poems are inspired by the loss and pain a common man must bear in war zones of the world. They portray a bruised heart, aspiring for a peaceful world where only humanity shall prevail. (Poetry)

Reviewed are 4 works of varied fiction... including Krishna Sobti’s A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There (a historical novel & memoir, trans. from Hindi original by Daisy Rockwell).  (Book Reviews)

Also reviewed are... one art work Monsoon Feelings – A History of Emotions in the Rain (Ed. Imke Rajamani, Margrit Pernau & Katherine Butler Schofield); one poetry collection; and two works of literary criticism. (Book Reviews)