By Bulbul Sharma. Illustrations by Shonali Shukla

In a totally different vein is ‘A Chador for the Dargah’—a sweet story about the innocent friendship between a Muslim girl and her Hindu classmate. This story is set in Old Delhi and captures the atmosphere to perfection. In fact, the stories have varied settings.


Reviewed by: Kusum Burman
By Doorva Devarshi

The book begins with ‘The Narrator’s’ daily churnings at her office where she works as a copy editor and encounters male chauvinism every day at the hands of different characters, from the ‘Chief’, who is the founder of the magazine to his emotionally estranged son, Kumar, who takes over after his father’s death.


Reviewed by: Annie Pruthi
By Hemangini Dutt Majumder

Another interesting aspect is the powerful presence of women of different generations in the book and their singular power. There is no powerful or oppressive character, dead or alive; Shankar, the influential panda, comes closest to a male trying to manipulate,


Reviewed by: Anjali Noronha
By Rupinder S Brar. Edited by Paul Michael Taylor

Dr Rupinder S Brar is a cardiologist, writer and poet who lives in California. Quoting Bhamaha, a seventh century poet, he says that his intent with this book was also, ‘… to grasp the nature of the world and all tastes (rasa), one by one…’.


Reviewed by: Sudhamahi Regunathan
By Parwati Tirkey. Translated by Pragya Shukla

The very title Bloom Again (or Phir Ugna) encapsulates the collection’s core ethos. It is not a nostalgic look at a lost past but a powerful assertion of a cyclical ethic of renewal, re-rooting, and reclamation. Even as poems like ‘Migration’, ‘Civilization’, and ‘Return’ mourn the dislocation caused by urbanization and modernity. The collection collectively gestures toward hope and resistance.


Reviewed by: Mridul Moran