Know Another Culture
A pungent aroma of onion and cumin wafts out as Mummy answers the door. I told her not to cook curry, that I’ll bring Evan over from school, but she’s… Read more »
I Like Them Tangy
Winner of Third Place in Gooseberry Pie’s First Writing Contest April 2024 by Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar Two days after my wedding, my mother-in-law asks me to prepare amla murabba or… Read more »
Razia, Razia
I select a yellow songbird from the cages the bird vendor dangles towards me and pay him 300 rupees. He thanks me, then asks, Why do you purchase a bird every… Read more »
The Alley Huddle
Men of the mohalla—carpenters, electricians, factory workers—squatting around a bonfire, knees pulled close together, winter fog hovering over their shoulders. Men burning paper, wood, tires, anything they can lay their… Read more »
Twin Brother And Sister
My twin brother grew light-skinned like the milk he sucked from Ma’s breast and I, brown like the chai I drank from a bottle. My brother slept under a Bajaj… Read more »
The Dance Before The Wedding
ALL EYES are on Farha as she dances to the rhythm of the dholak, ghungroos jingling around her ankles, the moon watching over her. She’s in her aunt’s courtyard where… Read more »
Morning at Ammi’s House
Published by Superstition Review in December, 2023. From Ammi’s rooftop terrace, in the haze before dawn, I see the faint outlines of Uttarakhand mountains, one range looking over the shoulder… Read more »
Raisin
I wake up to your moaning while releasing yourself in the bathroom without bothering to run the faucet or the shower, and a slick stream gushes out from deep inside… Read more »
A Mute Morning
The dusty blades of the ceiling fan were still. The Summer storm last night with claps of lightning, gales of wind, and lashes of rain, had knocked out the electricity…. Read more »