Arsheen Kaur

When Shashi reached home that evening, the sun was shriveling behind a huge tree. The sky looked like a large stretch of land spilling shades of crimson and amber. Birds had begun returning home, just like Shashi. She got down from the auto-rickshaw, relieved to have reached home before dark; paid the fare and took her trolley bag tucked beneath the seat. Her eyes struggled to match the composed clothing of her face. She opened the familiar iron gate and saw her mother standing near the water...

A train ran over 16 migrants who had fallen asleep on the tracks due to exhaustion in Aurangabad in the state of Maharashtra in India. It is a painful reality to see people walking hundreds of miles on their own over weeks amidst the lockdown to reach their homes, in the absence of any income, job, and support in the cities.

Poetry in response to the disturbing plight of migrants in the time of a pandemic and perpetual negligence of the government.

After Vikas Jatav

only 17, they shot him for

praying in the temple. The

temple where golden gods sit.

they shot him

as if he entered their throats

full of smog.

wondering his caste or religion?

Dalit or a Muslim?

after all, their lives are less expensive

in the business of hindutva.

strain your eyes into two

and see the amount of grief there is

in the eyes of his mother.

After Ankit Sharma

in a street where the mob

scattered like zombies, circled

him, dragging to a small bridg...

The two custodial deaths in India happened just weeks after George Floyd was killed by the police in the US. This presents a horrid but real picture of the time we are living in. Post the outrage on social media over the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and his son, Fenix, five police officers have been arrested. This essay is about the brutal reality of custodial deaths, raises important questions on police as a law enforcement agency exploiting its authority and getting away with impunity for the blood on its hands, and suggests some dire measures for a much needed 'human' police.

The perceptively brilliant world of friendships between women at work has more to it beyond body hair, menstrual cycles, Gilmore Girls, love life, mother-in-laws, cook books, and online shopping. It is personal and equal and intimate; sharing vulnerabilities and histories making them companions in hustling and dreaming, finding an emotional anchor, forming and sharing opinions, embracing their individuality, and cherishing the language of camaraderie.
The work environme...

Grandmother’s Radio

Narrate me the stories from

the un-partitioned lands,

of neighbours’ offering Namaz

and people going to Gurudwaras.

Of friendships between people

Outgrowing the margins of religions.

Of neighbours celebrating Ramzan

and Gurupurab and Diwali.

Of kind men standing together

in cemeteries and graveyards.

The light teaches us to live

and gift happiness.

The wicked mind of men

rummaged, burnt and left,

The houses that stood together.

The languages that stayed together,

The relig...

The two-week long climate negotiations in Katowice, in the heart of Poland’s coal region, wound up last week. Nearly 200 countries laboured against geopolitical headwinds to agree on rules to implement the Paris Agreement.
Nonetheless, while the negotiations saw some progress, the sense of a challenge – to implement real climate action – persists. The outcome at Katowice follows other alarming signs. History’s largest polluter, the US, pulled out from the Paris Agreement. Germany declared tha...