Here, translation unlocks stories from languages afar, people unknown yet familiar in voices that stun you and resonate with you. Here is your book of world stories

 

FICTION

Loner – Rituparna Mukherjee

Loner!He hurls the word across the room at you, his eyes see it travel across the room, expecting it to hit your ears, its sound wounding you, its contours scratching the surface of your skin…...

Sound and Light – Dr. Bharatibalan

Translated from the Tamil by Dr. S. Vincent β€œWhat, you have started?β€β€œWe have to do what we are obliged to do. Don’t you think so?β€β€œIt’s a such a long distance . . . and at…...

Tale of a Christmas Day – Tanwi Haldar

Translated from the Bengali by Archi Chakraborty I amβ€”I mean my name is Swarna Ghosal. My husband left for his office yesterday, that is, on 24th December and has not returned yet. He said he’ll…...

The Abandoned House – Marzia Rahman

Every house has chests. Secrets folded under the stacks of silks and starched cotton. Some houses evoke fairytales. Roses and marigolds swaying in the front yard, giggling child on a swing. Some, on the…...

Beef Festival – Sheeba E. K.

Translated from the Malayalam by K. M. Ajir Kutty Joemon tarried a while before opening the packet after slamming shut the door of the makeshift tent pitched with tarpaulin. The expression on his face then…...

Blindness – Prasanta Kumar Das

Translated from the Assamese by Anindita Kar In the beginning, was the music, and the music was with God, and the music was God. Among the handful of people who managed to arrive at this…...

Malti – Marzia Rahman

My name is Malti. I was named after a flower, my grandmother told me, but she couldn’t tell my birthyear. She only remembered that it was the month of Sraban, the courtyard was filled with…...

Silhouette in the Window – Zoe Huot-Link

Shortlisted for The Antonym February Poetry ContestArtwork by Sumona Rahman Choudhury Sinking in and out of shadow;the silhouette in the window.His eyes look like mine.…...

Why Birds Sing in the Night – Jayant Kashyap

Shortlisted for The Antonym February Poetry ContestArtwork by Sumona Rahman Choudhury for Sania Dar At your door it’s a message; they peek first through the window and…...