Creative Non-fiction

By Jhanvi Latheesh If you think magic is all about fancy hats and rabbits, you haven’t met my Uncle Larry. His magic shows were less “Abracadabra” and more “Oops, I did it again.” But somehow, those disasters made him unforgettable. It all started the day he quit his job to become a magician. No fanfare, just a glittery cape that smelled like old cheese and a magic wand that was really just a painted stick from the dollar store. We were skeptical but excited — mostly because

By Jivika Vikamshi The night the moon disappears. The night every shadow rises. The night you meet not the Devi in the idol, but the one who lives in your spine. The one who holds your rage, your grief, your unbearable love, your wild knowing. That night, I didn’t do a single ritual. But I cried like something in me was being exorcised. And maybe it was. Because Kali maa doesn’t take what you’re willing to offer. She takes what you cling to. And I clung to too much. Love. Ide

By Foo Yee Ching (Althea Reese) Chapter 1 At the Prime of His Life Tan Kok Liang was at the prime of his life. An avid sportsman, he was a lightweight boxing champion, a triathlete, a swimmer, a rock climber, and a mountain climber. He was the embodiment of strength, discipline, and promise.  He had undergone onerous training as a Commando during his National Service Days in Singapore, which put his physical and mental resilience through a crucible of fire via relentless and

By Deborah R de Souza Life has a strange way of directing one.  Just when we, or at least I, think it is going one way, it changes gear and shifts me somewhere else. When I was growing up, I never truly felt like I was part of my family. With two older siblings, my parents had a template of upbringing that worked beautifully for them.  But not for me.  I like space. I like doing things that gave me delight even though some of them were things that many would not think of doin

By Shriya Mahesh My heart was astray, trampled, in the wildfire that roared within me. My eyes scanned the horizon in absolute desperation. The sky that once captured the tranquillity of Claude Monet’s paintings was draped in the reddish hues I saw splattered all around me, its scars etched in my memory, and the excruciating screams that frequently accompanied it. I pressed my hands to the land below and felt it shudder and tremble, as if it too bore the sheer magnitude of tr

By Kalpana Kumari A letter to our children When we grow up, we often look back to our school days- our friends, the small victories, the silly mistakes, the days that made us feel seen. One such memory many of us share is of being praised by a “Chief Guest” on an important day  like an Annual Day, Independence Day, or any event when the whole school came together to welcome someone “important.” You might remember the excitement; teachers rushing, classrooms being cleaned, flo

By Dr. Mamatha Suthar I walked through the city streets — vast, endless, waiting to be explored. Yet with every step, I felt eyes on me — like tentacles wrapping around my skin, leaving me in a state of unease. I adjusted my kurta, the fabric a fragile armour against a world trying to pierce through my clothes. The experience burrowed deep into my soft heart, leaving behind traces of fear. Dreams became haunted by the echoes of those stares — my subconscious, a canvas stained

By Aryesh Maurya Kuchh kahaniyan aisi hoti hain, jiski shuruaat hame nahi pata hoti hai. Magar ham kabhi unhe khatm bhi nahi hone dena chahte hain, to ham sawaal karte hain. Ye kahani hame kuch aise hi sawalo ki or le jaati hai.  Mera janm Aami Nadi ke kinare base, ek gaon mein hua tha. Aur ye kahani usi gaon se jude unn palon ki hai, jiski aakhri gawah shayad meri hi pidhi hogi. Unwal. Poore jile ke sabse bade gaon mein se ek hua karta tha.  Bachpan ki baat hai, tab ek manji

By Swati Kumari When you hear the word Depression what first image crossed your mind? A dark room,maybe? something lying quietly, filled with emptiness . After hearing the word “Depression”,what came to mind,yes , obviously you thought it's a situation where anyone is in a very low state of his life. And what if when I came to images ,yes your mind would create an image of a person laying down in the dark.But let me tell you it is not just this which you thought but  it's a v

By Dr Abhijeet Chauhn This is not the story of dogs alone, but of a covenant between humanity and loyalty itself. — A mythic elegy for the world’s oldest friendship – now betrayed in our own streets. Disclaimer: This work is a piece of creative non-fiction. While inspired by history, myth, and real-life observations, names, events, and anecdotes may be fictionalized or symbolic. Any resemblance to actual events, persons, or communities is incidental. The aim is to illuminate

By Jivika Vikamshi The night the moon disappears. The night every shadow rises. The night you meet not the Devi in the idol, but the one who lives in your spine. The one who holds your rage, your grief, your unbearable love, your wild knowing. That night, I didn’t do a single ritual. But I cried like something in me was being exorcised. And maybe it was. Because Kali maa doesn’t take what you’re willing to offer. She takes what you cling to. And I clung to too much. Love. Ide

By Jivika Vikamshi They announced the winners on a rainy London evening, under the harsh white lights of the auditorium. It wasn’t us. We, the last all-woman team in the hackathon finals, clapped politely for the champions, trying to swallow our disappointment. The room hummed with forced laughter and the dregs of adrenaline- empty coffee cups, crumpled notes, and half-erased equations still scattered at our table. I forced a smile, but inside I felt hollow and exhausted. Tha

By Sonia J Arora As I lay in the delivery room, clutching my mother’s hand amid unbearable labour pain, anger welled up within me. She had never prepared me for this—never told me just how excruciating it would be to go through this pain. I noticed the unspoken guilt in her eyes, her helplessness stemming from a struggle to articulate something she herself had faced. "If I told you how painful it is, you’d have been frightened," she whispered softly in those vulnerable moment

By Greg Li Chinese-ness seems to be celebrated – our culture, language, work ethic, food, and everything that makes up who we are.  On Chinese New Year, shopping centres in Melbourne host cultural events featuring lion dancing and various kinds of cultural display. Earlier this year, I was working in Forest Hill, an eastern suburb of Melbourne. As I sat behind the front desk, I heard drums, cymbals, and gongs resounding faintly on the side of the shopping centre behind me. Mi

By Greg Li Content note: there are mentions of war, homicide, dismemberment of bodies, abuse within a corrupted justice system, prostitution, and general oppression in relation to corruption. Although nothing is described in a graphic way, please take care when reading.  Research note: All information regarding the Corruption Perception Index, the numeric data, the definition of the CPI, its scope and limitations, was obtained from the Transparency International website. Cita

By Laura Marie Wingate T he current way government programs for young people are implemented are ineffective because they are culturally inappropriate.  If you needed a few $100, how would you get it?  Where did you learn how to get money that way?  John (name changed) steals for a living. When he was questioned about it he said he only broke into really nice houses that would have insurance. He said that he didn’t know any other way to make money. He had never been taught. A

By Sidhi Gupta False callings of maturity engraved me with the very first bite marks. “She’s just anxious, paranoid, she’ll grow out of it.” Said my teacher to my worried parents, whose hands were held tight together, as if my disease was just a pair of shoes a size too big. I didn’t. Because it’s not a pair of shoes. It’s an illness, a mutating apocalyptic virus that moves with me, the unfortunate host. Every time I decide I’ve gotten better, it changes shape to something my

By Rebekah Booth INTRODUCTION This is a record of known information on the subject of the Benthic and Pelagic ocean zones covering the depths of 1,000-11,000 meters (3,280-36,089 feet), otherwise known as the Midnight, Abyssal, and Trench Zones. Throughout this paper, discussions will range from various deep-sea species, such as the anglerfish, Japanese spider crab, and xenophyophores. I will also discuss the phenomena of natural whalefalls as well as the audioscape within th

By Sarah de Caen The Chalice of Remembering: A Dream of Dissolution and Light The dream began in stillness. I found myself lifted upward, as though carried by invisible hands, into a realm shimmering with light. The air was weightless, golden. Before me stood a being—an angel—radiating an energy both familiar and vast. Between us rested a great chalice-like basin, luminous and alive, filled with a pearlescent liquid that seemed to shimmer from within. The angel reached forwar

By Veronika Kowalski He picked me up from LAX after a company training event in Denver. He apologized for picking me up late, as much of the airport was under construction and was difficult to maneuver. I told him it was no big deal, and that I recently had to drive through this mess, and that it was fine as long as I eventually got home.  Once I got in the car, he asked me where I was coming from. I decided not to lie. My profession was impressive enough to outweigh the down