Essay

By Sweta Mishra It’s strange how some relationships — especially those bound by blood — can leave the deepest wounds. I never imagined that the people who were supposed to protect me would become the reason I built walls around my heart. For a long time, I tried to understand, to justify, to fix things that were already broken beyond repair. There was anger, sharp and heavy. There were words I wish I hadn’t said — words that came from pain, not hatred. And yes, I carry the aw

By Aarohi Srivastava 12 th  March1993, it was a Friday afternoon, the city rustled with people busy with their daily routines but little did they know that soon what seemed like another normal day would soon turn into their worst nightmare, between 1:30 to 3:40 p.m. the city of dreams ‘Mumbai’ (formally known as Bombay) was full of horror, terror and screams of helpless people screaming at the top of their lungs for their loved ones as twelve successive bomb blasts exploded t

By Aarohi Srivastava I watched a group of teenage girls clicking selfies outside Janpath, hardly glancing at the weathered The auto sputtered to life with a rattle, I tucked myself into the backseat just as the morning sun painted Lucknow in amber and dust. As we jolted into motion, I could see people already beginning with their daily chores. Some wore huge smiles — “holiday,” I guessed — while others looked tired and frustrated, likely school children just rolled out of bed

By Aarohi Srivastava 4.When the Moon Looked Back: The Legacy of Chandrayaan-1. The room buzzed with computers and machines, every inch alive with preparation. Announcements echoed through the air like“Ladies and gentlemen, fifteen minutes left before the lunar mission begins its journey.” The voices of scientists deep in discussion filled the space. Our hearts were throbbing, and shivers ran down our spines. I peeped out through the glass window—and there it was. The rocket,

By Aarohi Srivastava  — “The teacher asked her students to draw the sun, 44 yellow circles came in. One was blue. The blue one got laughed at— until sunset came and the sky itself agreed.” The world was made for those who refused to color inside fixed shapes, but as time passed by, we humans started mistaking neatness for brilliance. Thinking differently isn’t an issue— it’s proof that progress was never born by perfect symmetry. Someone who’s perfect might be very talented o

By Aarohi Srivastava I believe that the strongest and the most powerful person is the one who dares to dream, who dares to believe that even the stupidest and lamest of his ideas can mean something. Hi there, I am Aarohi and I think it’s safe to say that I had officially lost my mind searching for ideas, staring at my blinking cursor for hours and wondering what to write on when this idea came to me and honestly—I am a hundred percent certain that I am zero percent sure of wh

By Teeya Doshi Oblivion. Darkness. Silence. Demise.  In other words death.    The fear that’s always there, whether it’s in the headache that you’re worried will turn into something incurable or the rustling sounds of the curtains that you think might be hiding a murderer here to end you. Death haunts our every move, makes us crave safety more than anything- because death is permanent. With death there’s no second chances. No fixing things.   Death has the finality that nothi

By Teeya Doshi You don’t really need water to drown- yet drowning feels the same on land or at sea. The way you’re stuck in a storm, desperately trying to keep your head above water. The way it hurts so bad that you can hardly breathe, let alone cry for help. The ache in your chest be it from the emotional pain or your burning lungs.  Worst of all, the calming lull of the sea, which you find out you don’t really hate as much as you should.  The way you feel so small. Powerles

By Diya Singh Here is some pale attempt of mine to bring him back to me, to bring it all back. To trace it as a blood-hound does the sweet, damp trail of blood that scurries underneath the very earth.  I think I knew it when he knelt before me. On his knees - he reached up to my face. His hands pulled me closer. There was an odd desperation - a thirst in him that I could not quench fast enough to placate him. He was more beast than he was man.  Yes, he was wild. Beyond consol

By Olivia Merrie Roldant Beauty pageants have long been a topic of debate. Some see them as platforms for empowering women, while others argue they are outdated and objectifying. So, are beauty pageants derogatory to women? It depends on how we look at them. On one hand, critics argue that beauty pageants reduce women to their appearance, promoting narrow beauty standards and reinforcing stereotypes. They often judge contestants based on physical looks, which can send harmful

By VB Bonny The bazaar is never quiet.  When your feet ache from walking all day, it feels like swaying with the surging tide. People chatter in numbers, their eyes linger on price tags; some printed, some voiced. Even the oldest faces lean closer to the items, vegetables, fruits or household items with curiosity. It’s not about what they need, it’s about participating in the bargain with delight. The air smells with savouries, the samosas or jalebis, the smoke from the tea t

By Aakriti Pandey If you talk to Kahani once, then you will come to know, that she understands life very deeply 🌊💭 Like a Frogman (the one who goes under the sea in search of pearls) understands an ocean 🐚🤿 Like the diver have a deep relationship with the ocean and Diver have seen the ocean in every form and has made it their own 🌊🌌 But along with this she understands the superficiality of this life. 🎭 She understands, How this life is like a sand dune on the seashore.

By Aakriti Pandey ✍️ Some stories aren’t told to impress — they’re just felt. This one flows from a place of silence, of longing… of that invisible pull we call the spiritual journey. 🌌💫 Maybe it’s yours too, in some small way. Have you ever thought about your true purpose as human, 🌍 Have you ever thought about true meaning of your life, ❓ Have you ever thought about taking a journey within, 🧘‍♀️✨ Have you ever thought about taking a spirituality or spiritual journey, 🧘

By Arthit Kumar Dutta Passion is dying. Slowly, quietly, because passion is dangerous, and we have turned the people of the world into cowards. It writhes in pain, cries in agony, left alone in a cellar to die on its own while the world forgets about it, while the world resorts to moderation, to safety. The veins of people run dry, the passion that once ran through their blood has been lost to history. We have caged passion, and that cage is called safety. We have subdued the

By Aakarsh Sharma Abstract “Faith: A Sword of Damocles?” explores the fragile balance between strength and surrender that defines human trust. The essay questions whether faith is a symptom of weakness or a refined expression of courage. Through a reflection that traverses both scepticism and reverence, it argues that reliance—though born of vulnerability—can become the crucible through which endurance is forged. The piece invites readers to confront their own hierarchies of

By Aakarsh Sharma ABSTRACT   This essay develops an original philosophy of resistance and renewal in the midst of contemporary fracture. It begins by exposing “golden chains”—the polished illusions of freedom and progress that conceal structures of constraint—and argues that honesty requires breaking these chains through acts of clear attention. From this critique arises a practice of “engaged detachment,” a stance that allows for action without despair, kindness without naiv

By Aakarsh Sharma Abstract   This essay explores the silent war that rages within every human heart—the conflict between conscience and necessity, compassion and survival. Through the allegory of a gardener who must wield a sickle to protect what he loves, it reflects on how moral purity often collides with the harsh realities of life. It questions whether honour loses meaning when it costs lives, and whether restraint becomes cowardice when it lets suffering grow. Yet, it fi

By Shaikh Aafreen چاہتوں کا صلہ زندگی کی میراث تونہیں، ضروری تھی نہیں کے ہماری نینیّتی اُبھر کے لوگوں کی آنکھوں کو خیرہ کریں، انہیں آپ سے محبت یا آپ کی ستائش کا پابند کریں۔ پھر بھی انسان انسانی واہ وائی کی بھوک اور پیاس میں خود کو کیوں تھکائیں ہوئے ہیں؟ انسان کا جسم بھلے پابندیوں کے پنجرے میں پیدا ہوا مگر اس کی ذہن سازی، اُسکی خواہشوں کا معیار ہر حدود کو پار کرنے کی ان تھک کوشش میں جڑا ہوا ہے۔ کچھ انسان یے مہارت صرف دوسروں کی دین یا دوسروں پر فرض سمجھتے ہیں، کچھ فقط خود کو اس

By Anjani Jadeja ṔḚતાવના “Anyone who keeps the ability to see the beauty never grows old”  ઈὴવરે ḁયારથી આ સૃિὼનું સજ᷷ન કયુὑ છે ḉયારથી િવિવધ Ṕકારના ἓવન ἓવનશૈલી અને અનેકિવધ અનેરા સોપાનોની પણ રચના કરી છે. સંપૂણ᷷ Ṗὺાંડમાં સજ᷷ન હારે અનેકાનેક ἓવ, Ṕકૃિત, વનḚપિત, નદી, તળાવ, પહાડ, સમુṑ, જેવી અનેક સુંદરતાનું િનમા᷷ણ કયુὑ છે સાથે સાથે દરેક સૃજનને િવકસાવવા તેનું પાલનપોષણ કરવાની પણ સુંદર ḗયવḚથા ઈὴવરે કરી છે સુિὼના આ સૃજનમાં માણસ મનુḙય એક કુદરતનું એવું સજ᷷ન છે જેના ἓવનમાં જેટલી િવિવધતા િવિ

By Avirupa Basu It's rare when a film makes you feel aggravated, disconcerted, and contrite, all at once. I was left feeling all of these incongruous sentiments after watching Shazia Iqbal’s Dhadak 2. It is a hard-hitting look into the rigid social hierarchy in our country and its devastating repercussions on the youth. In essence, the film is a compelling social treatise that demands to be seen and discussed by all sections of the audience.  The plot focuses on Neelesh (play