Fiction
Selma Carvalho
Notes on a Marriage (Extract)

By Selma Carvalho

The Friday they leave for a weekend in Belgium, Anju discovers Freddo is cheating on her. She doesn’t share her knowledge with him. What she should have said was, ‘Freddo, I’m tired of this shit. This time, I’m leaving.’

Her heart feels like it is going to stop breathing all on its own, distinct from the rest of her. The pain is so intense, she realises it is possible for the rest of her body to survive the carnage, while her heart, expelled from her being like a refugee, would simply die.

Notes on a Marriage (Extract)

Fiction

Notes on a Marriage (Extract)

Notes on a Marriage (Extract)

By Selma Carvalho

The Friday they leave for a weekend in Belgium, Anju discovers Freddo is cheating on her. She doesn’t share her knowledge with him. What she should have said was, ‘Freddo, I’m tired of this shit. This time, I’m leaving.’

Her heart feels like it is going to stop breathing all on its own, distinct from the rest of her. The pain is so intense, she realises it is possible for the rest of her body to survive the carnage, while her heart, expelled from her being like a refugee, would simply die.

The Blank Page

The Blank Page

By Sahib Nazari

Issue no 20
An APWT publication

‘We’re vampires,’ said the young barman when I asked if he had a day job, ‘we work after dark and sleep before sunrise. My wife work day time.’ He brushed his black whiskers as thin as his eyelashes. ‘I work night time.’ His slim eyes enveloped dreams and hope, said he had three children, and his parents share their tiny shack with them.

A Room in the South

A Room in the South

By Janet H Swinney

Issue no 15

Navneen loved everything there was to love about women. Everything. He didn’t object to armpits, for example. Unlike many men, and many women for that matter, he didn’t think of them as zones of unwanted perspiration and offensive odour. When a woman raised her arms, revealing the secrets within those hollows, he always caught his breath.

Wrestling with shadows

Wrestling with shadows

By Yvonne Vaz Ezdani

Issue no. 14

The topic of shadows always reminded me of my childhood friend Tony. When he was in primary school Tony would sometimes punch or kick friends who teased him because he was short, shorter than the rest of his classmates. Scolding, punishment, no corrective measures worked to stop Tony from lashing out.

Issue no. 14

Vaastu (Abode of Joy)

Vaastu (Abode of Joy)

By Meena Kakodkar
As translated by Vidya Pai

Issue no 13

If this whole exercise was being conducted to guide Soshakka’s soul from this world to the next one, it was all in vain, Mukta thought. Soshakka’s soul would hover about in this house, keeping an eye on everyone; it might even yell at someone if things were not up to its standards, she thought mischievously.