True Life

Confronting My Assaulter

arindam

One day in her teens, a man who she treated like her father tried to rape her. She escaped, but the next day, she looked him in the eye and made him apologise. This suddenly changed the power equation

Internet Rehab

Atreyee Majumder

When she realised she was checking Twitter before brushing her teeth in the morning, Atreyee Majumder figured she had to sober up. Especially if she wanted to finish her PhD thesis in this lifetime

Kitchen Confidential

Sohini Chattopadhyay

Having spent three months snooping around a restaurant, Sohini Chattopadhyay reveals why even great recipes sometimes don’t make it to the menu, the food service industry’s unforgiving hierarchy, and other secrets

The Right Thing to Do

Ghulam Mohammad Malik

Even during Kashmir’s worst years of insurgency, says Ghulam Mohammad Malik, a retired Muslim teacher who has been protecting a temple in Srinagar for over a decade now, no one ever raised an eyebrow at his presence there

The Road to Freedom

Gopal Kaushik

What assures a man his freedom? Gopal Kaushik tried running away from home, even adopting a life of crime. But he remained miserable—until the day he bought his bike

Take Me Home

Saaz Aggarwal

The sadness, confusion and fear one felt as a young child never does go away, realised Saaz Aggarwal as she walked the corridors of the boarding school that was once her ‘home’

The Day of the Pawn

Sohini Chattopadhyay

Gobind Sharma runs a dhaba in Gurgaon. But when the clock strikes four, he becomes a master chess player

A Lifetime in Ink

Isa EsAsi

A travelling tattoo artist, Isa EsAsi carries memories of the many friendships she made across the world on her own body

Ugly Duckling Syndrome

Ranbir

No one is entirely happy with how s/he looks. But Ranbir was fixated, and his need for physical perfection unknowingly made him a social misfit

The Poacher Who Cared

Joynal Abedin

Joynal Abedin was a hunter and poacher. But two accidents changed his life: an unborn buffalo calf’s untimely death and a forest officer’s squashing by a rogue elephant. He has now dedicated his life to wildlife conservation in Assam’s Dibru Saikhowa forest