The dance of the tongue is just as beautiful as the word itself. Effulgent wind, effulgent rain of twilight moon, effulgent sky.

The gravity of writing has always come from the writer. A piece of literature cannot be judged without the whys and hows, and these questions are impossible to answer without sentience.

Break me into numbers and spirals, and blood and flesh make me all that I don't wish to be.

Someday, I will write about those places, the cities, monuments, and faces.

Once upon a time, in a small village nestled in the mountains of Afghanistan, there lived a little girl named Lila. She was a curious and adventurous child, always eager to explore the world around her. But there was one thing that Lila loved more than anything else, and that was winter.

On a Thursday, I went back home, and I took a walk./ On the sidewalk, I saw a splash of maroon on a grey block.

You’re sitting on the couch/ And you’re tapping your feet at 135 miles per hour/ You’re waiting for something to happen

But I understand. I am part of a historic pattern. So not everything is personal. I can't help but fall into some of the traps and become prey to some of the vultures.

Thoughts of a devoted poet

Carving mysterious runes with bones A pentagram etched in my soul Pulling on the blistered sinews Of Desperately unrestrained sins

She remembers the window, A bright envelope opened and gleamed In the dark railway carriage. Its rectangular frame cut back every irrelevant, Decapitated all remainders. Outside an intemperate sky painted everything blue And looked her on the nose.

Writer and academic Elora Shehabuddin has lived in a number of countries and had a fair share of exposure to multicultural environments. Her lived experience must have proved helpful in bringing in a comprehensive perspective to the discussion in Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism (University of California Press 2021; University Press Limited 2022).  

What moon might mean to you

Shamim Reza's poetry is defined by an ethical and religious soul, an undoubtedly attribute of the legendary mystics of India. Gods not only summon us to sing to them, but they also ask us to share such ethics where love and sensuality are fused. That is, precisely, the great contribution of the Sufis and the Baüls. The poetry and artistic language proposed by Reza expresses the affections of a mystical land, its gods, its love for the sacred word and the sacred life that is the human life. Love is a way of expressing feelings, but also is a mechanism of philosophical and poetic knowledge. Love is a way of life: Poetry and music thus constitute an ethical way of living in community.

I am not ready to be a failure yet.

Then it is time to return!

Today is your 50th birthday. Happy Birthday to you.

FOSWAL (Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature) was initiated in 1987 and it has since been fostering the writers and literature of SAARC countries.

A poem about the Fall.

After cremation everyone returned To their respective destination. The neighborhood was desolate