Short story by Madhurjya Goswami:‘It was only after the state police’s operations were over, after the troops with sniffer dogs scoured every nook of the city, after the NDRF’s neon orange jetties sliced across the grey Brahmaputra, that the body of singer Niren Rajkhowa washed up on the banks of the river in a quiet and leafier corner of Kharguli.’

Through memories, juxtapositions, and observations of the intricate, the poems about Guwahati in The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City (2025) portray a city that no longer exists, having metamorphosed into a new ‘synthetic’ space marred by politics and reckless urbanisation. By Ayaan Halder

A singer and a passionate lover of humanity and nature, Zubeen Garg’s legacy is not merely a memory, but a living beacon that will inspire Assam’s people and culture for generations. By Anusuya A. Paul

Photo Story by Anamika Tamuli: ‘In the rural rhythms of Assam, care reveals itself in invisible labors—the hands that keep a home running, the feet that move through flooded fields, the time lost between one obligation and another.’

For over a decade, the wildlife biologist Purnima Devi Barman has committed herself to the preservation of the greater adjutant in Assam, and has led a community-driven initiative with local women to work towards stork conservation. By Vinita Agrawal

Poetry by Jahnavi Gogoi: ‘Once more I shudder / at the call of a Bay Owl’

Personal Essay by Karna: ‘I was adept in two subjects demanding two utterly distinct kinds of engagement: one gave me insights into culture, society, language, and human beings; the other perhaps anticipated that I would prefer the mind to the body.’

How recently-formed collectives in Assam have focused on the socio-political and ecological issues of the state, and initiated a new public imagination through engagement in arts. By Jahnabi Mitra

Excerpts from Aruni Kashyap’s critically-acclaimed poetry collection, There Is No Good Time For Bad News (2021): ‘Women couldn’t melt you, shape you, stud you with gems / to hang from their soft earlobes; men / couldn’t wrap you in strips of newsprint, / like tobacco, light one end, take a drag,’

Writer, translator, and editor Aruni Kashyap discusses his remarkable short-story collection His Father’s Disease, building the shaky bridge from Assam to Delhi to America, and the indissoluble bond between the personal and the political in literature.- by Karan Madhok.