Holiday Crimes

“An unreliable narrator,” Tanya Sachdeva told Class Twelve B, “is not necessarily a liar.” Thirty-eight faces watched her with the disciplined suspicion of people who had been prom...

Goa greeted them with heat that turned Meher’s airport outfit from aspirational white to an argument with reality. The four women emerged from arrivals wearing sunglasses, carrying...

For three days after Goa, Tanya did almost nothing and described it as recovery. She unpacked one sandal, answered two school emails and watched her mother remove grains of sand fr...

School reopened in July with wet shoes, broken project models and parents who had discovered email during the holidays. Tanya returned to the controlled emergency of teaching with ...

The condolence meeting was for the father of a school friend none of them had seen in six years. It was not the proper setting for romantic discovery, which made it perfect for the...

“He is not my boyfriend,” Tanya told Arjun. “I asked whether you wanted tea.” They were in the staff room during a free period. Tanya had arrived angry and announced Kabir’s status...

Rhea called an emergency meeting for Sunday at eleven. Meher arrived at eleven-ten carrying coffee. Tanya arrived at eleven-fifteen carrying irritation. Naina was already there bec...

For six days, nobody spoke in the group chat. Tanya discovered silence could be louder than Rhea. She taught through it, marked essays through it and sat at dinner while her parent...

The dating-app launch featured mirrored walls, artificial clouds and a neon sign instructing guests to BE REAL. Kabir stood beneath it wearing a dark suit and the expression of a m...

Kabir asked for one conversation three weeks later. The request went to the group chat, not four private windows. Kabir: One drink. All of you. I answer anything. No performance.