Dear readers,

Having followed several literary magazines over the years, it seems appropriate to mention them at the onset of our second issue; Pyrta, Open Road Review, Helter – Skelter and Out of Print among others, have not failed their readers. We have looked upon them as ideal examples.

The responsibility of a publisher is often severe. As journalists, we have been cultured and cultivated to safeguard the values of news. The sanctity of good fiction might prove harder to preserve- an expected challenge.  We realize at this juncture, that the road we have chosen requires us to take risks, interpret what is hidden and most importantly to trust our readers.

Manu Joseph wrote recently in his HT column about the guardians of literature. He wrote about the literary judiciary and publishing houses that serve to propagate their idea of intellectuality. We agree that it is poisonous and have been making an effort toward shedding notions of what is riveting and what is not.  It is with this consideration that we look at submissions or approach authors. We have desisted from holding any structure too sacred; from keeping any genre at bay, looking out simply for good, interesting storytelling.  This month’s issue is a colorful mix.

A peek perhaps: Ram Govardhan’s story revolves around summarizing several simple elements, while Anuradha Majumdar twists your tongue, plays with words, and employs satire in her surrealist piece ‘An Inside Story’. Saranyam BV talks about discovering plainness, distinguishing nothingness. As with the concept, his story is also neat- sentences are short and absolutely liquid. Among these writers, we also have eighteen year old Garima Pura. A humorously lyrical note, hers is the first poem to be published in TBR. Mohit Parikh’s debut novel, ‘Manan’, recently published by Harper Collins India is excerpted in this issue. Other firsts include a story by Evan Guilford- Blake, our only author who isn’t an Indian. His story explores and explores vividly the thick fiber of a long relationship- an analysis of the thickness is up to the reader.

We would like to thank all the contributors for trusting our masthead. A word of thank you too, for all the illustrators and Gulal (cover designer) who worked hard on the issue- often under pressure and time constraints. Another name that ought to be mentioned is that of Malaika who designed our website header.

Here’s to hoping that our readers enjoy the issue.

Regards,

Aravind Jayan,
Kaartikeya Bajpai,
Editors, The Bombay Review