About the Author Shruti Sonal is a Delhi-based writer, poet and journalist who loves to tell stories in all their forms. On Instagram, she can be found writing about movies, rainy days, and struggling to take care of plants. In real life, she is usually seen staring into the distance with a cup of tea. Her poetry has been published in various anthologies, including Terribly Tiny Tales and Penguin India s collaboration Ninety-Seven Poems, and HarperCollins The World That Belongs To Us. She has been among the winners of the All India Poetry Competition held by the Poetry Society of India. Her short story titled Snow was included in Kitab s Best Asian Short Stories of 2023. She has also written for publications such as Scroll, The Wire, The Hindu and more.

Currently, she works as a features writer with The Times of India. Teaser In which language do I remember you? (An excerpt) Mother, in which language do I remember you then?

The language of our ancestors Comes back to me only in fragments Like broken pieces of memory. I struggle with the gender of objects.

Are the bangles you wore a feminine object?

And is the leather bag a masculine one?

Do they care? Is your absence a she ? Is your memory a he ?

And what about grief? Grief, to me, at times has felt like A man struggling to differentiate Between anger and hurt.

At others, It has felt like a woman Who has forgotten how to speak About all that ails her heart. Contents 33 poems across three sections