From the Editor’s Desk

Over the long weekend, I watched two films, About Dry Grasses (2023) a Turkish film directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Joris Iven's A Tale of The Wind (1988). What I took back with me was two different perspectives of looking at the world, and at art and literature. Mulling over the films, again and again one comes to the conclusion that all good art thrives on the ability and the consciousness to make us reflect, and then connect that reflection to our own lives.

To be able to understand how a piece of creativity turns private joy, passion and sorrow into something universal is understanding the route to creating something new. Each new issue of ours is a representation of culling the creator's emotions into a different mould, giving it new life, new meaning. This April, we bring you stories, book recommendations, poetry, reviews, essays and an interview- an insight into a different creative world, through different lenses.

From the warm shores of April

Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury
Managing Editor, The Bangalore Review

Editorial

TBR Interviews Prafull Shiledar

TBR Interviews Prafull Shiledar, the Editor of Yugvani.

Specials

Re-reading the Classics – Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte

TBR celebrates Charlotte Bronte’s birth month April by re-reading two chapters of her classic novel Jane Eyre. In Re-reading the Classics, TBR tries to entice the readers into going back to reading some of the most famous books that were a large part of our growing up.

TBR Recommends

TBR Recommends – April 2025

This month’s TBR Recommends is curated by Siddiqui F.

Poetry

Lal Ded’s Poems in Translation

Arvind Gigoo translates Lal Ded's poems.

Fiction

An Offering to the Gods

A few days later, when they reclaim some of their courage, they call their daughter once more. Kavita explains that her condition is called PTSD.

Non-Fiction

The Loud Part of Silence

It was an innocent question asked by a little girl who could not have been more than 4 years old.

Fiction

Kathleen

Kathleen was the last appointment of the day. Being of Irish ancestry, I recognized that her ancestors came from the same place.

Book Reviews

The Big Book of Odia Literature edited by Manu Dash

TBR editor Sucharita Dutta-Asane reviews the book and interviews the editor of The Big Book of Odia Literature.

Fiction

OF THINGS WISE, AND UNWISE!

Megh flings himself on the bed and takes the calendar from the table beside his bed. He has marked today's date.

Poetry

Siesta Key

Air flavored like Fralinger’s Saltwater Taffy my grandparents sent from up north: vanilla,

Fiction

Drifting

His covers were bunched up and his arm was stretched out towards the door in the ordering gesture. He laid back down.

Book Reviews

Changing, Unchanging New and Selected Poems (1995-2023) By Anju Makhija

Shabnam Mirchandani reviews Anju Makhija's poetry collection Changing, Unchanging New and Selected Poems (1995-2023)

Fiction

Culpability

The police asked him “to come down the station”. Those were their exact words, as if spoken on a television show, as if there were a script for this kind of thing.

Poetry

Electric Feel

Is our fear of emptiness a fear of being or non-being? We wake in a house of galaxies

Non-Fiction

Mukti: A Vision of India in 12 Easy Pieces

The author writes a 12 piece essay as a conduit of understanding of his experience of travelling from Delhi to Bodh Gaya and further; and to understanding himself.

Poetry

Contemplative Currents of Remembrance (For My Dad)

Contemplative jazz reveals the intricacies of human hearts without being overly dramatic, or sappy.