Shruti Rao

A literature post-graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shruti Rao is a freelance writer and poet. She has been published in national and international journals such as International Literary Quarterly, Prosopisia, Reading Hour, and Governance Now. For the right amount of vada pav, she will write you a poem.

15 Articles Published | Follow:
Dead Saffron, illustration by Kavisha Dharia

Dead Saffron


I was baptised with dead saffron and don’t know 
what simple games of your childhood sound like.


Kaurava by Krishna Udayasankar

Book Review: Kaurava

As an author, Krishna Udayasankar’s strength lies in demonstrating characters and ideas, not describing them in paragraph after droll paragraph.

Mother, illustration by Tara Isha

Mother

I take you like a paper doll and crumple you.

Jobless Clueless Reckless

Book Review: Jobless Clueless Reckless

Revathi Suresh’s debut effort is a coming-of-age novel and it takes that trope head on, without cloaking it in something else.

Facebook Phantom

Book Review: Facebook Phantom

The representation of young adults and their issues in 17-year-old Suzanne Sangi’s debut novel is surprisingly competent.

Sophie Says by Judy Balan

Book Review: Sophie Says

Judy Balan’s second book ends up being an echo of what might have been, in an alternate universe, an incisive, fun novel.

The Mine and the Market

Celebrity blogger and author Arnab Ray chats with us about his second novel The Mine, released earlier this year.

Book Review: Another Country

Anjali Joseph’s second novel seems to be about 21-year-old Leela’s relationship with herself via the men she chooses to date in different countries.

Book Review: The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk

In a book that is perhaps meant to target all age groups, Sudha Murty’s writing is easily accessible and readable.

Mythology and Musing

Krishna Udayasankar talks to us about sacred texts, reader feedback, and which mythological character she’d love to sit down and have a beer with.

Book Review: The Taming of Women

P. Sivakami’s stories refuse to mollycoddle the reader into a sense of ennui, the worst weapon in an indifferent world.

Book Review: The Book of Destruction

Translated from Malayalam by Chetana Sachidanandan, Anand’s The Book of Destruction is anything but feel-good—and that’s a good thing.