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Short stories, poems and practical notes on Notion, making content and self-publishing. New posts arrive in the newsletter first.
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The Letter in the Library Book
A book of poems comes back to a Warangal library thirty-eight years late. Inside it is a love letter nobody ever read.
Short storiesPlatform Four, 5:40 a.m.
Secunderabad before sunrise: a chaiwala's rising note, a painted steel trunk, and everyone turning toward the horn.
PoemsThe Promise
A father, a son, a 1991 Royal Enfield, and the trip to the village that kept getting pushed to next month.
Short storiesIrani Chai at Six
An Old City café before the city begins: marble tables, a softening biscuit, and the small loss that counts as prayer.
PoemsNight Bus to Vijayawada
On the overnight bus home, a woman shares murukulu and her regrets with the old man in seat fifteen. The conductor says it was empty.
Short storiesSankranti Kites
Five haiku for a January terrace: north wind, glass-coated string, a muggu, and one torn kite that won't give up.
PoemsWrong Number, 1999
A misdialled call in Vijayawada, a night operator who knows every number by heart, and a year of talking after midnight.
Short storiesCharminar in the Rain
Bangle-sellers cover their glass, the stone turns from honey to tea, and the old monument lets the whole city through.
PoemsAmmamma's WhatsApp Group
One wrong tap made an eighty-year-old grandmother admin of the family group. Fifty-three relatives have not been the same since.
Short storiesAmmamma's Hands
A sonnet for a grandmother's hands: rice tested between thumb and nail, braids, the evil eye sent back down the lane.
PoemsThe Last Customer
On the final night of an Old City Irani café, the owner keeps one table empty for a man who has never missed a Thursday.
Short storiesMonsoon over Hussain Sagar
A ghazal in English for the lake, the Buddha, the corn-seller's coals, and a father who said nothing for an hour.
PoemsThe Room on the Third Floor
A ruby ring vanishes from a bolted lodge room in Secunderabad. The police are an hour away. A retired railway clerk has an idli to finish.
Short storiesNight Shift
3 a.m. on the eleventh floor in HITEC City, where my name is Kevin and it is late afternoon in Ohio.
PoemsCondolences
A stranger at a funeral. A daughter who wants to talk. By the time the earth is filled in, one of them knows everything.
Short storiesMy Mother's Kitchen at Night
Steel tiffins stacked by size, tamarind soaking for tomorrow, and the one minute of dark she keeps for herself.
PoemsFor the Girl Who Reads Standing at the Bookstall
Sunday at the Abids book market: a book she cannot afford, page ninety-one, and a bookseller who looks away.
PoemsLetters My Grandfather Didn't Send
Eleven blue inland letters, stamped and never posted, found in the Godrej almirah under the land papers.
PoemsThe Auto Driver's Prayer
A prose poem to every god on the dashboard: for green lights, short CNG queues, and the wisdom to take the short way.
PoemsWhat the River Keeps
The Musi remembers a prince on a horse, a tamarind tree in the 1908 flood, and how to be clear again.
PoemsHow to plan a month of content in Notion
A simple four-part Notion system for planning a full month of posts in one sitting, so you stop waking up wondering what to post today.
Notion tipsInfluencer rate card India 2026: what to charge for a reel
Typical 2026 rates by follower count, a simple formula for your own price, and how to handle usage rights, exclusivity and "can you do it for free?"
Creator tipsTrack freelance clients and invoices in Notion
Three linked Notion databases that show every client, every project and every unpaid invoice on one page, so you always know who owes you money.
Notion tipsHow to track brand deals in Notion without a spreadsheet
A simple four-part system for keeping every collaboration, deadline and payment in one place, using nothing but Notion's free plan.
Notion tipsFive hook formulas that stop the scroll
The first line decides whether anyone reads the rest. Here are five reusable hook formulas, with examples and when to use each one.
Creator tipsThree checks to validate a book idea before you make it
Before designing a journal or notebook for Amazon KDP, spend ten minutes checking whether people are actually searching for it and buying it right now.
Self-publishing