Issue 1 (April 2023)

Editor’s Note

I come from a culture where we worship rivers, for like mothers they oversee everything along their course. Birth of civilisations, sustenance of nations, fall of empires have all been brought about by varying moods of rivers — generous, loving, and furious mothers. Breathing into being not just public epics, rivers also serve our personal ends: a solitary stroll or just silent sitting by the waters is all one needs to calm a soul in flames.

When Tejaswinee asked me to join The Hooghly Review, I was thrilled and jumped aboard, not just because the magazine harbours in its name a river, but also for the journey the offer promised — getting to know people and their stories from all over the world, and growing along the way. I shall admit I was sceptical at first. Another new magazine? Would people even care? Friends, I have never been proven wrong and been gladder about it. We received an overwhelming response, thanks to you all, and ended up accepting work from contributors based in 18 countries for the inaugural issue (I jokingly said to Tejaswinee the other day how I was upset at having received no submission from Antarctica, and she made me aware that one of our contributors has worked as a scientist on the cold continent). We had no inkling we would have to close submissions before time; we hope you continue supporting us like this in the future.

We have been determined since the beginning to showcase works of all kinds, and we did get submissions of many colours — genres we heard of for the first time, and those we had a hard time fitting into categories. The sheer quality of submissions floored us: how could such an incredible work be the first piece by this person? And on some occasions we realised, after we had loved and accepted the pieces, that these were submitted to a debuting magazine by well-established authors! As an editor, I am stunned by and grateful for the quality of work; our contributors show me on more-than-I-can-recall occasions that this too can be done with art!

It is ironic that I, a poet with a notoriously short attention span, am tasked with writing a prose editorial, while the founding editor — the self-proclaimed “patient prose writer” — gets to pen the touching closing piece, in verse, for the inaugural issue. This makes my confused and scattered soul run to the nearest mother — the river Ganga — by whose lap amidst groves I sit on a cool spring evening in a quaint Indian town as I write this.

I have had great fun and have learnt a lot working on this issue. I thank Tejaswinee for trusting me with the job. I am grateful to all who submitted; extra serving of gratitude to those who sent stuff outside our submission window despite us telling you not to: it pleases me immensely to see how passionate you are.

Dear reader, the editors and contributors have done their part for now; we have put our best into this issue. I thank you in advance, on behalf of all of us, for choosing to spend time with our magazine. I hope you enjoy reading, sharing, and talking about it as much as we did making it.

Ankit Raj Ojha
April 2023
Roorkee

Inside the Issue

EDITED BY — Ankit Raj Ojha & Tejaswinee Roychowdhury

COVER PHOTO — D.C. Nobes

COVER & INTERIOR DESIGN — Tejaswinee Roychowdhury

EDITORIAL — Ankit Raj Ojha

FEATURE — Nandan (National Award-winning filmmaker)

WRITING ADVICE — Shih-li Kow (shortlisted in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2023)

ESSAY — Jayant Kashyap

BOOK REVIEW — Ankit Raj Ojha | Mohini Sharda

COMICS — Bethany Jarmul | Shivalika Agarwal | Sowmya