It's All in the Planets

When 26-year-old Ayan is sent to live with his grumpy old grandfather Gopal Shanker in a tiny village in Kerala, he is understandably devastated. What can a sleepy, idyllic village without even internet connectivity offer a young man?

Ankita has fought a mental disorder, been through hell and survived two suicide attempts. Now in Mumbai, surrounded by her loving and supportive parents, everything seems idyllic. She is not on medication. She is in a college she loves, studying her dream subject: creative writing. She has made friends with the bubbly Parul and the glamourous Janki. At last leading a ‘normal life’, she immerses herself in every bit of it - the classes, her friends, her course and all the carefree fun of college. Underneath the surface, however, there is trouble brewing.

Ankita Sharma has the world at her feet. She is young, good-looking and smart and has tonnes of friends and boys swooning over her. College life is what every youngster dreams of, and she also manages to get into a premier management school for her MBA. Six months later she is a patient in a mental health hospital. How did Ankita get here? What were the events that led to this? Will she ever get back her life again? Life has cruelly and coldly snatched that which meant the most to her, and she must now fight to get it all back.

Shruti and Aman were once inseparable. Theirs was a love that would last forever and more. Then, out of the blue, Shruti left Aman. A devastated Aman moved abroad in the hope of forgetting Shruti and to heal. Shruti married Rishabh. Now Aman is back in India and looking for a fresh start. But he is still haunted by memories of his love. Can he ever break free from it? His head tells him to move on, to find love with Anjali, but his heart won't listen. No matter what he does, Shruti's shadow looms large. Can there be a happily ever after for any of them?

When Vipasha, Vee to friends, 18 and single, makes the decision to have her baby, she does more than give up her promising modelling career. She ends up cutting ties with her family and with Ankush, the man she thought she was in love with. Fast-forward 16 years, and she now has two unusual careers: she runs a dog-boarding facility and is a gym instructor. Aryan thinks she is the coolest mom in the world and hopes she will one day find her Prince Charming - exactly what her best friend, Suchi, has in mind for her.

India, 3400 BCE. A land in tumult, poverty and chaos. Most people suffer quietly. A few rebel. Some fight for a better world. Some for themselves. Some don’t give a damn. Raavan. Fathered by one of the most illustrious sages of the time. Blessed by the Gods with talents beyond all. Cursed by fate to be tested to the extremes. A formidable teenage pirate, he is filled with equal parts courage, cruelty and fearsome resolve. A resolve to be a giant among men, to conquer, plunder and seize the greatness that he thinks is his right.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Everyone has a story. Pull up a chair in Kafe Kabir and listen to four people explore friendship and love, writing their own pages of life from the cosy café to the ends of the world.

Once upon a time, there was an intelligent boy called Vidoy. And there was a beautiful girl called Dibisha. They met under the Virgin tree. He was not her cup of tea. But very soon they became close friends. He fell in love with her. But he could never say. And she never thought about him in that way. For her, he was just an average looking boy. She can do all nonsense before him. She doesn't feel odd. He can hold her hand while crossing the road. But they are "just friends".

A new job beckons Shanaya to Bangalore. Her bags are packed, and she is all set for the new life. But she wants to pamper herself and enjoy, coz it’s her last day in Delhi, where she has spent some really good times. She is out exploring when she bumps into a stranger; he sweeps her off her feet with his magnetic charm, way with words and a well-chiseled body. What’s the harm of having a good time, she wonders! After all, she’d be gone the next day - no strings attached. While she gets adventurous, she barely knows what life is planning to throw at her.

Some of the best relationships that exist in this world are nameless ones. They crouch behind those sanctioned by society: the legitimate ones, the ones that you can define because they are approved, allowed, understood and normal. In this finely crafted short story, Preeti Shenoy examines one of these ‘nameless relationships’, peeling back the layers of complexities that underlie marriage, love, desire - and the many grey zones that lie between two people.

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed.

Is it possible to tell if it is love or lust? How important is sex in a relationship? Why do break-ups hurt so much? How often should you message a person you fancy? How do you tell if someone is too young or too old for you? When it comes to relationships, these are the questions that most of us ponder. No matter how young or old we are, we are all looking for ways to make our relationships better. The best way to do that is to understand what makes us behave the way we do.

This is not your typical boy-meets-girl story. Okay, they do meet, but there are some complications. Trish is 28. She's unemployed, overweight, single and snarky. She knows all that. Sahil is 35. He has superpowers. Well, kind of. He seems to think so, anyway. He's also hot (in a geeky kind of way, but still). And he plays the guitar, helps the underprivileged and talks about his feelings. Aren't guys like that supposed to exist only in fantasies? But here's the problem. Trish doesn't want anyone in her life.

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age - the Kaliyug. In modern times a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer.