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There is a djinn for everything: every act of forgetting, every act of remembering. Every act of oppression, every act of protest. Every act of civil resistance, every arrest, every injury, every death. There is a selfish djinn, and a selfless djinn. There is a djinn for beauty, a djinn for zakhm, a djinn for kindness, a djinn for empathy. A djinn for absence, a djinn for inaction; a djinn for climate, a djinn for crisis, a djinn for war, a djinn for peace. What are words but djinns?

 

* A, a: Aama, Aadhar (March 11, 2016), Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition (1936 / February 16, 2016), Aśoka (c. 304-232 BCE), Atom Bomb (August 6/9, 1945)

B, b: Ballot (139 BC / 920 AD / 1629 AD),  Border, Buddhā (c. 563/480 – 483/400 BCE), Bullet (January 30, 1948), Burial (unmarked, mass-)

** C, c: Citizenship (Amendment) Act (2019), Coloureds, Computer Chips (1961), Curium (1944), Cryptocurrency (October 31, 2008)

D, d: Dashain / Dussehra, Dakṣiṇā, Delhi Sultanate (c. 1206–1526), Dulāhā-Dulahi, Dynasty (1947-2019)

E, e: Earth, Ecclesiastes (c. 450–330 BCE / c. 330–180 BCE), Economy, Electricity (1879), Entropy 

F, f: Faster Than Light, Fish & Chips, Frankenstein (January 1, 1818), Food Stamp, Fylfot

G, g: Ganges, Geodesic Dome (1922), Generational Ship, Gita (200? BCE), Gujarat Model (2001—2024?)

H, h: Hastināpura, House Arrest (1632-1642), Hollywood, Hunger, Hydrogen-Bomb (1952)

I, i: Identity Card (1414/1915/1985), Immigration Act (1882/1891), Immunosuppression, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Information Warfare

J, j: Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13, 1919), Jallad, Jogi, Jungle Raj, Justice League

K, k: Ka Kha Ga, Kalinga War (c. 261-262 BCE) Kathmandu (April 25, 2015), Koh-i-noor (1849/1851), Krypton (1939/1948)

L, l: Lagaan (2001), Lajja (1993), Leila (2019), London Bombings (2005), Lottery (1933)

M, m: Matri Bhoomi, Mithila, Momo, Mono No Aware, Mustard Gas (July 12, 1917)

N, n: Number Theory, Nepal Adhirajya (1768-2008), No Man’s Land, None of the Above (NOTA)

O, o: Obamacare (March 23, 2010), Obelisk, Opposition, Organ Transplant / Trade (1954), Oxygen Bar (1776)

P, p: Panchayat (1960-1990), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), People’s War (13 February 1996 – 21 November 2006), Propaganda (1928), The Purge Series (2013-)

Q, q: Qayamat, Queen (1970-2020s), Quantum Supremacy, Quasar, Queer (1894-)

R, r: Race Relations Act (1976), Radioactive Decay (1898/1903), Random Access Memory (RAM), Rebel for Life / Extinction Rebellion (2018-), Rendezvous With Rama (1973)

S, s: Scheherazade, Sita, Surrogacy, Sovereign, Swastika

T, t: Tāṇḍava, Taj Mahal, Tirhuta, Tiranga, Titanium

U, u: Umbilical Cord,  Urdu Education Board (August 17, 2017 / WP(C) No. 6578/2017 / CM No. 27254/2017), Upanishads (800 – 300 BC ), Ursula K. Le Guin ( October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018), Utopia [Da Tong Shu (大同書) / The Book of Great Unity (1884 – 1935)]

V, v: V-2, Vivekananda, Vikram Sambat, Vitamin, Vox Humana

W, w: Wahhabi (1703 –), Watchmen (2019), Witch Trials (1692–1693), Wonder Woman (2017), Women’s Rights Movement (July 19–20, 1848 —), World War (1479 BCE —)

X, x: Xanadu, Xenoarchaeology, Xenon, X-Men, XXX

Y, y: Yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), Yeti, Yellow Journalism, Yudhisthirā, Yaśodharā

Z, z: Zakhm (1998), Zeitgeist, Zero Carbon Future, Zero-Sum Game, Ziggurat of Ur (c. 2030–1980 BC)

 

* First, a mother. Second, the land. Third, a bloody conquest — followed by a non-apology — total destruction. Annihilation.

 

** Cyanide is a toxic salt — used to extract gold, silver, wealth and power — causing unquenchable bloodlust. Among the rebels, who were once citizens (before they became stateless, refugees, criminals and terrorists  fighting the tyrannous governments and merciless corporations), it is the choicest of weapons — an honorable and even glamorous death, if there is honor or glamor in such a death. Surrounded by your enemies, drooling and foaming at their hydraulic feet.

 

 



Salik Shah is a writer, filmmaker, and the founding editor of Mithila Review, the journal of international science fiction and fantasy (2015-). His work has appeared on Asimov’s Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction (Volume 2). Twitter: @salik. Website: salikshah.com.
Current Issue
29 May 2023

We are touched and encouraged to see an overwhelming response from writers from the Sino diaspora as well as BIPOC creators in various parts of the world. And such diverse and daring takes of wuxia and xianxia, from contemporary to the far reaches of space!
By: L Chan
The air was redolent with machine oil; rich and unctuous, and synthesised alcohol, sharper than a knife on the tongue.
“Leaping Crane don’t want me to tell you this,” Poppy continued, “but I’m the most dangerous thing in the West. We’ll get you to your brother safe before you know it.”
Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace.
Winter storm: lightning flashes old ghosts on my blade.
transplanted from your temple and missing the persimmons in bloom
immigrant daughters dodge sharp barbs thrown in ambush 十面埋伏 from all directions
Many trans and marginalised people in our world can do the exact same things that everyone else has done to overcome challenges and find happiness, only for others to come in and do what they want as Ren Woxing did, and probably, when asked why, they would simply say Xiang Wentian: to ask the heavens. And perhaps we the readers, who are told this story from Linghu Chong’s point of view, should do more to question the actions of people before blindly following along to cause harm.
Before the Occupation, righteousness might have meant taking overt stands against the distant invaders of their ancestral homelands through donating money, labour, or expertise to Chinese wartime efforts. Yet during the Occupation, such behaviour would get one killed or suspected of treason; one might find it better to remain discreet and fade into the background, or leave for safer shores. Could one uphold justice and righteousness quietly, subtly, and effectively within such a world of harshness and deprivation?
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