Size / / /

Content warning:


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
14 Apr 2025

back-legg-ed, puppy shaped and squirmy
the pastor is a woman / with small birds living in the hollows of her eyes.
Strange Horizons
On June 4th, we will be opening for speculative fiction novelette submissions between the word count of 10,000 and 18,000 words. We will cap submissions at 300.
Strange Horizons
On November 3rd, we will be opening for speculative fiction stories written by Indigenous authors. We will be capping submissions at 500.
The formula for how to end the world got published the same day I married the girl who used to bully me in middle school. We found out about it the morning after, on the first day of our honeymoon in Cozumel. I got out of the shower in our small bungalow and Minju was sitting in bed, staring at her laptop.
In this episode of Strange Horizons at 25, editor Kat Kourbeti talks to Charlie Jane Anders about her Strange Horizons publications dating all the way back to 2002, charting her journey as a writer and her experience with the magazine over 20 years, as well as her love for community events and bringing people together.
Issue 7 Apr 2025
By: Lowry Poletti
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 31 Mar 2025
Issue 24 Mar 2025
Issue 17 Mar 2025
Issue 10 Mar 2025
By: Holli Mintzer
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 3 Mar 2025
Issue 24 Feb 2025
Issue 17 Feb 2025
Issue 10 Feb 2025
By: Alexandra Munck
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 27 Jan 2025
By: River
Load More