Year: 2021
The Zoya Project
Book Reviews
Tahira in Bloom – A Review

This is the perfect read for a cold winter. Winter thaws as spring arrives fleetly bringing with her kesari sunsets and a plethora of blossoming flowers. Tahira in Bloom was such a lovely way to bring spring to the cold dreary days of December. A coming-of-age novel, Heron has a refreshing take on trying to […]

The Zoya Project
Stories
Wedding Wishes

The Indian Wedding, is as primordial as the great deities of old that are penned in legends and lore. It is ancient, it is traditional and well it’s a whole lot of fun. I haven’t really attended an Indian wedding in totality. No one close to me has actually gotten married. Until last week when […]

The Zoya Project
Book Reviews
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur – A Review

This review will contain spoilers for ‘The Henna Artist’ Alka Joshi has officially become an instant-buy author for me. I adore her writing and I love her characters. I’d like to thank Harper Collins for sending me an ARC of The Secret Keeper of Jaipur! Set twelve years after the events of The Henna Artist, […]

The Zoya Project
Book Reviews
Counting Down With You – A Review

I don’t usually read high school romances anymore, they seem unrealistic to me, what are the odds that you meet the man/woman you will end up marrying ten years later in school when the most pressing problem is getting an A in history class or the newest pimple that pops up on your nose making […]

The Zoya Project
Stories From Aligarh
Stories from Aligarh, Part I: Ms. Roshan Jahan, Dilip Kumar & Zaalim Mohabbat

I’ve loved Delhi, ever since I’ve started studying history in middle school. Its culture, its history, the small noisy haunts with its plethora of fragrances and smells and the hidden ones no one knows about. But being the blunt rather acerbic person I am, I tend to call a spade a spade, and I have […]

The Zoya Project
Floriography, Poetry
Sing Me To Sleep

Unfurling poppiesAbove the snowLook likeLittle crimson blood stainsAs thoughA dying manHad walked throughThe white fields.They sway amidst the iceTainting the airWith theFragranceOf rich, dark opium,Like the callings ofForbidden secrets.Like Goddesses that walkThrough fieldsOf AsphodelTo meet a lover,Smoking cigarsRolled of poppy petalsAnd filled with opium seeds.They’ll lie togetherBlowing back smokeOn a scarlet bedStained withWineAnd virginal blood,CoveredWith […]

The Zoya Project
Floriography, Poetry
Wishes On The Wind

It feels warmLike a solstice eveWhere the moon hangs lowSmiling likeCheshireFrom Wonderland.There’s a tepid airOf summer yet to comeWhere stars sing spellsThat requireThe roar of a lionBefore the hunt,The rare white strandOn the backOf an auburn foxAnd a vialOf heady desireStirred withThe blood of thingsThat will never come to be.A sultry breezeHas brushedThe nape of […]

The Zoya Project
Floriography, Poetry
Waltz With Me

The only wayTo ask for a danceIs with flowers.They remind meOf ballgownsAs they bloom,They droopWith the heavy weightOf the petalsAnd sweep the groundIn the beat ofA waltz.They sway in theArms of the breezeTo a triplicate of beats,The stalks dippingIn graceful arcsLike the archOf a ladies backAs she is swept acrossMarble tilesGlowing underCrystal chandeliers.So when you […]

The Zoya Project
Floriography, Poetry
In memorial – Marigolds

I didn’t know that flowersMight whisper differentSweet nothingsTo those around them.That the pale petals ofMarigold,Would warmThe chill in one’s veinsWhen they drinkThe iced wineOf grief,Tinting memoriesIn the goldOf remembrance,And helpTo thawOctober morningsIn the midst of a souls winter.While at the same time,Adorning the wristsOf a bride.The sunny yellowReminiscent of turmericSmeared on the skinFor vitality,And darknessIn […]

The Zoya Project
Floriography, Poetry
A Bouquet of Disappointments

There’s a lovelinessTo wanting,It seeps through skinAnd infuses bloodWith a thundering rushLike the heady thrillOf amber tintedHoneyed alcohol. It runs and trillsIn an ancient songOf longingsAnd desiresForsaken and wateredBy stories of the old. The tears of a GoddessMingle with the spilt bloodOf a mortal loverPainting petals with pearlAnd rubies. The scratches on the backOf a […]