Little Box of Secrets

You grew up thinking you were special. It’s not such a surprise since so many people treated you like you had it in you to make it big…to make something of yourself. Teachers favoured you, giving you the usual words of encouragement when you ended up not making it to first position during a certain term examination. They would single you out for school events to do this and to do that. Others weren’t as admirative as the teachers. Some would look at you with envy…their spiteful, venomous eyes shooting out laser beams of hatred; the sight of their bitter, scouring lips making you shudder and shut yourself deep inside your own soul. Fifteen years later, and the image still vividly plays in your memory when you close your eyes. That girl with the round face and tightly-pulled-back hair...whispering into the ears of all the girls in your class...turning friends into foes and best friends into strangers. You have forgiven her over the years but her voice and her scour still ...

Headhunting is a savage (and thankfully historic) custom that was once carried out in many parts of the world for a wide variety of reasons. Some tribes even continued with the practice until the mid-20 th century [ Source ]. For those who practiced it, chopping off a person’s head wasn’t just about violence or revenge. Headhunting played a significant role in their social and religious lives; the severed heads often gracing auspicious ceremonies and rituals. You’ve probably heard of the famous shrunken heads made by Amazonian headhunting tribes or of the Maori tribe’s tattooed heads. In addition to these more-well-known communities, there are plenty of tribes for whom headhunting is a meaningful and iconic part of their cultural history. Here are some fascinating communities from around the world who share a common past of headhunting: 10. The Marind-anim   [Image: Men of the Marind tribe] The Papua province of Indonesia is inhabited by a once formidable tribe k...

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when people say “North-East India”? Is it the food? Is it the picturesque landscape and mountains? Or is it the culture? Whatever it is that you associate with this region, let me introduce you to a side that you might have never heard about – the mythical creatures from our folklore. Since I wasn’t able to get much contribution from friends in the other parts of this region, I’m going to focus on folklore from Mizoram. I have to admit, there aren’t many written documentations for these stories. Most of them have been passed along for generations through word-of-mouth, so you might find some inaccuracies in the details. Regardless of that, these creatures have fascinated me since childhood and I hope you love reading about them too. Here goes: Pheichham – Pheichham is the name given to a creature that is most likely a djinn or a type of goblin. The exact definition isn't clear since there aren't many written...

Iliana woke up early in the morning, relieved and somewhat uneasy that she hadn’t had any nightmares the previous night. She sat up on the bed and tried to remember the last time she was happy. Ever since the nightmares came back a few months ago, she’d barely had enough sleep. Although she had gotten quite used to having them, they were particularly torturous and unrelenting this time round. If she wasn’t too scared to fall asleep, she’d be struggling to wake up from another one and losing energy in the process. She had woken up early that day because Sid would be coming back and she wanted to get ready for that. She sleepily dragged her feet to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove to brew herself some tea. She hadn’t been cooking for the past few days because she felt weak, tired, and lazy. Instead, she regularly ordered food from a nearby Chinese restaurant. When Sid was home, though, she usually cooked since he didn’t like Chinese food – something about him tha...

She saw him sitting at his desk. He seemed to be working on something... Probably a new sketch. She loved the way his eyes were focused on the task at hand and the way his fingers moved nimbly across the paper. He sometimes bit his lower lip slightly as he concentrated on the shading or on drawing a certain curve. She was intrigued by this quiet and lovely creature. He did not see her as he kept working on his sketch under the dim light of his table lamp. Every now and then, he laid down his pen on the desk so he could rest and rub his eyes. (Picture Credit: Atiqah Aekman) At that moment, she wanted to hug him tightly from the back and plant a soft kiss on his cheek... Maybe ruffle his dark, messy hair a little bit. But she did not... Lest she disturbed him. What she loved most about him was the intensity in his beautiful brown eyes, which seemed to project a tiny hint of pain and sadness. Those emotions were indeed very well hidden underneath. She knew he'd been working ha...

She sat in darkness, motionless on the edge of the bed. She was exhausted and feeble, as she had struggled and fought for her life while claws scratched at the flesh of her back. Her skin - pale, dull, and lifeless - showed scars and wounds from previous fights. Thin streaks of blood were oozing out from the fresh wounds but she did not flinch, nor did she express any signs of pain. She was used to it. All of this was to her as normal as it was for a person to wake up in the morning or to sit down for a meal. Her battle had begun at an early age. Those wounds and marks had started appearing regularly by the time she was seven years old. She was scared at first, but as the years wore on she got more and more accustomed to the creatures that came to her at night. She was no longer terrified by their horrible sights nor repulsed by their horrible stench. Despite this, every single night she would still scream in pain but no one would hear her. Her blood-curdling screams were dr...