The Medley

is a twice-a-year literary journal run by the students of Hansraj College, University of Delhi. It is a repository of stories, poems and essays sent to us from around the world since 2018.

Identity

Everyone should have a river, a sky a cornfield, and a root of village Maybe there’s s/he has only a dilapidated hut Even if s/he has none of these s/he should have a pride—his/her ancestors had; but my ancestors had none of these, or perhaps one of them once owned something, I inherited nothing—not an antique or ideograph, not even some unwritten history or any memory, or, I think, even any aarchetype in the unconscious. I’ve no well-known swamp, no axiomatic encompassing tree—only a name by which I might present my identity. I couldn’t even achieve a river, a sky, a forest or a cornfield—c/o them merely an address. I’m so unfortunate I’ve to fly constantly continent to continent like my ancestors like a floating prostitute, floating family on the river or sea—no root can grow from the boat as it does from a floating aquatic plant. And since I’m not of a Vedic or Gipsy community So, even I’ve no nostalgia, no repentance Even no time to regret something that’s lost—it’s so unfortunate

Humayun Malik

Humayun Malik was born into a feudal farming family in Bangladesh, a developing country. His mother was a statement property holder, but his educationist father was a Marxist, and under his influence, Malik became anti-capitalist and existentialist. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Library Science. His writings have appeared in international anthologies and literary magazines, including Ariel Chart, Nixes Mate Review, Kelp Journal, Down in the Dirt magazine, and Shoegaze Literary. He has 21 published books of fiction. Awards: Fair and Lovely Prize, the Daily Newspaper Literary Award, and the Fiction Writers’ Center Award.