The past year brought into sharp relief the fragility of almost every aspect of our lives, from supply chains to international geopolitics. While it certainly exposed vulnerabilities of the underlying tectonic plates of conventions, it also challenged the deep slumber of decided opinions or preordained conclusions. We started seeing, thinking and experiencing things anew. Amidst all such whirlwinds, we found rich and novel perspectives.

In our last issue on ‘dissent’, we explored the diverse mutations of the role of dissent in the arenas of our lives. While a host of emerging external forces were tangibly paramount in the previous years, at this point in history, as we try to resume lives, it’s the internal and personal which has taken precedence.

From our professional norms in work to our personal dynamics dealing with families and friends, we have experienced life more intimately. Many of us have borne the brunt of tragic loss while almost all of us dealt with a personal upheaval and events which reminded us just how fragile we are when it comes to our mental landscape, emotional stability, or even lives.

But fragility is much beyond the delicate. Exposure to incessant blows teaches one to be resilient. The beauty is that in a world gradually sliding to an entropic fate, fragile things still dare to defy, so many unassailable fixities, to preserve what’s left, from an inevitable decline. To me, that’s profound. Therefore, besides the humane limiting space for vulnerability, resilience is the term that hides beneath fragile. Through this issue, we explore themed works that negotiate this theme.

We are also delighted to speak with two esteemed authors, Anuradha Roy and Tabish Khair, for the feature interviews. Through the interactions, we have tried to glean from their creative processes, their experiences around writing in general, and aspects of this issue’s theme in their works.