Kaalkut. Chapter 5

28 August 2019. New Delhi, India The Monsoon of 2019 had been more humid than usual with more heat than rains. Indian National Security Advisor Ajay Dhumal started sweating as soon as he stepped out of his air-conditioned car and started walking towards the office of Indian Defence Minister Maadhvan Kamat in the expansive South […]

Kaalkut. Chapter 4

7 August 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal The Nepalese national election results were declared 2 days back. Nepali Praja Sangh led Uttam Maharaj, had won 108 seats to emerge as the single largest party but was still short of majority by 30 seats in the 275 seat House of Representatives. Nepal Communist Party led by Srijan Mathi […]

Kaalkut. Chapter 3

25 June 2019. Hanoi, Vietnam Lai Pa island chains were a small group of 5 uninhabited reef islands roughly 45-50 km east of the Vietnamese mainland and slightly further from the Chinese coast. Of the 5 islands, 3 got submerged underwater during high tide. The biggest among them was 1.5 km in length and 800 […]

Kaalkut. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 17 June 2019, Kupwara, Kashmir The window panes in the room shook violently as a grenade exploded just outside the adjoining house. There were sounds of more gunshots, then silence. One of four Para soldiers of the counter-terrorist team in the room peeked outside trying to make sense of the situation. There was […]