Dear Readers,
In a world increasingly shaped by fracture, fatigue, and fear, I remain deeply convinced that words and images still hold the power to bind us together. At a time when borders harden, narratives polarise, and empathy is often treated as a liability rather than a virtue, language and art continue to offer us something quietly radical: the possibility of togetherness. Through them, we pause, listen, imagine, and—most importantly—recognise one another. DoubleSpeak was born from this belief, and it continues to grow within it.
What has brought me the greatest joy as the founder and managing editor of this magazine is the extraordinary constellation of voices that gather here. DoubleSpeak carries words and images from across the world—professional writers and artists alongside amateurs, students beside seasoned hobbyists, retired professionals sharing space with those just beginning to find their voice. To engage with each of you is to feel as though I have friends scattered across continents, people I can reach out to at any hour through a shared language of imagination. This network has become, for me, a living practice of global empathy: a reminder that despite our vastly different circumstances, we are bound by common emotional and intellectual threads.
In this spirit, DoubleSpeak has consciously opened its pages to contributors from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China—countries with which India does not currently share cordial political relationships. To some, this may appear provocative, even reckless. To others, it may be misread as an act of disloyalty. But at its core, this choice is neither political posturing nor naïve idealism. It is a simple, profoundly human gesture: an insistence that understanding must not be held hostage to geopolitics. When official channels collapse into suspicion and hostility, cultural dialogue becomes not treasonous, but necessary. To provide a space where voices from across such divides can coexist peacefully is to affirm a basic truth—that human connection precedes and outlasts political animosity.
This edition reflects that commitment through a chorus of abstract and diverse voices. Here, you will encounter meditations on fundamental human emotions alongside reflections on political crises; explorations of education and identity beside lyrical abstractions of everyday life. These works resist easy categorisation. They search for narratives that are new, unsettled, and alive—stories that do not merely repeat what we already know, but challenge us to see differently.
At the heart of DoubleSpeak lies a celebration of imagination itself. I believe—perhaps stubbornly—that our capacity to imagine is the only sustainable foundation upon which a polity of peace can be built. Long before institutions, laws, or borders, there must exist a shared imaginative space where equity, camaraderie, and mutual recognition are possible. In this sense, DoubleSpeak draws quietly from a socialist and Marxist lineage that values collective consciousness over individual isolation, and ideological solidarity over manufactured divisions. Against the machinery of hate and discrimination, imagination becomes an act of resistance.
There are moments when this work feels akin to the labour of Sisyphus—pushing the boulder of dialogue, art, and empathy uphill, only to watch it roll back down under the weight of violence, intolerance, and despair that persist in our world. And yet, like Camus’ absurd hero, we must continue. Not because success is guaranteed, but because there is no other honest way to live through these difficult times—whether in our country or beyond it. The act itself, repeated endlessly, becomes a form of meaning.
I end this letter with deep gratitude—to every reader who pauses with us, every artist who trusts us with their work, and every voice that dares to speak into this shared space. DoubleSpeak exists because of you. I invite you not only to read, but to respond: to critique, to comment, to converse. It is through this exchange that the magazine truly comes alive.
With gratitude, love and warm regards
Arpan Krishna Deb
Founder and Managing Editor
DoubleSpeak Magazine
DoubleSpeak 