We used to come here on Sundays. It was the only place in the city where no one looked at us twice. Two men sitting on the grass, talking, sometimes just quiet. We'd been together two years by then. Out to each other, out to nobody else. I used to think about all the people who had stood on this same ground across centuries. How many of them had loved someone they weren't supposed to. How many of them had to be this careful. There's something about old ruins that makes you fe

I was supposed to board a train to go back to my husband. I sat on that platform for forty minutes and then didn't get on. Called my sister instead. Told her everything. The two years of feeling invisible, the way I'd stopped recognising myself, all of it. She drove to the station and picked me up. That was three years ago. I'm divorced now and the happiest I've ever been. The train I didn't board was the best decision I ever made. — 32, Chennai

We came to Shimla for what we told our families was a work conference. We stayed in the same room. Ordered room service and watched it snow. For four days we were just two people who loved each other without any of the complications waiting back home. I've never been happier. I've also never felt more guilty about being happy. We came back and went back to our separate lives like it never happened. Neither of us has brought it up since. — 35, Delhi

Someone touched me during Holi in a way that wasn't okay. I was seventeen. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to ruin the day. I've played Holi twice since then and both times I've left early and told everyone I was tired. I've never said the real reason out loud until now. — 24, Jaipur

I grew up in a town where everyone knew everyone. I had my first relationship at seventeen with a boy from a different religion. We used to meet at the back of the market every evening. His family found out before mine did. He stopped coming. I waited three evenings before I understood. Twenty years later I got a LinkedIn request from him. He's married. Two kids. I accepted it and then stared at his profile photo for longer than I should have. I never replied to his message.