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The Content Creator Vinay Bhatia was halfway out the door, empty cotton grocery bags in one hand and his helmet and Kawasaki Eliminator keys in the other, when his phone chimed. It was the unmistakable ping of an Instagram notification. He couldn’t help himself; he held the bags under his arms to check the screen. It was another appreciative DM from a hot-blooded teenager, gushing over his…

The Call and the Duty Some mornings carried a weight that couldn’t be measured in meetings or phone calls. The day after Jaydeep’s passionate night with the Vala brothers was one such morning. From the very start, his schedule in Rajkot had spun into a blur. Site visits, contractor arguments over material costs, interior designers pitching staging ideas for the demo unit. It was the kind of day…

Bruises at Daybreak Dharam woke with a groggy groan, his body sprawled diagonally across the cot as if gravity had lost patience with him. From the ground floor came his mother’s sharp, sing-song scolding: “Dharam! Vir! If you both are not downstairs in 10 minutes then I will be up there and it won’t be good for your health?!” Her voice rose like an alarm of its own, echoing through the…

Chapter 1: The Marks of the Night Virendra was still leaning on the terrace railing with Jaydeep when his phone buzzed. The screen flashed with one name that always made his pulse tighten: DharmrajSinh Vala aka Dharam. He picked up with casual ease, still flushed with the warmth of the fight and the fresh hickeys marking him like trophies. “Where are you?” Dharam’s voice carried the same…

Chapter 1: The Call & The Burden The Korat residence was alive with its usual morning rhythm. The smell of freshly brewed tea mixed with the earthy aroma of buttered parathas. Servants moved quietly about, setting bowls of chutney and curd on the long dining table. At the head chair sat Mr. Jagdishbhai Korat, patriarch of the family and head of the Korat Group, his salt-and-pepper hair neatly…

The Call of the Machine It wasn’t all that early in the morning when Ayush Sinha’s phone rang, dragging him out of sleep with a jolt. Squinting at the screen, he saw it was a call from the Yamaha dealership where he had booked his dream bike, the Yamaha R3 — a gift his father had promised him on his 18th birthday a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, his insistence on the top variant in blue…

The Golden Ticket Pradip Joshi had checked the time on his phone more times than he cared to admit. The clock had only just inched past noon, yet his mind was already far from the sleek glass walls of the Bhari Fit headquarters in Lower Parel. At 28, he was the founder and CEO of one of India’s fastest-growing fitness wear and accessories brands—his days typically ran like a stopwatch. But…

Chapter 1: The Show Must Burn The office of Shining Star Productions was buzzing, but the tension was hard to miss. The usual hum of activity—the sound of editors chopping footage, assistants running around with clipboards, and producers barking last-minute orders—was still there, but an invisible weight hung over the room. Even the interns sensed it. This wasn’t just another pre-season week.…

The Guy Next Door & The Model Hiren Soni, a seemingly simple and goofy guy next door from Gujarat, had attracted a cool 100K followers on Instagram by the young age of just 24—thanks to his hilarious reactions and witty roasts of cringe-worthy reelers, along with genuinely funny commentary on cricket. With his thick accent, infectious laugh, and habit of using local slang at the perfect moment,…

The Bus Ride Ahmedabad’s winter didn’t bite like Delhi’s or sink into your bones like Shimla’s. But it had its own charm—the crisp dryness, the hint of desert chill riding in with the breeze, and the way the city lights shimmered a little brighter through the cold air. That January evening was one of those quietly magical days, with temperatures dipping just below 18°C as dusk fell over the…

Cold Nights, Warm Vibes The roar of the crowd still echoed faintly in Vaibhav Chaddha’s ears as he stepped out of the colossal Narendra Modi Stadium. The night was cool, with the kind of late-December breeze that teased the edges of his unbuttoned overshirt and kissed the dampness off his neck from all the dancing. A pale, silver moon hung over Ahmedabad, while the golden-lit stadium behind him…

Not Your Ordinary Influencers  By the time the sun had dipped behind the dusty horizon of Lakhapar, Bhavesh Kadala was already wrapping up another brutally satisfying day on the family farm. His shirt stuck to his back, half-soaked in sweat and dust, his forearms stained with mud and effort. But if you asked him, he wouldn’t call it toil—he’d call it routine. The kind of routine that came with…

Chapter 1: Aarop (The Allegation) It was an uneventful morning in the remote rural village of Dhulera, tucked somewhere in the heart of eastern Uttar Pradesh also known as Purvanchal region. Vishal Shukla, the young, affable office assistant at the village council, was on his usual round alongside his superior, the council secretary and bureaucratic head of operations, Naveen Shastri. Their task…

The Ascent of a Prince The rotary blades of the sleek, matte-black chopper began to slow as the aircraft descended into the misty highlands of Bhanpur. The wind of its approach stirred the already restless canopy of late-July monsoon clouds—low and brooding, hanging like a velvet canopy above the timeless hills. The helipad, carved into a plateau of ochre rock and framed by whispering neem and…

The Welcome Home Whiff Following the exhilarating and exhausting fight between two egoistic, aggressive alphas, Mayur and Pawan, the wheels spun quickly. Though Jaydeep, Naksh, Mayur, Ashok, and Pawan had some individual follow-up fights in the following week, none went beyond a couple of short bouts. With Jaydeep’s wedding fast approaching, the focus shifted to full-fledged preparations,…

Special AcknowledgmentPortions of the action choreography in Bare and Brutal were originally contributed by Aliwrestles, a creator on Chatfighters.com (CF). His dynamic energy and fight sensibility helped shape some of the most intense moments of the central clash. Grateful for the inspiration and heat you brought to the mat. The Somber Morning The morning after Jaydeep’s wild, beasty bachelor…

The Best Man’s Plan The crisp winter sun bathed Ahmedabad in soft, golden hues as the city buzzed with the mild chill of a post-Diwali November. Inside the Korat residence, things were heating up in a very different way. With the wedding just a month away, Jaydeep was knee-deep in checklists, appointments, and endless decisions. But amidst all the madness, one thing brought him a sliver of…