Stranger things: Check out Indian sci-fi that blends caste, class, tech anxieties

Two Indian sci-fi anthologies explore future dystopias blending caste, class, tech anxieties.

Manjula Padmanabhan's 'Stolen Hours and Other Curiosities' (2025) includes a story about a teen who builds a time-stealing device.

Another story in the anthology, 'The Pain Merchant,' imagines a world where pain is stored and sold in glass bangles.

The anthology also features a clone with feline genes, Sh’ana, who works as a special investigator.

Sami Ahmad Khan, assistant professor of science fiction studies at JNU, recommends these works for their inward-looking perspective.