Carpe Verba: A Resounding Literary Awakening by The Great Indian Review

Week One of The Great Indian Review’s Literary Series Sets a Stirring Tone

—Report by Correspondent, The Holistic Pine

There are moments when literature doesn't just mirror life—it reclaims it. One such moment arrived last week, as The Great Indian Review, in collaboration with Writers’ Kalam Publishing, launched its much-awaited literary movement—Carpe Verba. Latin for "Seize the Words", Carpe Verba is more than a title; it is a literary pulse, a call to reclaim the written voice in a world that often moves too fast to listen.

In a country as vast and diverse as India, where stories bloom in every tongue and tradition, this initiative couldn’t have come at a better time. Week 1, held under the theme “Memories”, invited writers to open the treasure chests of their pasts. The response was overwhelming—not in numbers alone, but in emotional depth and artistic sincerity.

From Ashika Umesh's mythopoetic evocation of Lethe in Waters of Oblivion, to Ashima Syal's fragrant culinary tribute to her grandmother in A Flavourful Tradition, each piece carried the weight of memory with delicate grace. Priyanka Bhandarkar transported us to the vibrant 1990s in The Journey of the 90s: An Era of Transformation, while Abhishek Kumar Singh's Lessons in the Fog wove a raw, modern fable about power, truth, and the unspoken rules of the world. These were not just submissions; they were testimonies, shimmering with lived experience and fierce authenticity.

But what makes Carpe Verba truly remarkable is not just the quality of submissions—it is the community it is building. A community that spans cities and dialects, students and teachers, homemakers and professionals. In every corner of this country, someone is picking up a pen (or keyboard) and answering a timeless call: to write, to reflect, to belong.

For the literary community in India, Carpe Verba is an act of resistance and remembrance. It resists the forgetfulness of fast content. It remembers the power of quiet words. It celebrates not only polished writing, but honest expression—the kind that reaches into the marrow of everyday life and finds something worth saving.

As Carpe Verba now moves into Week 2, themed "Mother", the pages of this literary voyage promise to deepen with tenderness and tributes. The deadline for submissions is 25 May 2025, and entries are being collected via the official Submission Form on www.gibooks.in.

Carpe Verba is not just a series. It’s a movement. A mirror. A memory. And perhaps, the beginning of a new literary era in independent Indian writing.

Seize the words. Find your voice. Let it echo.