A Space For Creatives from the Northeast

At Lekha, our mission is to build a thriving community of creatives from the Northeast of India —a space where writers can share their work, draw inspiration and discover opportunities. Our website serves as a library of contemporary writing from the Northeast.  It is a platform designed to nurture authentic expression, free from the stereotypes and preconceptions often imposed by the mainland. Here, our voices speak for themselves, celebrating both individuality and diversity. 

We aim to expand creative horizons, connect like-minded individuals, spark collaborations, and inspire one another. We don’t believe in limiting what it means to write about or from the Northeast. We welcome pieces about love and heartbreak, friendship and solitude, migration and staying, the fantastical and the mundane- if it matters to you, we want to hear it.

We do not confine ourselves to a genre or a theme. Lekha is your space to write beyond the box. 

Meet the Team

Lekha is the result of countless conversations on what it means to be Northeastern in India today. Having spent our lives in cities across the mainland, we became acutely aware of the disconnect between mainland India’s perceptions of the Northeast and our own lived experiences as Northeasterners.

As we reflected on the unique challenges this divide creates—both "back home" and on the mainland—we discovered that many of our friends from the Northeast shared similar frustrations. The misrepresentations and broad homogenising stereotypes projected onto Northeastern communities often overshadow the richness and diversity of our stories.

Driven by a desire to create a space for authentic and unboxed creative expression, Lekha was born—a platform to amplify voices from the Northeast, by the Northeast.

  • Yana is a writer and researcher with a keen interest in themes of conflict, peace, and gender. She is from Manipur, and she has spent her life in Bombay and New Delhi, where she currently resides. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Bachelor’s degree from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

  • Pauline Awungshi is a researcher from Manipur with an interest in culture and social transformation. Having lived in Delhi for most of her life, she holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Bachelor’s degree in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.