We Were Never There at the Residency Gate This Monsoon

By Prashant Mishra

In the rain-soaked lanes of Varanasi, podcast producer Ira Banerjee stumbles onto a locked cloud folder that rewrites itself while she sleeps, pulling her into a conspiracy where a respected professor has been stealing student research for corporate gain. Her only ally is a quiet neighbour who knows too much and admits too little, and their fragile closeness fractures the moment Ira realises the anonymous helper and the public villain share the same frightened voice. Branded as a misconduct case and racing against a closing inquiry, Ira must break the law, finish an exhibition honouring forgotten workers, and decide how far courage can stretch before it becomes something she cannot take back. Dark, propulsive, and laced with monsoon dread, this is a story about who gets to own the truth and what it costs to refuse the official answer.