Ink & Quill
Collective
QuillMark Issue #3
Secret Keeper
Nandita Dutta
The piece explores the unique methods of communication, sometimes understood without words, between mother and daughter. This one deals with secrets - those that carry on for entire lifetimes, unable to be shared, unable to be revealed, unable to come out, sometimes forever, yet shape our lives and relationships. And while mothers are the first secret keepers for their daughters, they have their own secrets too.
Nandita Dutta
Nandita is a freelance writer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in the Himalayan Writing Retreat blog, Tint Journal, Transients Mag, reflections.live, HotPot magazine, Bitter Melon Review, Quillmark Magazine, Indian Review and Outland Magazine. She has been published in various anthologies - Scribing Positivity, Bridges not Borders (an anthology of South Asian writers, commissioned by Write Beyond Borders) and most recently in the Hemlock Journal Anthology II. Her piece in Tint Journal (narrative nonfiction) was nominated for 2025 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She made the shortlist for the Asian Prize for Short Story 2025.
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© The Ink & Quill Collective 2026. All rights reserved.
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Collective
Want to start your writing journey with us?
© The Ink & Quill Collective 2026. All rights reserved.