In search of a borderless world The world remains a quiet observer to conflicts that are as ancient as history?the fight between the weak and the mighty; the persecuted and the oppressor; the right and the wrong?as states redraw borders to remedy alleged past wrongs or recapture previous glory. While politics frequently creates a vocabulary that insists on distinctions, the arts broaden our ideas. Like stories, ideas and creativity have no boundaries. The Borderless Journal has been bringing together distinctive perspectives from many social and cultural contexts for the past few years. A couple of them are featured in this anthology. The poetry, stories, and essays expose the internal tensions we all experience as well as the conflicts between religions, classes, genders, ideologies, the old and the modern.These narratives by literary stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Louis Couperus, and several emerging voices, including Aditya Shankar and Bibek Adhikari, offer an insight into human conditions. It is important to read and share them. At the heart of this collection are conversations with writers, poets, thinkers, like Aruna Chakravarti, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Devaki Jain, Goutam Ghose, who not only share their personal journey in writing, but also reflect on the role of translations in building bridges between people and cultures.These conversations entertain us, nourish us, stir us, unsettle us and centre on values that Borderless Journal hopes to nurture?syncretism, truth, courage, love, forgiveness and kindness. Monalisa No Longer Smiles will definitely bring a smile to your face because it is a celebration of the human spirit.