Buno Kahani
Buno Kahani (बुनो कहानी) — Hindi for “weave a story” was a joint storytelling experiment where different writers took turns adding to a developing narrative thread.
Buno Kahani (बुनो कहानी, Hindi for “weave a story”) was a collaborative fiction experiment I ran on Blogger between 2005 and 2007. Instead of one author owning a story from start to finish, a group of Hindi bloggers took turns: one would begin a story, another would continue it — with no prior discussion of plot, direction, or length.
How It Worked
Every story lived as a series of numbered chapters, with no single author in control of where it was headed. A blogger would pick up wherever the previous chapter left off, free to twist the plot, introduce a character, or change the tone entirely. That constraint — writing blind, with no say over what came before and no idea what would come after — is what gave the results their suspense and unpredictability, for readers and contributing writers alike.
The Stories
Six stories took shape through this back-and-forth, spanning crime, romance, and nostalgia:
- अपराध बोध: भयानक रातें (Crime Guilt: Terrifying Nights) — a chapter-by-chapter crime story built on guilt and psychological tension
- कारे कजरारे: परिवर्तन / नई उड़ान (Kare Kajrare: Change / New Flight) — a multi-chapter romantic and social drama
- मरीचिका: यादें (Mirage: Memories) — a reflective, memory-driven narrative
- भैंसिया का नैनमटक्का — a chapter with a distinctly rural, folk flavour
Print Edition: Buno Kahani is now available in print, and can be bought in India (via Pothi.com) and worldwide (via Amazon).
Buy the Print EditionRelated
Buno Kahani predates the 2006 revival of Nirantar, the Hindi blogzine I went on to co-found — both grew out of the same conviction that Hindi blogging worked best as a shared, collaborative effort rather than a solitary one.
