The Quarantine Selfie

By Partha Prawal Goswami

'The Quarantine Selfie is a slow-burning psychological romance that unfolds almost entirely in the digital space, before it enters into an unsettling reality. The story follows Guwahati's Ankita Dutta, a content writer, who stumbles upon the Facebook profile of Arindam Kashyap, an IT professional from the same city but stranded in Bengaluru. Enchanted by the quiet intimacy of his posts, Ankita sends him a friend request, thus initiating a connection mostly rooted in shared memories of Guwahati.

What begins as casual Facebook chats gradually deepens into a daily emotional ritual. Over time, their communication shifts to WhatsApp, evolving from text to voice notes, selfies, and video calls. The playful, platonic tone slowly blurs into something more intimate.

The narrative takes a sharp turn when Ankita awakens from a four-year-long coma. Though physically healed, she suffers from severe memory dissonance. Strikingly, the only thing she remembers vividly is Arindam and their entire digital relationship, while people and places around her feel alien.

As Ankita tries to retrace her memories, disturbing inconsistencies emerge. Her phone contains no trace of Arindam-no messages, voice notes, or selfies. His social media profiles do not exist, and the locations he spoke of cannot be found. Yet one detail remains inexplicably real: his address matches perfectly.

Caught between memory and reality, Ankita is left confronting several unresolved questions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9353532124
• ISBN13: 9789353532123
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Length: 92 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.0" x 8.0"