Excerpt from untitled novel. Forthcoming to be published in B O D Y Magazine.

A creative essay written in response to the February 2017 shootings in Olathe, KS where a white xenophobe targeted two Indian men he believed to be Iranians, killing one. Published originally in The Rumpus, September 2017:

http://therumpus.net/2017/09/the-cost-of-doing-business/

Essay surveying Indian literature and popular narratives, everything from the Mahabharata to Bollywood and literary points in between, considering what agency they give women (both as the creators and characters of works) and how that has engendered severe misogyny in the culture at large. Published by The Millions, April 2017:
https://themillions.com/2017/04/woman-power-woman-unchecked-narratives-i...

Told in the second-person POV, a man reflects on his unfinished backyard pool at a time when he is becoming increasingly disconnected from his family.

Forthcoming in District Lit, 2017.

This excerpt from my novel-in-progress follows an Indian-American man still grieving the loss of his son, as a new work promotion puts new lease on his hope for the American Dream.

Published in The New Engagement, January 2017 Issue.
http://thenewengagement.com/literature/a-bend-in-the-track

This excerpt from my novel-in-progress follows a young African-American man attempting to re-enter society after being released from prison.

Published in the Asian American Writers Workshop's The Margins, featured Fiction Friday Author, 2/5/2016.
http://aaww.org/foraging/

Part magical realism, a young Indian-American woman's fiance is killed in the car crash on the eve of their arranged wedding.

Published in The Mandala, Spring 2015 Issue "Echoes".
http://mandala.uga.edu/echoes/fic-desai-echoes.php

In response to the first season of Serial following the case of Adnan Syed, I consider if the podcast fell short in examining Baltimore's South Asian diaspora, where both Adnan and I grew up. In an era of heightened discussion on race, this seemed a critically overlooked factor the show's wild popularity could have advanced the conversation in.

Published in The Aerogram, 12/14/2015.
http://theaerogram.com/serial-fail-south-asian-americans/

Set in the Indian-American enclave of Edison, NJ, this story profiles a family caught in a moment of fracture. This was my first story published.

Published in The Kartika Review, Summer Issue 13, 2012.
https://issuu.com/kartikareview/docs/kartika_issue13