Sriman’s job was a strange one, serving customers he knew nothing about and delivering food he had no stake in. Friendships were fleeting, and social events were calculated losses. The gig economy taught Sriman to swallow complaints. Mrittika Sen, a two-wheeler driver of a bike taxi app, knew life was precarious for female gig workers, vulnerable to erasure with a button’s press. Sriman, Mrittika, and others found solace in Akashganga, a hundred-year-old house and its resident, Bishan Basu, who introduced them to the stars. As they gazed at the celestial universe, they wondered if they’d need a new planet to call home someday. And would they be delivering chicken butter masala to that planet too? About the author: Ashoke Mukhopadhyay, a corporate communications professional, has worked with leading Indian corpora- tions for over four decades. His acclaimed novels include Agnipurush, Aatta Natar Surya, and Abiram Jwarer Rupkatha. He has extensively documented Kolkata’s social history and revolutionaries. He writes meticulously researched articles and his notable works, to name a few, include Tegarter Andaman Diary, Kali Mayer Boma and Lattuparar Lettikatha. About the Translator: Zenith Roy is an associate professor of English litera- ture in a college in West Bengal. Writing poetry as well as prose pieces of imaginative splendour and translating literary texts are his beloved pursuits. He has translated several modern Bengali poems. His prose translations include Broken Mirror (2025) by Prof. Chinmoy Guha.