Simmering. Never stopping. Always simmering. Simmering at the contours of our cognition. Simmering at the edges of our dreams. Simmering at the rims of our comprehension. At the corners of our being but never vanishing. That’s how our past lives. And how do we make eye contact with it? With pride? With temerity? With shame? With a … More The unending dance of ‘listening’
She walked up. I wasn’t prepared for her arrival. And yet, there she was – leaning at my door, from the yesteryears, like a familiar but forgotten memory, one hand holding a camera, the other on her waist, asking me if she can come in. I let her. And with the falling night in the … More Behind the doors of civility
About last month. Actually, an entire month. That’s how long it has been since I heard ‘em. Words. Words. What else do I love more than their soft, unwavering power to make things go and take shapes of wonder? Those who know me, know I am a logophile – to spot member of the community … More Meeting Words, once again.
March meets are always a sprint for me. Financial year end peeks from left and right, and top and bottom, and makes a sight of me that tetters on clumsiness and chequered energy! Uff! But our meets at Mudita Book Club are my refuge and I, somehow, find my way to having them. So, a … More Of all books Asian, and their varied flavors
Born in a corner, desolate and numb, or on a slate shaking with indignation; Sometimes, on a feather of enviable calm and sometimes, from sheer indecision. Your womb has many colors and so, does your skin; But in each of them, I stand witness, you are my kin. On days of cantankerous mayhem, your pages … More Mo Sangaata, Thank You
Art Matters by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Chris RiddellMy Rating: 5 of 5 Stars When I walk down a street I take often, I don’t need telling where the hump is or where the manhole splays. But even so, on days the street light doesn’t work, I feel a pinch; as if the little streak … More Book Review: Art Matters by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Chris Riddell (2018)
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Was it necessary to read ‘An Unnecessary Woman’? About a woman in the twilight of her life, a product of rusted times? A woman from a foreign land, and of foreign blood? A woman who offered pursed whimpers amid teeth that reeked soupy yellow? One … More Book Review: An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine (2014)
It is Diwali. Or Diwali eve. Or Diwali weekend. And I am, all at once, in a pensive, nostalgic mood. Some happy occasions trigger memories that assume an ominous cloak of beauty and transform everything around them into a messenger of times bygone. Last year, my mamma was with me, here, celebrating. This year, she … More The All-Season Antidote
Stoner by John Williams My Rating: 5 of 5 stars As a child, I had a thing for inanimate things. A sling, a pond, a pebble, a mica chip; they would catch my attention and hold it hostage. I would play for hours together with these silent, placid beings, drawing great solace from their harmless, … More Book Review: Stoner by John Williams (1965)
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov My Rating: 4 of 5 stars The evening lessons were always the most difficult. Drained of ambulating the willing grey cells throughout the carnage of day classes, the young readers, almost resignedly, filled the quiet room at the end of the corridor. A subdued tête-à-tête, almost at once, broke into … More Book Review: Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov (1953)
SEEMITA DAS 