The National Abu Dhabi
Comment Essays for The National Abu Dhabi
Poem: Refugee: in The Mantelpiece
Refugee was published in The Mantelpiece Magazine, published in Iceland, in the May 2024 issue.
Hindustan Times: Ambition & Adaptation
Politician Tejaswi Surya married Carnatic singer Sivasri Skandaprasad earlier this month with great fanfare and predictably some controversy. All of which led me to wonder about ambition and adaptation. Ambition requires nimbleness and adaptation.
Poem: The blindfolded bear: in the WildSound Festival of Poetry
The blindfolded bear dandelions burst wiggled in the wind settled on the eyes of a black bear blindfolded by stardust he stood up surprised sniffed at the future goosebumps settled as he stumbled through riverine jungles gobbling [...]
Poem: Brahms Lullaby: in Verseville
Brahms Lullaby Nobody knows how animal paws came into my handbag Nobody knows how the Brahms lullaby escaped Novak’s tennis racquet Nobody knows how waves throw salt and sand at golden froth coloring the sky Nobody knows [...]
Poem: The wounded drummer boy: in Verseville
The wounded drummer boy hiding behind the cosmic sky and his father’s fly tells his friend that he needs to go to Persepolis to get an injection or he will die Two men his father and uncle [...]
Poem: Lunuganga: in The Wild Umbrella
Lunuganga I lie in Lunuganga Tracing on My lover’s chest A moonlit path That ends at Slivered water’s edge Where A prehistoric saurian Tangled in Lotus stalks Seeks escape From this Unhinged wildness Where My ancestors monkey [...]
Poem: Keeper of Harmony: in Mukoli- the magazine of peace
Keeper of harmony Women are like creepers; my mother tells me-- or ought to be. Creepers braid themselves around trees-- no dissonance, only harmony. But I want to be the tree, I tell my Mom and she [...]
Poem: Calendared Intention: in La Piccioletta Barca
Calendared Intention My mother calls me every morning and recites the panchangam = the Hindu calendar, beginning with the year, which shows, perhaps, her long view of life and belief in, if not immortality, at least a [...]
Poem: in these eyes lie ancient secrets: in The Madras Courier
in these ears lie ancient secrets (a riff on the film Roja) she tickles my ear with a golden brush i wake from my nap with a primal sound shakes like a jhimiki upside down thinks she’s [...]
Poem: Crows and ancestors: in Indian Literature
Crows and ancestors A crow, dead? Hung from an Indian elm tree, splayed like black shorts on a fickle clothesline, except this was a glass-coatedmanjha kite-string used to cut off of the competition during the annual kite-flying Uttarayan [...]
Poem :The price of tomatoes: in Indian Literature
The price of tomatoes the other day, Ma told me that she regretted not climbing Mt. Kailash seven decades ago then she asked for the price of tomatoes piled high on our dining table. when I told her that [...]
WisdomCircle: Mental Models
No matter what the field, there are three things that all of us need for success. The first and the foundational factor is content, by which I mean talent, knowledge, expertise, rigour, all of these that each of us have learned and cultivated since childhood in our chosen field. The second is attitude, which is the set of character traits that each of us have, either through genetics, through how we were parented, or because of the circumstances of our particular life. The third factor is projection, which has become increasingly important in this digital age. It refers to how comfortable we are with being well-known, either in our chosen field or adjacent ones.