Sunday, February 28, 2016
First Printed Copies of my Second Novel -- Kalyana
I just absolutely over the moon love the cover!!! So pleased with the staff of Second Story Feminist Press. Release Date: March 15, 2016. 320 Pages.
Writer In Residence (May 2014 to August 2014)
I held the position of writer in residence at Fiji National University during the months of May through August, 2014. For that invaluable experience, I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to the staff of the university and Ganesh Chand, the Vice Chancellor. And a very very very special thank you to Ganesh, the Caretaker, who has now become a very dear friend. Thank you Ganesh for keeping me company and leaving fresh coconuts at my doorstep; it was delicious. The residency was an amazing learning experience! It was indeed fun to work on my third novel in Fiji, under the moonlight, and on the beaches, while sipping cappuccino from the coffee bar by the docks, and watching the ships sail in!
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Dilkusha Home Project
On one of my trips to the Fiji Islands, in the South Pacific, I had the privilege of visiting Dilkusha Home, an orphanage that has been serving orphaned children for over 100 years.
The last two Christmases, a few of my friends and colleagues got together and raised over $300.00 to make the Dilkusha Home’s children’s Christmas a little brighter. This gift giving season, we were hoping to continue this tradition. And we needed your help. I would be grateful for any amount of support.
Currently, Dilkusha Home is serving 29 children, mostly girls, who range in ages from 1 to 19 years. And they have now also adopted their first boy! The older girls remain in the home due to permanent disabilities and their inability to live independently. The Home’s policy is to keep the girls in the home till they complete all their education and are able to be financially independent and live productive lives. This is such an amazing program for the girls of Fiji! Great to see it is in existence for over a 100 years and still going strong.
The last two Christmases, a few of my friends and colleagues got together and raised over $300.00 to make the Dilkusha Home’s children’s Christmas a little brighter. This gift giving season, we were hoping to continue this tradition. And we needed your help. I would be grateful for any amount of support.
Currently, Dilkusha Home is serving 29 children, mostly girls, who range in ages from 1 to 19 years. And they have now also adopted their first boy! The older girls remain in the home due to permanent disabilities and their inability to live independently. The Home’s policy is to keep the girls in the home till they complete all their education and are able to be financially independent and live productive lives. This is such an amazing program for the girls of Fiji! Great to see it is in existence for over a 100 years and still going strong.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A Five Headed Snake! Yikes!
Another short excerpt from my forthcoming novel "Kalyana." Very excited about releasing my new novel!
“What happened next, Mummy?” I licked the edges of my lips.
“The Yamuna River raged and her waves threatened to swallow Yasudev and baby Krishna whole.” My mother would fix her penetrating stare upon me, and my heart would skip, the hairs rising on my arms. I knew what would follow: “And it was then that the five-headed snake from below the waters emerged.”
“Five-headed snake!” I would shiver in the night air.
“Sumitri, you are frightening her,” my father would say. “The child is scared of snakes and is ridden with nightmares about them, and here you are telling her stories about snakes with five heads!”
“Rajdev Seth, it’s not snakes,” my mother would say. “There was only one five-headed snake. And it was a good one.”
My mother would throw me a conspiring look and try to speak the next series of words as fast as she could before Father could demand that she end all stories for the night.
“The snake’s five heads shielded baby Krishna from the water, and the snake itself was Yasudev’s guide, allowing him to...”
“Sumitri...”
“Snakes are not to be feared, but to be embraced. They are your guides. Kalyana...”
“Sumitri!” My father would tell my mother to go back to bed, bringing the story to an abrupt end.
“What happened next, Mummy?” I licked the edges of my lips.
“The Yamuna River raged and her waves threatened to swallow Yasudev and baby Krishna whole.” My mother would fix her penetrating stare upon me, and my heart would skip, the hairs rising on my arms. I knew what would follow: “And it was then that the five-headed snake from below the waters emerged.”
“Five-headed snake!” I would shiver in the night air.
“Sumitri, you are frightening her,” my father would say. “The child is scared of snakes and is ridden with nightmares about them, and here you are telling her stories about snakes with five heads!”
“Rajdev Seth, it’s not snakes,” my mother would say. “There was only one five-headed snake. And it was a good one.”
My mother would throw me a conspiring look and try to speak the next series of words as fast as she could before Father could demand that she end all stories for the night.
“The snake’s five heads shielded baby Krishna from the water, and the snake itself was Yasudev’s guide, allowing him to...”
“Sumitri...”
“Snakes are not to be feared, but to be embraced. They are your guides. Kalyana...”
“Sumitri!” My father would tell my mother to go back to bed, bringing the story to an abrupt end.
Snakes! Snakes! Snakes! Excerpt from my forthcoming novel "Kalyana"
Happy Chinese New Year! YEAR OF THE SNAKES! What's new for me? My new novel Kalyana. And...snakes have great symbolic significance throughout the whole book! Here's an excerpt from Kalyana featuring snakes...snakes...snakes...and more snakes.
Of all the stories my mother told me when I was young, this one alone stirred recurring nightmares. I was transported back to the SS Sangola, in the middle of the ocean. The ship was swarming with countless king cobras, slithering all around me. I could hear low growls under their hissing calls. They were coiled in front of me, wearing red maharajah crowns, while others held back, draped over the barrels, hanging on the masts. Trapped, I shivered, chanting prayers, my knees clutched to my chest. I stayed huddled in a corner of the deck as the sensation of slithering serpents crawled up my legs and across my body.
Then my mother would miraculously appear. She would hit the snakes on their heads with a blackened steel pot. Black blood and gore would paint the walls and decks of the ship as the pitiful snakes collapsed belly up, one by one, until a stream of yellow carpeted the ships' floors.
Of all the stories my mother told me when I was young, this one alone stirred recurring nightmares. I was transported back to the SS Sangola, in the middle of the ocean. The ship was swarming with countless king cobras, slithering all around me. I could hear low growls under their hissing calls. They were coiled in front of me, wearing red maharajah crowns, while others held back, draped over the barrels, hanging on the masts. Trapped, I shivered, chanting prayers, my knees clutched to my chest. I stayed huddled in a corner of the deck as the sensation of slithering serpents crawled up my legs and across my body.
Then my mother would miraculously appear. She would hit the snakes on their heads with a blackened steel pot. Black blood and gore would paint the walls and decks of the ship as the pitiful snakes collapsed belly up, one by one, until a stream of yellow carpeted the ships' floors.
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