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Shiva's ArmsShiva's ArmsAn author's blog about Cheryl Snell's new novel, Shiva's Arms, a multi-cultural story about identity, reconciliation, and the meaning of home. 
Articles
NaNoWriMo
2008-11-21 00:03:00 Have you noticed how, as soon as you learn a new word or concept, you suddenly see it everywhere? The central metaphor in my NaNo story involves flocking, particularly the pursuit and cohesion of birds. So when my mother and sister visited last week, and I headed for the computer, I thought pursuit. When they settled in on either side of me, I thought cohesion.Over at NaNo headquarters, a participant posted a thread entitled "You Know You Are A NaNoer If..." and here are a few of my fave answers:1 You write a word count instead of the date.2 Your spouse asks where all his coffee beans are.3 When friends ask you what's new, you enthusiastically respond with your word count.4 You dream about your novel.5 Your status for Facebook features your word count.6 You have replied to this thread. Twice.
News
2008-11-20 15:19:00 Lots of goodies for you today---Mark Doty won the National Book Award for Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins). The fiction award went to 81-year-old Peter Matthiessen for Shadow Country (Modern Library).It took him 30 years to complete the three linked novels.And here's a new review by Ravi Shankar on Robert Bly's and Jane Hirshfield's translations of the ecstatic poet Mirabai. The review can be found in the new issue of CPR. You're welcome. More About: News
Progress
2008-11-19 14:29:00 The new National Geographic magazine has a story about women from the Dalit, or "untouchable" caste, making a big difference in community health care. Read the story here More About: Progress
On Umbras and Penumbras
2008-11-18 00:24:00 Fun Fact from Encyclopedia Indica: The Jantra Mantra in New Delhi, pictured above, was built by the Rajput maharaja Swai Jai Singh II. Jantar or yantra means "instrument and mantar or “mantra” means formula. The five observatories have 4 different instruments of stone: the Samrat yantra, the Ram yantra, the Yayaprakash yantra, and the Mishra yantra. They measured the declination, the height and the azimuth of the sun and stars, and the Mishra-instrument indicated when different cities struck 12 o’clock noon.There's a parallel with Stonehenge in here somewhere...
The Sister Series
2008-11-17 18:52:00 My new review of Carol Parris Krauss's The Sister Series is right here
Kabir and Bly
2008-11-16 16:11:00 Mary Karr talks about Robert Bly's translations of the 15th century Indian poet Kabir in her column today. Bly used the Victorian English translations from the Bengali, but had neither Hindi nor Bengali. Karr quotes him: "If anyone speaking Hindi would like to help me, I'll do them over."
BR Chopra
2008-11-14 21:59:00 Indian filnmaker BR Chopra has died. Among his films were "Naya Daur", "Gumrah", "Humraaz", "Dhundh", "Insaaf ka Tarazoo" and "Nikah". He was 95.
Auroville
2008-11-07 14:43:00 Here's something. A 'universal township' in Auroville, India, with the golden dome of the meditation center hovering over a population increasingly swollen with tourists. The WaPost describes it thusly: "On a recent day, hundreds of visitors had gathered to simply gaze at the meditation dome. A group of young Indian men wanted to be photographed with European women. Couples unfurled picnic blankets and snacked on lentils and flatbread packed in tiffins, or Indian lunchboxes. Europeans did yoga poses, listened to their iPods and snapped photos with camera phones." There's more to it than that, of course--UNESCO has endorsed it--but the cliche quotient is giving me sixties flashbacks!
The Approaching Hour
2008-11-05 15:33:00 You Communists and Republicans!all you Germans and Frenchmen!you corpses and quickeners!The stars are about to meltand fall on you in tears.Get ready! Get ready!you Papists and Protestants!you whores and you virtuous!The moon will be breadand drop presently into your baskets.Friends and those who despiseand detest us!Adventists and those who believenothing!Get ready for the awakening.---William Carlos Williams More About: Hour
Blue Fifth Review
2008-11-02 23:11:00 I have a poem in the new Blue Fifth Review about my sister Janet, painting.Thanks, Sam!
Kollywood
2008-11-02 22:53:00 Emily Wax has an article in the Post today about Kollywood ,the Tamil-language industry named for the Kodambakkam neighborhood of Chennai. Not as well-known as Bollywood, Kollywood has not yet gone as Hollywood--"our stars are still chubby, they are still the people you meet in your life," says one actor. Case in point-- this former bus conductor named Rajinikanth is now the highest paid actor in India. The photo makes me think of Donald Trump, but that is neither here nor there...
Trick or Treat
2008-10-31 03:37:00 In honor of Halloween, a ghost story, from India,1914.Boo! More About: Trick , Treat
NaNoWriMo
2008-10-29 17:45:00 Well, I'm in. You should see the way other people prepare, what with outlines and character synopses, and 'adoptable' devices over at the official site. Luckily there are several coffee shops and lounges on site, and several tools for procrastination. But I thought I had better do some prep, so I came up with this synopsis:Does the first bird in a murmuration lead the others, or is it being chased? After a humiliation at the university where she teaches, a mathematician returns to India hoping to research flocking. Instead, she is drawn into the life of a little girl whom she tries to help. She teaches her math, works to modernize her village, and finally rescues her from a forced marriage. Along the way, she learns to love a man who shows her the direction home, as the three of them become a family.I'm going to attempt to bring in theories of pursuit and cohesion in flocking, Hamilton's Rule, and altruism, as well as include Hindu rituals reflecting the characters' (whoever t...
Happy Diwali
2008-10-27 01:58:00 The festival season is in full swing, with Diwali (Deepavali, in the south) now upon us. Deepa in Sanskrit means ‘light’ and avali means 'a row', and all of India is ablaze with fireworks, candles, and oil lamps. The lights recall how villagers set out diyas to guide Rama home after vanquishing Ravana, the return from exile that forms the basis for the Diwali celebration. Oil lamps such as the ones pictured decorate thresholds during the Festival of Lights to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, also. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, and devotees worship her with oil, turmeric, soil from the River Ganga, grains, durba grass, flowers, and festive vegetarian dishes – khichuri, naru, narkel bhaja, chirey and taaler phopol. Worshippers may stay awake all night, awaiting the goddess. The word 'Lakshmi' is derived from the Sanskrit word Laksya, meaning 'goal'. The goddess is usually depicted with four hands, representing dharma (righteousness), kama (desires), artha (wealth), and moksha ... More About: Happy
Guest
2008-10-26 02:14:00 Mary Karr has this to say about poet Paul Guest in her column today. Kudos, Paul!
Man Asian shortlist
2008-10-24 16:34:00 The Man Asian shortlist has been announced. Now, just because my favorite from the Booker nominees won doesn't mean I have a knack for picking the right horse. Nevertheless, keep an eye peeled for Yu Hua's Brothers. Looks promising to me. More About: Shortlist
Library humor
2008-10-16 14:14:00 Seen on a scientist's T shirt:FREE the bounded periodicals More About: Humor , Library
Quote of the Day
2008-10-14 14:34:00 Everywhere I go, I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher. (Flannery O'Connor) More About: Quote Of The Day , Quote
Paintings from Jodhpur
2008-10-13 14:17:00 The WaPost has an article on the new exhibit at the Sackler called Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur ."The exhibition's tone is set by "Sage Markendeya's Ashram and the Milky Ocean," the first picture you see. It was painted, in opaque watercolor and gold, in the 1780s. Vishnu, the great god, is sleeping on a silver sea. His bed looks like one of those inflatable plastic mattresses that float in suburban swimming pools, except it's made of snakes. Welcome to Rajput painting. You're not in Kansas anymore," says critic Paul Richard.
Sivasankari
2008-10-11 17:32:00 I've just been introduced to Sivasankari, a popular Tamil writer and activist who wrote a novel called Oru Manithanin Kathai, about a drunk. It was a huge success in India, and subsequently made into a tele-serial. The writer says about the book, "I purposely made Thyagu, the protagonist, a very lovable person. So many readers asked me: Why do you want to make him such a nice person? I did that purposely; I wanted those of my readers who were alcoholics to identify with him. When the identification was complete, I made his life deteriorate. I wanted them to sit up and contemplate their own lives...Thyagu used to hide quarter bottles of Scotch in the cistern. This was something his wife did not know. One day, I got a very angry letter from the managing director of a company. 'I cannot hide the bottle there anymore,' he wrote angrily. 'You told my wife about it. I have been hiding it there for the last 15 years.' He called me names and said I didn't understand his pain!The same ...
Le Clezio
2008-10-10 14:29:00 Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature yesterday. "Author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization," his works are focused on the environment, especially the desert. Le Clezio, 68, is the first French writer to win the prestigious award since 2000. The Swedish Academy's recent picks of European authors have followed vigorous debate about whether the jury was anti-American--we're so insular and everything. Le Clezio's "works have a cosmopolitan character. Frenchman, yes, but more so a traveller, a citizen of the world, a nomad," Horace Engdahl, permanent secretary of the Academy, told a news conference to announce the laureate.See my blog entry here to get a clue.
Issuu
2008-10-09 16:37:00 No, you're seeing double: Issuu, part social network and part library, converts PDF documents into magazines. You can post your creations in places like Facebook, MySpace and Blogger, too. Here is a mini-chap I made of my sister Janet's paintings and my poems:Get your own - Open publication
a poem by Jeet Thayil
2008-10-08 18:15:00 The Art of SeductionWhen the flooding in the basement got worseshe slipped into a silly dressand danced to The Best of Nirvana.The way she fell on the divan, herarms open — The best thing for stress —you could have been some guy brought hometo read Confessions of an English OpiumEater louder over Kurt’s guitars,some guy who would spend the eveningcross-legged on a tatami mat,listening for the words between the words.Youth is wasted on the youngand wisdom on the old, you know that,like the call of a rare, flightless bird. © 2008, Jeet ThayilFrom: These Errors Are CorrectPublisher: Tranquebar (EastWest and Westland), Delhi, 2008 More About: Poem
Dumpling Kavithai
2008-10-06 21:06:00 Katru vanga ponen oru kavithai vangi vandhen!(I went out for air and came back with a poem) KoyakkataiShe spoons jaggery and coconut on rounds of rice-and-dal dough,brings the edges up and crimps theminto drawstring purses. She sets each dumpling in hot water, and the steam fogs her features. She becomes young again, wearing the yellow sari.All night, I dreamed of koyakkatai.She pinches my cheek as if it’s another kind of pastry, and I can see her as she was: sandalsflapping all the way to temple, her offering of one hundred and one sweets in her arms, her children clamoring for their share, galled to think she would give away their bounty.
Saraswati
2008-10-06 14:36:00 An especially sweet part of Navaratri is the Saraswati puja. The goddess of learning is worshipped during the last few days of the festival. Books and musical instruments are placed on a wooden plank covered in red silk—-perhaps the family ledger, one of the children’s math books, copies of the Ramayana or Bhagavad Gita. Sometimes a tool or small machine is added.“When you were five, I remember your father helping you to form the sacred letter Shri on your first Saraswati puja. We had chosen the books for the altar and I added a harmonium. The Goddess of Learning loves music! Your aunties and I wore yellow saris and made coconut koyakattai. I was so proud when you were old enough to read at the altar beside your father. But very soon, you would whisper to him, as if the Goddess might overhear, “Is that enough, Appa?” It was the same way Ram always asked Samba.” (from Shiva's Arms) Sanskrit slokas like this one are recited: Shrii Saraswatii Namahstubhyam Varade Kaama Ru...
Cover
2008-10-05 16:19:00 Click on our art and poetry blog,Scattered Light, for a gander at the cover of my sister's and my new book,coming soon! More About: Cover
More on Navarathri
2008-10-04 16:29:00 I am especially charmed by the custom of women visiting one another to view their Golu displays and chat. This is how I use the celebration in Shiva's Arms: "It was time to light the clay pots along the windows and the porch. Amma bent to her task and Alice worried, “She’s going to burn the house down.” “She has done this for many years. She knows,” Ram said. He tossed a sweet coconut sundal in his mouth. “Are you sure all this visiting won’t be too much for you?” “I’ll just lie down if my hands start to shake, or if the noise gets me twitchy,” she promised. Women from several neighborhoods came to admire the display. They wanted to know where each doll came from, and were eager to compare notes. As they left, every one of them invited Amma and Alice to come see their own collections. So for nine days, mother and daughter-in-law entered houses decorated in the Indian style to celebrate Golu. One woman proudly showed a shelf ...
Q and A with Shobhan Bantwal
2008-10-02 14:36:00 Today, Shiva's Arms welcomes novelist Shobhan Bantwal, touring the blogosphere with her second novel,The Forbidden Daughter, recently released by Kensington Publishing Corp.THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER is woven around the hot-button social issue of vanishing girl children in contemporary India, where gender-based abortions and female infanticide continue to be practiced in some areas despite laws to ban the practices.The premise fascinated me,and I was eager to know more about Shobhan, her books, and her process. With all the talk about platform and branding, did you ever consider writing a sequel to your first book, THE DOWRY BRIDE? I get that question from a lot of my readers. They are curious to know what happens to Meghan and Kiran, and whether there is a happily ever after. I could have written a sequel, but unless my editor urges me to do so, it would be a waste of my time to write something that would not see the light of day.You're tackling another social ill in your second boo...
No Man is an Island
More articles from this author:2008-10-01 14:21:00 The Nobel Academy's permanent secretary,Horace Engdahl, thinks US writers are "too insular" to compete with European writers.Hmmm. What about Toni Morrison, Saul Bellow, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway? "And if he looked harder at the American scene that he dwells on, he would see the vitality in the generation of Roth, Updike and DeLillo, as well as in many younger writers, some of them sons and daughters of immigrants writing in their adopted English. None of these poor souls, old or young, seem ravaged by the horrors of Coca-Cola," David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, points out.Burn! More About: Island 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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