Shiva's Arms

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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Beltway Poetry Journal
2008-09-30 19:25:00
In my inbox today:Beltway Poetry 's first all-audio issue, co-edited by Kim Roberts and Katie Davis, is now available online. The issue includes collaborations between poets and musicians, recordings produced over layers of sound, and "naked" tracks of poets with distinctive voices that lend themselves particularly well to the audio format. As Katie Davis says in her recorded introduction, these twenty recordings make a "Beltway Poetry Remix" notable for the "pauses, the way a vowel is pulled and repeated, demanding to be reconsidered." Contributors, Volume 9, Number 4 (Fall 2008):Karren L. Alenier * Holly Bass * Regie Cabico * Kenneth Carroll * Joel Dias-Porter * Thomas Sayers Ellis * Brian Gilmore * Michael Gushue * Bernie Jankowski * Rod Jellema * Fred Joiner * Reb Livingston * Greg McBride * May Miller * Miles David Moore * Yvette Neisser Moreno * Gaston Neal * Richard Peabody * Mark Tarallo * Hilary Tham Audio production provided by Alison Gilbert, Grace Cavalieri, Flawn Wil...
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Navaratri
2008-09-29 14:38:00
Tomorrow marks the beginning of a semi-annual festival celebrating female divinity. Nava means nine and Ratri means nights. During these nine nights and ten days, women visit one another in their homes, decorated with lights and Golu displays of dolls. In my novel, Shiva's Arms, I use this celebration of female friendship as a way to get my warring women to come together. "It was late when Alice wandered downstairs. She expected that Amma would have gone to bed, but she was still at her task, busy with the display. She motioned to Alice to help her set up the rest of the dolls. There were brass and sandalwood gods and Malibu Barbies, an American bride doll and Japanese geishas collected one at a time, each one with a history. “We will make kolam on the porch tomorrow,” Amma said. “You have colored chalks. My son is keeping big lamp in Christmas trees?” “In the box of Christmas decorations, yes.” By two in the morning the display was finished, Sam’s toy tr...

Koushi Kanada Raga
2008-09-29 02:06:00
From last year's Dabar Festival, Soumik Datta on sarod and Gurdain Rayatt on tabla.

Town Creek
2008-09-27 19:59:00
I have poems up at Town Creek Poetry Journal,here and here

Horace by Juster
2008-09-26 05:41:00
Here's the link to my new review. Hope you enjoy the little satura. That's fruitcake to all you Romans.

...of Commas and Quizzes
2008-09-25 14:49:00
My friend Rachel says it's National Punctuation Day. Yes, people, it's a real thing, God promise!
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College Street
2008-09-24 15:13:00
There's an evocative piece by Emily Wax in the Post today about Kolkata's College Street , aka the "neighborhood of books." This stretch of road, in the university quarter, is famous for its many secondhand bookstalls, and for the renowned Presidency College, where Satyajit Ray studied. A bust of the father of Bengali prose literature, Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, overlooks the area.At the book kiosks, a bookseller will call out the title of a requested book several times very fast, the way vendors of everything do. An employee will appear out of the noise and chaos, title in hand. How do they remember the titles and prices of thousands of academic and technical books? Must be the turmeric.

Fast Lane
2008-09-22 20:28:00
Have you seen the new issue of National Geographic? There's a whole section on India this month, its contrasts and growing pains. Here's a link to the photo gallery.
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Life of the gods
2008-09-21 14:05:00
From the New York Times travel section, a description of the nightly union of Meenakshi and Sundareshwarar in Madurai:"THE god was ready for his night of conjugal bliss. The priests of the temple...bore the god’s palanquin on their shoulders. They marched him slowly along a stone corridor ...to his consort’s shrine... There, Meenakshi, the fish-eyed goddess, awaited the embrace of her husband, Sundareshwarar, an incarnation of that most priapic ofIndian gods, Shiva."
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Donald Hall
2008-09-20 13:27:00
It's Donald Hall 's birthday today. If you click the title, you'll hear him reading a metrical poem about his wife.

Poetic Justice
2008-06-09 15:30:00
“Unless you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.” --From an essay by Robert Frost, read to the twenty five kids who trashed his house recently. They were were sentenced to learn about his poetry.
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What's in a Name?
2008-06-08 17:51:00
In the first novella of Paul Theroux’s new The Elephanta Suite, he introduces the Blundens. Already I see them blundering. Should I? What’s in a name anyway, when it comes to naming characters in fiction? I collected some do-and-don’ts to see how the names in Shiva’s Arms stack up:A name can give clues about your character's background.The Sambashivans are South Indian Brahmins, and the name reflects that. Ask anybody A name may say something about the character's parents.In my characters’ neighborhood, the father’s name and family home is incorporated into the child’s name. So my boy Ramesh, whose father is Sambashivan from Trichur, is called T. Sambashivan Ramesh. A name has to suit the character's personality-- who they are, where they come from or where they are going.Shiva fits the bill here. The matriarch of the family is named for the god of creation and destruction, whose many arms embrace and repel simultaneously. The name underscores the character’s cult...

New Horizons, Tamil version
2008-06-07 15:20:00
I just read some stats regarding the health of the American novel. It amounts to this: twice as many novels, not counting POD books,were published in 2007 as in 2002. Surprised? Maybe it's only book reviews that are in trouble, heh. In a vaguely related story, a Tamil publisher shares the secret of its success in this article.
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"Come, let us make our story one like no other."
2008-06-06 17:51:00
In The Tale of the Genji, Murasaki Shikibu said that the novel "happens because the storyteller's own experience of men and things, whether for good or ill—not only what he has passed through himself, but even events which he has only witnessed or been told of—has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart." Words to live by.
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HearArts
2008-06-05 15:00:00
An event not to be missed --Friday, June 6, 7:30 pm: HearArts Poetry SeriesVrzhu Press Reading, featuring Hiram Larew and Kim Roberts. Plus live music by pianist Sue Dale.VisArts, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, MD (301) 315-8200. Hosted by Phil Wexler - Free Admission.

Taare Zameen Par
2008-06-04 17:49:00
In the Post today, an article about the first Bollywood movie dealing with dyslexia. Listen to the songs and read the lyrics here. You're welcome!

Ganga-Dashahara
2008-06-04 00:02:00
Today marks the descent to earth of the River Ganges. This clip, from portaltoindia's Louise and Stuart, shows the river being worshipped as mother and goddess, in a puja performed with lighted wicks. The lovely ritual is called aarti.

Best of Booker
2008-06-02 20:54:00
On the occasion of its 40th year, the Booker Prize will award a 'Best of' to one of these: Pat Barker’s The Ghost RoadPeter Carey’s Oscar and LucindaJM Coetzee’s DisgraceJ G Farrell’s The Siege of KrishnapurNadine Gordimer’s The ConservationistSalman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Childrenand you can vote for your fave.Once again, I'm torn. What to do, as Amma says.

Poetry Friends
2008-06-01 20:15:00
Susan Culver, formerly of Lily, has a new project called Poetry Friends . My poem "Absence" is the poem for today.Enjoy!

Raja Ki Aayegi Barat
2008-05-31 14:24:00
Click the title to hear a song from the movie Aah, produced in 1953 by Raj Kapoor. It's a song sung often in my house, if you really want to know...
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Never get between an elephant and water
2008-05-29 13:27:00
I just read Paul Theroux’s The Elephant a Suite, three novellas about Americans in India. Aside from a few easy reversals, abrupt transformations, and a sag in the middle, I admired it, especially the ways in which the author links his stories together. For instance,in the first story, the myth of Vishnu and his eagle Garuda is told by one character, full of grief and guilt at accidentally placing his friend Sanjeev in harm’s way—the harm being a herd of charging elephants. “As Vishnu and Garuda entered the House of the Gods they saw a small bird at the gateway. The Lord of Death also entered, and he smiled at the little bird. Garuda was so shocked at this he seized the little bird in his beak and took him fifty kilometres away, to save him from the Lord of Death…When ultimately they left the House of the Gods, Vishnu said, ‘Where is the little bird?’ …Before Garuda could reply, Lord of Death said, ‘I smiled to see little bird here, because he was supposed to be fif...
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Pie-ku
2008-05-28 15:34:00
The Post ran a contest for haiku about pizza, and the winning 'pie-kus' are featured in today's food section.About Donna Adler's winning entry- Rising discs of dough Tossed, twirled, like small planets on A one arm axis judge Robert Pinsky notes "... a nice simile, a play on "rising" and the vivid final image."

The Enchantress of Florence
2008-05-27 19:51:00
Two writers weigh in on Salman Rushdie's tenth novel-- what Joyce Carol Oates andMichael Dirda have to say about it.
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"Memorial Day For The War Dead"
2008-05-26 23:31:00
Memorial day for the war dead. Add nowthe grief of all your losses to their grief,even of a woman that has left you. Mixsorrow with sorrow, like time-saving history,which stacks holiday and sacrifice and mourningon one day for easy, convenient memory.Oh, sweet world soaked, like bread,in sweet milk for the terrible toothless God."Behind all this some great happiness is hiding."No use to weep inside and to scream outside.Behind all this perhaps some great happiness is hiding.Memorial day. Bitter salt is dressed upas a little girl with flowers.The streets are cordoned off with ropes,for the marching together of the living and the dead.Children with a grief not their own march slowly,like stepping over broken glass.The flautist's mouth will stay like that for many days.A dead soldier swims above little headswith the swimming movements of the dead,with the ancient error the dead haveabout the place of the living water.A flag loses contact with reality and flies off.A shopwindow is deco...
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Kali
2008-05-24 18:07:00
Something interesting at the DC Arts Center:Anne Benolken The Apotheosis of Kali May 16 - June 8Opening Reception: Friday, May 16, 7 - 9pmcurated by Carolyn Reece-Tomlin Anne Benolken’s first solo exhibition of photographs is inspired by her artist book “The Apotheosis of Kali.” Worlds collide in Benolken’s boxes, dollhouses and photographs, the fruits of a career-long exploration into how culture intersects with emotion and intellect. Hindu philosophy meets B-movie sci-fi horror backdrops and toy store gizmos, creating a new narrative where we are allowed to peer in on the artist-made figurines of the domesticated goddess Kali as she contemplates the forces of creation and destruction that she holds within her power. Thought-provoking, occasionally humorous, always poignant captions draw us further into Kali’s gray, Peyton Place-esque habitat. It is a world punctuated by the saturated colors of dime store novelties and religious icons that elevates Benolken’s spot-on obs...

Summertime...
2008-05-24 16:18:00
Here's a crunchy snack to take on your holiday picnic this weekend. It's called bhel-puri, and is a popular India beach food. Here, it can be found already packaged at Indian grocers, but it's very easy to assemble in your own kitchen. Just remember to chop the veggies finely, so the finished product looks like the pic (courtesy Stu Spivak).Toss the following with tamarind or mint-coriander chutney:3 cups puffed rice--Rice Krispies will do.Roasted salted peanuts or cashews2 potatoes boiled, peeled and chopped1 large onion 1 large tomato Half a bunch of coriander2 green chilies Crushed or broken pieces of papdi 1 cup sev noodles
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As promised...
2008-05-23 00:39:00
Answers: 1-a, 2-c, 3-b, 4-b, 5-a, 6-a, 7-b, 8-d, 9-b, 10-a, 11-b, 12-c, 13-a, 14-b, 15-a, 16-d, 17-a, 18-c, 19-a, 20-b, 21-b, 22-d, 23-a, 24-d, 25-a

Quiz
2008-05-23 00:26:00
Just because the kids are graduating doesn't mean you shouldn't take a quiz.Here's a softball from www.memorablequotations.com. Answers in tomorrow's post.1. Thomas Sutpen appears in which of William Faulkner's novels?a. Absalom, Absalom!b. Martyc. Tommyd. Hello, Hello!2. In the novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, who is the main character?a. Henry Babbittb. Daisy Millerc. George Babbittd. Casper Babbitt3. Who wrote All Quiet on the Western Front?a. Norman Mailerb. Erich Maria Remarquec. Rip Tornd. Evan Von Schlep4. What was the only novel written by Sylvia Plath?a. The Cookie Jarb. The Bell Jarc. The Tower Belld. The Esther Greenwood Story5. What author wrote Captains Courageous?a. Rudyard Kiplingb. Jane Austenc. F. Scott Fitzgerald d. Mark Twain6. Who won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for All the King's Men?a. Robert Penn Warrenb. William Faulknerc. Thomas Hardyd. Huey Long7. In All the President's Men, what notorious break-in is explored?a. The Teapot Domeb. Watergatec. The Vatica...
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Superpoked!
2008-05-21 15:36:00
I had to chuckle when I saw the new Superpoke icon on Facebook today--an Om with the directive "pray to Ganesh."

Sarojini Naidu, Nightingale of India
2008-05-20 20:04:00
Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) was the first female governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was a feminist, a freedom fighter with Gandhi, the wife of a man not of her caste. She also published several collections of poetry during her lifetime. Nehru and Tagore were fans. Here's one poem:Nightfall In The City Of Hyderabad See how the speckled sky burns like a pigeon's throat, Jewelled with embers of opal and peridote. See the white river that flashes and scintillates, Curved like a tusk from the mouth of the city-gates. Hark, from the minaret, how the muezzin's call Floats like a battle-flag over the city wall. From trellised balconies, languid and luminous Faces gleam, veiled in a splendour voluminous. Leisurely elephants wind through the winding lanes, Swinging their silver bells hung from their silver chains. Round the high Char Minar sounds of gay cavalcades Blend with the music of cymbals and serenades. Over the city bridge Night comes majestical, Borne like a queen to a sumptuous festi...
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