In Limbo 2

In the early morning light the old woman gathers flowers to offer to the gods. "The lush hibiscus here is for blessings, the tufted gardenia for purity/silver, calendula for happiness/gold...for health the gorgeous amaltas, and the marigold is for surrender ." " But, gracious lady", the young eyes implore, "which one is for love?" "Ah, my sweet child! Don't you see they are all solely expressions of Love?"

Written on Mother's Day, May 14, 2023 Amok she darted, bellowing into the evening. Delirious, fraught with frenzied pain, her unshared sorrow grazed past the rest of the herd, which sat peacefully, cudding and  enjoying the muddy coolness on a hot summer day. "Five days after giving birth, a mother has to be separated from the calf (for obvious reasons). A couple more days of searching, baying, mourning, and then, she would return to normalcy," the caretaker of the neighborhood dairy reassured us in a kind voice. Normalcy? You separate a mother from its baby, and you call it normalcy? Have you heard of PTSD? How do you know that the mom-and-baby duo won't succumb to this terrible syndrome?  For more than two weeks, cyclone Mocha has been gathering strength and moving across the Bay of Bengal, inching towards Bangladesh and Myanmar. Millions of people are being evacuated and relocated to makeshift camps. We in Southern India feel its fallout in the form of intense heat

  Watercolors on handmade paper The moon shines full and ample. The nectarous fire rages on around which sit entranced dryads, undines, satyrs and nereids chanting hymns. Like sacrificants of  chimerical desires and medusan egos, they invoke humility and love into the spirit of all Creation. The great Poseidon soughs in the background. Its spume and spray make the hissing fire sputter. Plumes of smoke rise to mingle with the luminous darkness. A car whirrs and comes to a halt. Whoo...Whoo...Who...a flutter and a flight. Only the stars are silent tonight. Louder and wider the chant grows, activating the gold filaments of dreams. Leaping flames light up zealous eyes and set the sleeping shadows in motion. The flapping wings of an insomniac crow passes overhead, slathered in night. To this small gathering of Gaian beings it is a good omen. The frenzy of the worship reaches a crescendo with a combustion of dance even as feeding the ravenous fire slabs of butter, yew bark and sheathed grain

  Climate Control In The Hot Seat  World leaders since Roosevelt have found that regularly placing themselves firmly in the media, with no barrier other than airwaves (the Wild West of Twitter) between themselves and their electors, can be a fine way to distract the voting public from unsavoury thoughts in regards to the Centre, whoever the Centre may be. And who cares when you're getting a personal address from the Leader of The Greatest Country in the World? For whose isn't? We all take our pride, whether we realise it or not. And when a head of state reaches up or down to talk to Us personally, the natural response is to sit up and listen. Reality is secondary. On April 30, 2023, another feather was added to the Prime Minister's already extravagant plumage, with the 100th radio broadcast of his brainchild Maan ki Baat (roughly translated as Speaking from the Heart). A significant milestone, it marked not only the quasi end of his two terms as the prime minister of India,