Muse India

Logout

Focus: Medieval Oriya Bhakti Poetry

Feature: Indian Travel Writing

GALLERY

This new small feature will highlight yet another aspect of Indian muse at work – objets d’art. It will present paintings, photographs, sketches, handicrafts - in fact anything that will have a distinct aesthetic appeal. Each issue will carry the work of one artist or a class of craftsmen.

In this inaugural feature, we present striking photographs of Finland under heavy winter snow, taken by Nitasha Kaul.

ARTICLES / DISCUSSIONS

In a discussion on the future of literature with Shaznaz Samantra, Sachidananda Mohanty, scholar, writer and professor of English says, “… our classics taught us the view of the poet as a Rishi. If we … treat the poet and the writer as a fellow human whose words would reveal to us the deeper levels of our existence, including our very material conditions, then Literature could recapture the lost space.”

The section includes articles by Fewzia Bedjaoui, Zoe Lehmann and IVS Manjula & K Nirupa Rani.

BOOK REVIEWS...

Reviewing Sanjukta Dasgupta’s latest work of poetry ‘More Light,’ Murari Prasad says that the motley collection of 50 poems spans a substantial range of ideas, emotions and experiences; and “pinned under the skin of the images and words is the poet’s persona having melted into memorable resonances.” He calls her an urbane, sophisticated wordsmith.

Also included in the section is Ambika Ananth’s review of Harish Meenashru’s “A Tree with Thousand Wings” translated from Gujarati.

FICTION...

“A Fistful of Flowers,” a Gujarati story by Pravinsinh Chavda translated by Mira Desai, presents the complex persona of the elderly Pran Jivan Das whose disciplined, austere lifestyle greatly influences the much younger Pratima. It is her intimate friend Uday who sees through the mind of the aged person. Read the gripping fiction to know how he is tackled.

The other interesting stories in the section are by Homi Framroze, Megha Subramanian and S Rahul.

POEMS...

In an interesting observation on a woman of Delhi crossing a chaotic street, Terri Erickson writes:
Regal as a queen, she moves as if / the road is strewn with flowers,
as if the world is holding its breath / until she reaches the other side.

Kala Ramesh presents collaborative Renku of 9 international poets. Read Khurshid Alam, Mandira Ghosh, Paulomi Sengupta, Sankar Roy, and Shweta Rao. Usha Akella offers the work of BVB School students and Ambika Ananth her selection from “Your Space.”