Storytellers of Wonder

Category: Poetry

  • A Fine Evening This: Celebrating Urdu at Jashn-e-Rekhta

    Lyrical poetry set to music, a gathering of fine linguists and leaves floating in the midst. This was the setting of the inauguration ceremony of the two day festival Jashn-e-Rekhta in Delhi yesterday, celebrating “Urdu’s inimitable beauty, its soul-stirring cadence and its lyrical splendor”. On 14th & 15th March, some of Urdu’s finest poets, authors and artists…

  • Braj Ki Holi

    Braj ki Holi beckoned a band of thirsty travelers from across the land to rejoice in a colorful feast this spring immersed in the magic of Krishna’s playground. In Mathura lay history writ in stone tales of grandeur and glory framed Of Kanishka and his burgeoning metropolis and Buddha worshipped in many a form. Then…

  • Blue walls…

    …blue walls, i notice not the messy room, the blue walls and the noise that scrambles out of my mouth and the… – …salty water that encases me like we’re on the beach, the yellow sand and the grey water, forgive me i say because you created all this, this mess… …and without intention i…

  • Second Skin

    She is beauty, she is grace, she is elegant in every step. She is gentle, she breathes passion, she is life in every thread. She is ancient, she is timeless, she turns at each whisper of her name. From time long past, and into the future unseen, she will hold countless stories, within the folds…

  • In the Bazaars of Hyderabad

    What do you sell, O ye merchants? Richly your wares are displayed, Turbans of crimson and silver, Tunics of purple brocade, Mirrors with panels of amber, Daggers with handles of jade. What do you weigh, O ye vendors? Saffron, lentil and rice. What do you grind, O ye maidens? Sandalwood, henna and spice. What do…

  • God in the World: Rabindranath Tagore

    LEAVE this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He…

  • The Bauls of West Bengal

          “Emotions and essence of life has remained the same over the years, so have the stories. The universal message of love in Baul music draws people looking for relief from life’s troubles.” –          Lakhan Das Baul       Dressed in saffron robes, with their hair uncut and coiled, wearing beads made of…

  • Summer in Calcutta

    What is this drink but The April sun, squeezed Like an orange in My glass? I sip the Fire, I drink and drink Again, I am drunk Yes, but on the gold of suns, What noble venom now flows through my veins and fills my mind with unhurried laughter? My worries doze. Wee bubblesring my…

  • Stream of Life

    The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same…

  • Kantha – An Intimate Witness to the Spirit of Womanhood

    “Spreading the embroidered quilt She works the livelong night, As if the quilt her poet were Of her bereaved plight. Many a joy and many a sorrow Is written on its breast; The story of Rupa’s life is there, line by line expressed.” (From ‘Field of the Embroidered Quilt’ – a translation of ‘Nokshi Kanthar…