The Portals of Chandni Chowk

I call it the Law of Ganesha, whereby passing through any doorway requires something to be left behind and something new to be accepted. This is the human dilemma, and it is one that is not getting any easier as there are ever more of us in this world, all unsatisfied, desiring progress and development […]

Read More

Walking the Old City

Gujarat has been at the crossroads of civilizations for longer than memory. Its most iconic city, Ahmedabad, still holds its unique architectural mix of Jainism, Hinduism and Islam. The comparison was inevitable: the old city was much cleaner and more preserved than my beloved Chandni Chowk in Delhi. Then there was the woodwork and the […]

Read More

The Cosmos of Kerala

Cosmopolitan, before the word was invented by the ancient Greeks, who had already known of Kerala.

Read More

Journey to Cuetzalan

Rain brought back memories that weren’t actually mine, including how my father ate fried ants in his native sierra.

Read More

To find a needle in a HAYMARKET

Was it a Riot, a Massacre, an Affair, or a Tragedy? I questioned. Considering today is International Labor Day, I have an important reflection when on a Chicago scavenger hunt to find a statue.

Read More

O Assassinato de João Gordo

Há dois crimes ligados em minha mente: o assassinato de Marielle Franco e o caso de João Gordo. Para mim o primeiro não foi um homicídio comum, assim como o segundo não foi apenas um crime ambiental cometido para se usar a madeira. Creio que os dois tenham sido abatidos por uma razão muito – mas muito – parecida.

Read More

Book review: “Spies” by Marcel Beyer

A poet, Marcel Beyer’s prose lyrically paints what the children invent, since they cannot see the insides and outsides of the tragic love story that uncovers why they have dark eyes.

Read More

Anar, my love.

There is a story behind why the name of my favorite fruit rolls off my tongue in neither English nor Spanish.

Read More