The Portals of Chandni Chowk

December 1, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

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 […]

Walking the Old City

November 13, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

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 […]

The Cosmos of Kerala

November 8, 2022.Reading time 14 minutes.

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

Journey to Cuetzalan

June 18, 2022.Reading time 14 minutes.

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

To find a needle in a HAYMARKET

May 1, 2022.Reading time 28 minutes.

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.

O Assassinato de João Gordo

March 14, 2022.Reading time 29 minutes.

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.

Book Review: “Soul Mountain” by Gao Xingjian

February 15, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

More a survey of China than the exhausting search for the Self, what will remain is some of the most beautiful prose I’ve encountered.

Book review: “Spies” by Marcel Beyer

February 15, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.

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.