Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
I will either find a way, or make one.
An Open Letter to Balayya, NTR & Gulte Fans in America: Movie Pride Doesn’t Mean Theatre Chaos
A little introduction about me. I’m from Vijayawada, where Telugu cinema worship is often said to have originated. So I know what I’m saying. Just listen to me. For many of us who grew up Indian, especially Telugu, cinema wasn’t just entertainment. It was our...
Living in America’s Melting Pot While Confronting the Housing Crisis No One Talks About
It’s safe to say that even in America, as a true blooded Indian, I live in my own world of Indian food and Bollywood style parties. What little I understand about how everyone else lives is mostly through shows like Friends, Seinfeld, Sex and the City and movies like...
Becoming a Writer: The Night I Found My Voice – An Essay Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/qm6ygiEOWdc - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - On Becoming A Writer I have to write great opening lines if I’m going to become the most famous writer in the world. I don’t remember the exact moment I started calling...
The Festival in My Heart: An Essay Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/U8Cx2Bj6nsQ - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - To Live Or Not To Live Years ago, I traveled to the Piazza di Spagna in Rome in search of John Keats. Never mind that it was approaching his 100th death anniversary, I simply...
My Productivity Playlist: Opera, Hans Zimmer, and How I Get Work Done as a Right-Brained Adult
Music To My Ears I feel like every artist I meet has the same exact goal in life. Spend all the money they make on their art on other people's art and then die happy. I try to do a little bit of that myself to encourage other fellow right-brainers to keep...
One Road Trip, Many Spains: A Soulful Journey Through Art, Faith, Food, and Freedom
A Slow Drive Through Spain’s History and Heart I have a million essays planned about Spain. I’ve already written about some gorgeous places HERE. We went on a 16-day road trip through Spain, starting in Barcelona, traveling to the tip of Catalonia, looping...
Cohesion – A Poem by Rachana
Listen to the audio version of this poem on HERE. This poem is a raw, sensual, and unapologetically erotic poem that celebrates intense, prolonged physical and emotional intimacy between lovers. Stay here with these words, in these suspended, heated moments....
My Devotional Music Repertoire | Bhajans Collection Sung by Rachana
My Humble Tribute To The Carnatic Music Trio Hi everyone, welcome. I'm learning bhajan music as a way to deepen my meditation practice through the power of music. Please note that these compositions are not necessarily categorized as Carnatic music. However, I...
A Dream Mehendi in Sitges: An Indian Wedding Celebration Where Tradition Meets Mediterranean Magic
In Sitges, a coastal town in Spain's Andalusian region, we once attended a beautiful mehendi function. A mehendi event is a pre-wedding celebration where family and friends gather to decorate the bride’s hands and feet with henna. Henna (or natural tattoos) is...
When Parenting Influencers Go Too Far: The Shocking Truth About Child Exploitation
I remember that summer of 2023 like it was yesterday. I kept replaying this three-minute Ring camera video over and over that I had seen on news. It showed an emaciated, slow moving 12-year-old boy walking up to a neighbor's door around 10 am in the scorching Utah...
Wandering Through Spain: Siestas, Weddings, and Andalusian Wonders
Losing My Way In SpainHi, welcome. In these essays, I write about the fascinating landscapes of Spain, Spaniards and their siestas, and the fierce art of flamenco. Through road trips, weddings, whitewashed villages, and seaside camper days, this is my attempt to...
Iranian Female Protest Rap That Defies a Regime — Real Rebel Music That Hits Hard ✊
The below is a story about the taste of freedom, and about the strength of standing against intolerable darkness. It's difficult to forget what happened in Iran in 2022. 22 year old Mahsa Amini was visiting Tehran with her family when she was stopped by Iran’s...
Unlock Lifelong Learning: Top Movie & Documentary Recommendations That Inspire Growth
- “You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket, and you’re too much of a p*ssy to cash it in. You don’t owe it to yourself, you owe it to me. In twenty years, if you’re still living here working construction, I’ll f*cking kill ya. Hanging around here is a...
A Speck on the Sahara: Sipping Tea Above Egypt’s Bent and Red Pyramids
Listen to the audio version of this poem on HERE. One early morning in late December, we set off on a three hour journey from Cairo to Dahshur. As we passed village after village, lush green fields dotted with beautiful villas belonging to farmers, we...
Walking With the Ancients: Egypt’s Temples, Art, and Timeless Lessons for Modern Life
Eternal. Enduring. Egypt. Egypt — to me, the most beloved and beautiful of things. ~ Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet
Homesick for the Stars – Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/AHm4v2h1PhU - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Homesick for the Stars This essay is about travel, wanderlust and our perennial need for discovery. I wrote this while staring at a glorious sunset. As the golden hour sky...
Living Deliberately Without the Woods: How to Build a Meaningful Life in a Noisy World
Excuse my language. There's a meme I once saw while helping one of my clients with his decluttering project. "Working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don't need." Doesn't it sum up the way we are living our lives? This continues to bring me back to Henry David...
The Abu Simbel Temple: Egypt’s Timeless Wonder and a Tribute To Global Heritage Preservation
These Words Won't Be Enough Abu Simbel is located in a remote town three hours away from Aswan. Our cab driver picked us up from our cruise boat on the Nile that was stationed at the Aswan harbor. Our cab was flying at 140 kilometers an hour as I fell in and...