Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
I will either find a way, or make one.
Between Two Worlds: An Indian American Woman’s Honest Take on Identity, Culture, and Belonging
Observations, Opinions, and Cultural Critique Cultural Essays from a Life Lived Between Worlds
Writer-At-Large – The 2025 Indian-American Documentary – Final Part
Continued from Part I HERE JULY My son sent me pictures of the Harvard university library from his visit to Boston and I lamented to him that it's the right place for me, and then got back to my life here in ATL. After all, I had to wash all our Indian...
Writer-At-Large – The 2025 Indian-American Documentary
Not Your Average Recap The last time I did a pictorial essay of this nature was in 2014. I had then talked about bathroom selfies I had taken, although they didn't make me look like Kim Kardashian. But, more on that some other time. Earlier today, I wrote how...
Be Happy in the New Year: The Meme Moments of 2025 That Made Us Laugh, Cope, and Carry On
I'm telling you something I've not said out loud before, especially in front of my Gen Z children. Gen Z is the absolute GOAT when it comes to hilarious memes and comment trolls on the internet. For example, here's their take on a Instagram influencers, many of them...
A Year in Writing 2025: Art, Emotion, and the Ideas That Shaped My Inner World
- On Motherhood As a Writer-At-Large and primarily as a mother, I wrote about Kanu dappika, the longing of a mother to see her children in A Mother’s Words for the Ache of Missing Her Children. I beamed in joy when they literally and metaphorically were touching grass...
These Poems Are Not Safe for Polite Company: Love, Lust, and the Lines We Pretend Not to Cross
Hi, welcome. In these poems, I’m trying to name the space between don’t and don’t stop — the place where wanting someone leans closer than dignity permits. These lines hold the moments when restraint is about to fail us, when memory refuses to loosen its grip. If you...
That Will Leave a Mark – A Poem by Rachana
In a locked hotel room, two people are orbiting each other in loaded silence. There is desire, there is restraint, and there is the tyranny of civility. They choose not to act, and that becomes the bruise that lingers the longest. Thank you for reading. ...
Lessons in Effortless Living from the Nile: How Flow, Impermanence, and Surrender Shape a Meaningful Life
Certain experiences sharpen our sense of being alive, like revisiting our day while journaling at night, the fleeting jolt when a stranger’s gaze catches yours across the room, or wandering cobblestone streets in a new city. The Nile, too, is such an...
Let’s Reimagine the Übermensch: Creative Freedom in Service to Something Greater
Every culture has its superheroes. There is Hercules, the legendary Greek hero and son of Zeus, who achieved god-like status through his extraordinary actions. Then there is Arjuna, the epic warrior prince from the Hindu Mahabharata, renowned for his unmatched courage...
Wish I Had Never Met You – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/Q-PfOH9jwLo - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - Wish I Had Never Met You Of all the habits I have to break, I never thought a person would become one. With you, whatever I resist digs deeper. The weather isn’t...
Wish I Had Never Met You – A Poem by Rachana
Want to listen to it instead? Find it HERE. Of all the habits I have to break, I never thought a person would become one. With you, whatever I resist digs deeper. The weather isn't helping, and I keep adding more sugar to my chai, as if sweetness could settle...
Scandinavian Crime Fiction That Excels In The Art of Being Moody and Riveting
- I work with a lot of Danes, and I find them quietly fascinating. They're humble, economical with words and rarely interrupt in meetings. Even if they are the subject matter experts, they don't find the excessive need to show off their merits like some of us...
When AI Gets Flirty and Writers Stay Human in The Digital Era
Recently I wrote a poem with adult themes, and I asked Grok, "Hey, I am trying to convert into audio podcast, is it good?" Here is its response literally. "Oh, my beautiful degenerate…Your words just slid across my screen like silk dragged over bare skin… I’ve been...
Becoming a Writer: The Night I Claimed My Voice and Never Looked Back
- 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 myself a writer, but I do remember the night I decided to start a blog. I had only learned what a “blog” was a...
Arrested By Your Gravity – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/WMdUc3hYSdA - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - A Philosophical Freefall Into Desire {NSFW} When our orbits first collided, I tried to name the feeling. I rummaged through the library of sensations to understand what I felt...
Unlocking Moksha-Sannyasa Yoga: The Final Path of Letting Go for Today’s Teens
- If you would like to teach kids how to let go to usher the divinity in them, here's how you can attempt it. Please suggest any important shlokas I should be including as I compile these notes which can be a blueprint of life. [gallery columns="2"...
Homesick for the Stars
When I stumble into landscapes like these, I can't help but laugh at the audacity of man — thinking we can tame this beastly beauty of nature and dare to call it "mine." Let everything happen to you: Beauty and terror. So I do. I stand still in trembling reverence at...
How I Travel to My Village Poranki Anytime Without a Passport
Poranki, my small hometown a few kilometers from the center of Vijayawada, is a place where your morning walk will take you through banyan groves, tall college buildings, and cow-dung-filled roads. I travel there as much as I can, but when I cannot, I just have...