When Life Happens, You Write.
When you’re a writer-at-large, you let life happen to you. That way, you let your eyes steal everything that they see, put a spin on it and spill onto paper / machine some “stream of consciousness” kinda cool stuff. And if I am a true writer-at-large, it’s only fair that I must observe, muse and write about it.
Writer-At-Large: The Invisible Brandons Among Us
Listen to the essay- Yesterday I went to a restaurant with a couple of my friends. For now, let's call the place CF Pangs. We were shown to a booth in the back, and I briefly excused myself to use the restroom. As I came back, I saw our waiter, Brandon,...
Why I Really Have 3,452 Friends: The Quiet Ethos of Enduring Friendship
- Fun days are when I meet many brand new strangers and also have a chance to invite some of them to my home. Yesterday was one such day. I was witness to an event where two friends who had never met after 7th grade, but had stayed in touch, met in person after...
Love Made Me Do It – A Poem Read by Rachana
https://youtu.be/toLd4m-ofRk - Want To Listen To The Article Instead? - As you slip and fall, my thoughts ride along with youatop the death train – La Bestia. A smiling young man you were, one heartbeat ago,the next – a limp body in the overgrown,...
The Night I Aired My Dirty Laundry In The Heart Of St. Petersburg
- As my friend, A, and I wandered around downtown St. Petersburg with a diet coke and a hoagie in hand, she stopped to open a dirty looking glass door. She tilted her head motioning me to step in. "What, inside here?" I asked, eyebrows raised and quickly glancing...
I Crashed a Wedding in Seville. Sorry, Curiosity Got the Better of Me.
- I have so much to write about Spain and its aura, but where can I really begin? I’ve already written about an Indian wedding in the heart of Sitges, and a child who was a cutter at the Mirador de San Nicolás in Granada. I also wrote about how Spaniards camp...
ఎన్నో భయాల్లో ఇది ఒకటి – A Poem by Rachana
నాలోని భావాల లోతు వినిపించాలంటే,తెలుగు తప్ప నాకు మరో భాష తెలియదు.నిజంగా చెప్పాలంటే, తెలుగులోనే చెప్పాలంటే —ఈ పదాలు, ఈ వరుసలోనే రాయాలి. నీ కోసం శ్వాసల సముద్రం నింపుకుంటా,కానీ నీ తలపు తీరాన్ని తాకగానేనా ఊపిరి ఆవిరైపోతుంది —మిగిలేది నీ జ్ఞాపకాల తడి మాత్రమే. కోపం వస్తోంది...
Babysitting and Brain Rot Stations: What Kids Can Teach Us About Living in the Now
- Last week, one of our funniest Swamijis (Ramakrishnaji) was in town for a Satsang, so I was assigned the task of babysitting kids at a local chapter of the Chinmaya Mission. As I got on with the task of monitoring what I wondered would be a wolf pack of...
When East Met West Under the Georgia Sky: A Fusion Wedding at Serenbe
Two Worlds, One “I Do” What can two families born 8000 miles apart yet raising their kids in the deep south of the US have in common? Their children, who inspite of cultural differences, might go on to make promises to love each other forever. And that's what I...
News for the Unemployed: Kris Jenner Got Plastic Surgery and Now Looks Like Kim’s Twin. LMAO.
- In a classic “I don’t know what I was thinking” moment, I once wrote a crash course on the Kardashians. And even wondered what Nicki Minaj was referring to when she was talking about the Anaconda in her song. By that time I already had two kids, but you know,...
Writer-At-Large – A Mother’s Words for the Ache of Missing Her Children
Kanu dappika "కను దప్పిక", which when translated from Telugu literally means “the thirst of the eye”, is what my mother told me she feels for me and my sister from 8000 miles away. As soon as she said those two words, I knew she was helping me describe the kind of...
What a Street Food Vendor Taught Me About Vijayawada’s Soul
- One of my hometown heroes might be starving but will never pause to serve up the best snacks, pictured here with some yummy Mysore bondas. I asked ChatGPT to draw me a stick figure of him and his food counter setup. As I try to write a poem named, Love for my...
From A Mediocre Coder To Now – My Journey To Help Others Decode Life
SHORT PERSONAL BIO In 2011, when I was working in the IT department of the Mental Health division of Georgia, my boss was a kind middle aged man. What was special about John was that he had a unique gift of understanding people and working with them...
Writer-At-Large – Beyond Belief: Does the Modern World Still Need Religion?
I We will all agree that we are all unique and have a great potential to be of extraordinary value to the world. For realizing our potential, we must cultivate the mind, so that we can discover the abilities, the energy and the power within us. We might have a...
I Was Not There – A Short Story Collection By Rachana
- 2010: Rwanda: Genocide, Love and Resilience: This piece is close to my heart, as it is semi-autobiographical, but the story line is pure fiction. It is a tribute to a person in my life, who has been a great influence on me. His name, profession, his location...
The Writer-At-Large Series – Life is Stranger Than Fiction: Unbelievable Stories That Will Change How You See the World
When Life Happens, You Write. When you’re a writer-at-large, you let life happen to you. That way, you let your eyes steal everything that they see, put a spin on it and spill onto paper / machine some “stream of consciousness” kinda cool stuff. And if I am a...
Writer-At-Large – Meet Lincoln, 7 And Kingston, 5
- This is about Kingston and Lincoln, the two lovely boys I met at a beach in Panama City. At the end, I also wrote about sea oats, that tall grass we see lining up beach shores. It's upto you to find the connection I'm making between them. - It's...
Short Story Fiction: How Cupid Brought Lalitha and Jimmy Together: A Story of Love, Fate, and Family
- I had never met Lalitha until last Thursday. When everyone around us was congratulating her, I did too. "Sooo… What are you celebrating, can I ask?!!" I asked her with a big smile on my face and my hand reaching out to shake hers. "Oh yeah, sure! Jimmy and I...
Writer-At-Large – Spaniards, Siestas and The Camper’s Life – A Picture Book
- Our connection to nature doesn't have to cost us anything. We don't have to do around it, we just simply have to be. We can lie down under the shade of a tree, we can let our fingers dip lazily into the river, or just stare at the endless sky above us....