Articles by: Ra Sh

1963: death of a poet

1963: death of a poet

It is 1963, I am recording live the last moments of Sylvia’s life. She invites me as she doesn’t understand livecast.   “Have a cake” she says, “Baked in my own oven,” her eyes twinkle. She takes me to check on her kids. Frieda has her arms around Nicholas sleeping secure. I livecast the sleep.   Returning to the warm[Read More…]

by 24/02/2023 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Some pious deeds

Some pious deeds

While razing the house of a Muslim family and setting them on fire with kerosene the man was thinking of the Buddhist monastery he planned to visit in Bhutan. It was his long drawn wish to meditate on the mountains where the air was thin.   Meanwhile the wails of the hapless family floated back to his ears and he[Read More…]

by 02/07/2022 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
The somnambulist

The somnambulist

not that i sleep and walk or walk and sleep or read and sleep or sleep and read not that my head nods when a tractor collides headlong with a police van parked beyond barbed wire not that i stand outside a tent and peep on a langar where slogans and rotis roast on a large griddle treat me as[Read More…]

by 30/01/2021 1 comment Arts/Literature
Ram Aur Shyam

Ram Aur Shyam

Farmers on tractors and battalions behind barbed wire shoot “nayi saal mubarak ho” at the stroke of midnight while nursing their injuries and preparing for the first battle of 2021.   Langars are aflame with the heat of the protests as women cook with men for the foot soldiers of rebellion. Makki ki roti and sarson ka saag heal tired[Read More…]

by 01/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Oh! These kisans!!!

Oh! These kisans!!!

These kisans are an ungracious lot. What a bunch of ignorant fools! We give them concessions. They say they need rights. We offer Ambani’s bazaar. They prefer mandis. We offer Adani warehouses. They prefer MSP. We pass bills without asking. They pass resolutions that jolt us. We praise Kisans are good for country. They troll us in wedding songs. We[Read More…]

by 14/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Two Covid-19 viruses meet Albert Camus

Two Covid-19 viruses meet Albert Camus

The world was calm now. And silent. Only the birds chirped tweeted sang cawed. Only the animals barked mewed mooed growled. Only the river gurgled. Only the sky thundered. Only the fires crackled.   Two covid-19 teenage viuses walked around the city assessing the damage. On Route vers l’ouest, they found mansions with cars parked in front and little gardens.[Read More…]

by 15/03/2020 3 comments Arts/Literature
Love in the time of the Karuna virus

Love in the time of the Karuna virus

no one bothered till the Karuna virus caught the police chanting the Hindu god’s name and chasing Muhammedans along with the mobs. the virus had its miraculous debut in Shaheen Bagh when one by one the policemen stopped in their tracks and lowered the batons. the ones demolishing the Masjids stopped work and came down as if nothing ever happened.[Read More…]

by 10/03/2020 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Three pellets and a cradle

Three pellets and a cradle

biscuit a pellet hit her small palm that clutched a half eaten biscuit. she broke into a rasping wail “bikoot mama bikoot” the biscuit fell to the ground near her, near her mamma. mamma a pellet hit her left breast that smelt of milk. a fount of blood spurted all over her baby and soaked a biscuit on the ground.[Read More…]

by 09/01/2020 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Preeti Singh’s collection of poems ‘Simantini (Boundless)’

Preeti Singh’s collection of poems ‘Simantini (Boundless)’

Hetero loves are known for the complete imbalance of power within which they operate. Declarations of eternal love are not concrete enough to hold together relationships. Mostly, they work within the realm of male domination. Any woman who discovers its pitfalls is either a victim or someone able to surmount it in rare cases. Simantini (Boundless), a collection of nearly[Read More…]

by 24/09/2019 Comments are Disabled Book Review
A series in 4 episodes

A series in 4 episodes

episode 1: a regiment of old people, more bones than flesh, are thrown into an army truck. to be unloaded in the woods near some godforsaken border. but, a fierce debate breaks out whether they should be blinded or not. orders are awaited from the capital city. episode 2: a burst of pellets perforate a sieve on a snow girl’s[Read More…]

by 13/09/2019 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
As If a

As If a

As if a girl named Asifa does not exist, didn’t exist, will not exist
As if Asifa was never raped, never tortured, never ravaged
As if Asifa is a myth, a fantasy, a lie, a fading photo
As if we are we were we will be ……

by 12/04/2018 3 comments Arts/Literature
Man With The Solar Brain

Man With The Solar Brain

His brain awash with solar rays
The man with the solar brain
Walks past the cotton fields
And the mobile towers
Listening to the tweets and
The songs of extinct birds.

by 14/03/2018 7 comments Arts/Literature
The Arithmetic of Protest

The Arithmetic of Protest

The pairs of feet that passed him by in a second
Equals 2 x 60x 60x24x 766 = 13,23,64,800, say 13 crores.
The 2011 census pegs the population of Kerala at 3.33 crores.
Which shows that Kerala trampled over him
four times in 766 days,
without seeing him.
That’s statistics for you.

by 21/01/2018 1 comment Arts/Literature
The Gift

The Gift

You are a gift.
Wrapped. Untouched.
In an islet.

by 18/11/2017 3 comments Arts/Literature
The Anthem

The Anthem

a black man sat in the Tagore theatre balcony
and an old man with a flowing white beard sat next to him
while the Anthem was being played.
the rest stood up.
these two remained seated.

by 23/10/2017 2 comments Arts/Literature
The Bullet Train by Poet Aadhar No: 9876 5432 1001 ( The first Aadhaar linked poem)

The Bullet Train by Poet Aadhar No: 9876 5432 1001 ( The first Aadhaar linked poem)

There is another Bullet Train.
A 7.65 Calibre Make in India model
that passes through stations with
strange names like Kulburgi South
Pansare West and Dhabolkar Central
Its destination set in Bangalore
where it rockets through a pulsating heart.

by 17/09/2017 6 comments Arts/Literature, Editor's Picks
Cartoon by 
Pradeep Cartoons
Facebook@artistpradeep  https://www.facebook.com/artistpradeep/photos/a.1266879940057853.1073741826.1266877410058106/1461233997289112/?type=3&theater

72

This Day,
72 infants sounded the bugles.
72 infants hoisted the flag.
72 infants saluted the flag.
72 infants formed the infantry.

by 14/08/2017 3 comments Arts/Literature, India
Intensive Care Unit – 2 ( White nights)

Intensive Care Unit – 2 ( White nights)

Here, white are the nights
Where moonwalk the women in white.
I lie in the nude and close my eyes
And they roll a cool moon down my spine
And laugh like the patter of hailstones
That strum my sun bleached heartbeat strings.

by 17/07/2017 2 comments Arts/Literature
How To Lynch A Man

How To Lynch A Man

it’s really simple. what you need first is
a man, preferably alone, poor or looking
poor, carrying no weapons and exhausted
from work, starving, and apparently
belonging to a lower caste or a muslim.

by 26/05/2017 2 comments Arts/Literature
The Snow Girls

The Snow Girls

The battle lines were drawn up.
The snow girls with books in backpacks.
The olive green troopers with guns.
An eagle perched on a white cloud
relayed the proceedings to Times Now.

by 26/04/2017 1 comment Arts/Literature