The Lord of the Flies World of American Writers: Plagiarism, Backstabbing, and Reverse Racism
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In 2015, a writer named Dawn Dorland donated a kidney to an anonymous donor. She should have received accolades. Instead, another writer named Sonya Larson wrote a short story about it, titled The Kindest. Not a story depicting Dorland as … Continue reading
What Would My Mother say to Donald Trump
Aai and Dada in Delhi-1980 (1) Ever since the coronavirus pandemic began, I have been thinking of my mother. If ever there was a person who was ready for an epidemic, it was my mother. She was the FDA … Continue reading
Kamala Harris’ Amma, an Unlikely Soulmate
Until recently, American elections used to evoke in me, not angst, but wonder. When Bill Clinton ran for president, I watched The Man from Hope, a documentary about his life, over and over again, feeling inspired by the story of … Continue reading
Are We Past Peak TV?
It is said that we are currently living in the era of ‘Peak TV.’ ‘Peak TV’ as in ‘peak oil’, a concept developed in the 1950’s by industry experts who predicted that the production of petroleum would peak … Continue reading
The Woman in the Window: Publishing Industry’s Moral Bankruptcy
My faith in the publishing industry began to erode the day I read Gone Girl, a book hyped as the thriller of the century, not to mention a feminist manifesto. With its violent, sadistic, and unbelievable narrator, was … Continue reading
What About Bill?
How the dominoes have fallen. Ever since producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a sexual predator, the list of prominent men charged with sexual harassment has grown. Some of these men, like comedian Louis C.K., and actor Kevin Spacey, have … Continue reading
Is Identity Politics Passé in the Age of Globalization?
After spending a month in Catalonia, I returned to California in September even as the referendum took place there. Looking back, I marvel at my naiveté as I set off for a writers’ residency in the high Pyrenees in early … Continue reading
Is the Handmaid’s Tale a Feminist Track?
I have always had difficulty with Margaret Atwood’s writings, perhaps because her visions of the future are too dark. Listening to the audio version of The Blind Assassin, I got thoroughly confused. No surprise then that I hadn’t read her … Continue reading
Are Indian Weddings Too Ostentatious?
I saw Monsoon Wedding, the new musical, with a group of Indian women friends recently. We laughed at familiar idiomatic expressions, translated, at times awkwardly, from Hindi into English. We got nostalgic listening to old melodies. I even got teary-eyed … Continue reading
Letter to Prime Minister Modi
Dear Mr. Modi: I am not your devotee, nor have I followed your career very assiduously. To tell you the truth, I am not even one of your citizens, having long forsaken my Indian passport. But I am writing today … Continue reading