LOVE has gained a new name - Santiniketan.
HOSPITALITY has gained a new name - Bengalis (and my nation is known all over Europe to be hospitable. Ha ha ha - that's all I can say).
SADNESS has gained a new name - leaving somebody else's family as if it was my own.
COMPASSION has gained a new name - a cripple with terrifyingly twisted legs on Bolpur station.
BEAUTY has gained a new name - supple village cricketers, dung left to dry, loundry hanging between trees in Bengal forest.
AMUSEMEN... read more

Something something something something something

Ganesha Mudra - applied whenever you are struggling. Gives you strength in the times of troubles. Eases tensions.

The worst bloody day ever.
Sad words from a friend who seems to reject me suddenly.
Car crash and all it will involve within the next few days.
Cancelled tuitions. Cancelled meeting.
Theatre outing did not work out.
4 pubs and cafes before finding a free table.
Late coming home on my own. No walking home included.

And then a phone from a friend - Listen, An, I've heard what happened. Tomorrow's my payday, so if you need any money...

After all is rose a rose a rose?
No answer t... read more

This long flight leaves me uncertain.
It's so noisy in here, it's so little light...
Distance blurs the borders and all those green fields
and chaotic steel-silver ocean that lies beneath
when I cross the worlds to be with you.
Turbulence shakes my body and mind.
I try to grab the seat as I pronounce your name.
So much has left on the ground
so much lifts me up here.

I look outside and through the storm
I can see the meadows of dandelions and pansies
shimmering in warm air with ... read more

is not just a form of dancing. It is also a powerful activity to bring balance to your energetic spheres, kind of yoga, a devotional dance for some, a dance of women for their bodies.

In its cores, BellyDance has nothing to do with eroticism per se. It is one of the oldest dances and combines dealing with the body’s energy with preparing woman’s body physically to become pregnant, carry the baby, give birth and take care of an infant. In origins it was a dance to the great Mother Earth, o... read more

How did it all happen? How did I become possessed? How did this sweet chant begin? How did this lovely aroma sneaked into my soul?

Being a Westerner I should be more attracted to the figure of a beautiful, joyful, clever and lovable Krishna cavorting around with his Radha. And yet it is the calm, powerful and dangerous Shiva who took my heart and there is no sweeter joy than to pronounce His melodious names, and there is no greater honour than to bow to His feet. In His forgivness shelter ... read more