Echoes, Patterns

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

demonic laughter

from a LAF corridor

essential services

public purposes

well met

I think not

spaceweather

gammarays

corona

expressways

a comet

a nebula

a web of connectivity

interstate consciousness

Dimensions

Ascensions

recede, secede, rollback

an upward spiral

a rail-way track

Video clips of me reading out poems from my book, Ad Altiora Nitimur

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Sharing, here, brief video clips of me reading out some of my poems at various locations

Act Something, Scene Somethingortheother

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

US-Talib deal
signed in Doha
a doha, a couplet

neeli jheel,
big deal

the big picture

(music rises)

a lake, a reservoir

what a fall

easter weekend
in progress

this leap year

(happy b'day, late great grandma)

Goodbye, Sam, Hello NY! 

(too vain, too too vain!)

Links to Ad Altiora Nitimur by V Shruti Devi

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Hi!

Thrilled to let you all know that Ad Altiora Nitimur will be exhibited at the Public Library Association's annual event in Nashville, TN, USA, from the 26th to the 28th of February, 2020, in the Combined Book Exhibit stall.

It will also be at the London book Fair from the 10th -12th of March, 2020*
[* The LBF 2020 stands cancelled because of the Corona Virus. Update inserted on 6th March, 2020]

The following is a link to buy the book internationally via Amazon.com:

Ad Altiora Nitimur on Amazon.com

The link for buyers in India is as follows:

Ad Altiora Nitimur for buyers in India

To view free video clips of me (the poet) reading out some of the poems from the book from various locations, visit my youtube channel, "Shruti Devi"

Shruti Devi on youtube

Book of Poetry- a quick announcement

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Dear Readers,

It is now thirteen years since I launched this blog!

I'm in the process of having a hard bound book published, entitled Ad Altiora Nitimur.

The book contains new end-notes and a Preface that I've written over the past few months. I've also edited some of the poems for the book. This is the First Edition of the book.

Will announce the listings for Ad Altiora Nitimur as soon as the Hard Cover version is ready.

I look forward to responses from readers,

With best wishes,

V. Shruti Devi

(This blog will continue) :)

updated on 15th Jan. 2020 to say there is a paperback as well as hard-bound...will make a formal announcement and add links soon!

U2

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)


the fifteenth of December
Pro Bono Mecca
Rootie, Mogave!


(an attempt at haiku)

Sartorial

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

the latest, most updated
papers
don't really get around
till almost the end
wrt
parliamentary proceedings

perhaps a reason
why
one's got arbitrarily selective
with what one reads
via the websites

can't claim to have read
the historic
J&K Bill

but was it possible
for hearts to have skipped beats
and lawyered up
at prospects
(whatever those might be)

And RIP, Sushma Swaraj
of the BJP
a politician
with many good qualities
...didn't know her personally
but she lived
on our lane once
and I believe my sartorial
creations (and sportings)
had ripple effects
(in this case: sleeveless jackets with sarees and elan)

quite a role model!

Notes from the Trail- 3

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

when you're fighting
for the last person

or persons

and that could well be
yourself,

then it counts.

every tradeoff
takes on Meaning

The all-pervasisve 'security'
(read: surveillance and manipulation
even)

sometimes justified
I guess

such as various branches of cops
routinely calling
to check
The Candidate's nighthalt

so you hop onto an Open Vehicle of an Assembly hopeful in a town
(that creature of the Andhra polls at least- a Prachara Ratham
all decked up, flag-permissions, mike-permission, vehicle-permissions et al)
(never mind that the local doer found the worst, probably by-mistake photoshopped snap of you
to affix on the said chariot)

Unlike almost onescore years ago
when one ducked wires, campaigning....

Almost (here, I exaggerate re times past), twoscore years ago,
one ducked branches, commuting

On this town's bylane, a momentarily crouching candidate,
Sweeping foliage above
And in no time, a routine call from
The Special Branch!

Just a coincidence
for sure

Notes from the Trail - 2

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

And the signs can be
quite loquacious

Like when doing the hairpin bends

Holding forth on indigenous peoples worldwide
Including India and its neighbours

Poll-time connections
-parties fighting corruption
-indigenous, -upholding systems, -Rights....

And the obvious name/s bandied about
these days
such as the tehreek-e-insaaf (what a party!)

And almost on cue, hearing this, perhaps,
Out jumps a monkey onto the road,
makes a ball-shining-action
that the cricketing world would understand
(and, I suppose, so would channel-switching homo sapiens)

In this context- Quadri!!!
left arm offspin bowling
another party
another game
politics,
not cricket,
and some sort of spirituality

Notes from the Trail

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Fine rust-maroon scaffolding
In the near-wilderness

Looked like Mesta to me!

One exclaimed

Two speckled wingeds hopped out from the bushes
a furlong or two further down the drive

...Canvassing....
Visionaries, we guess

Climate Change: A politico-legal Comet's Eyeview

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

prior to a few-line whip
(and before cyclone Phetai does more damage)
on my political blog,
some jabberwocky flagpoles

Katowice, bajra, waist-lines
Generally speaking
One's a planetary field marshal,
I suppose
Or a realmatic one
in any event.
Dwinx.
Furniture.

So the tall order
with the new order
- rules, Paris,
global stock-taking.

Focus:

How the (majority of the planet's population)
- the non-experts, in this case,
albeit expertly,
circumvent
via the projected non-compliances
and the following benevolences
of a non-compliance committee

Dasara Musings

The kind of things

that paint the religion

or way of life

or whatever it is

in a most unintended light:

First off,

it's Dasara

-more of the Goddess-worship kind in these parts

Than the killing of the ten-headed dravidian srilankan meditator

though its the same festival

And what better 

time

to notice these magnified flaws

than when things play out

at a fest.

One of the aspects 

of the Goddess

is supposed to be

Ugra- ferocious, righteously wrathful

Which is all fine, when you listen to a hymn dedicated to the occasion

that beseeches the divine feminine to wake up, awaken (before spelling out her wonders and praises and putting forth all the right anecdotes

and then beseeching her, nay pleading with her

for 

this and that).

The eagerness 

to mingle

in this world

with the Divine

-to create earthly

here-and-now

associations

with the Imagined

makes zoo-goers of humans in their own environs:

I wouldn't be surprised

if its more people's bright idea

than we realise

If they take it upon themselves

to deliberately 

poke all manner

of instigation

at women

during this time

in an attempt

to stir up

some anger

that might be deemed

relevant

or who knows

necessary even,

to get the plot right.

Niche ways in which superstition

defeats a cause

Other than routine matters

as observed

over centuries,

such as thinking it necessary 

to please the clergy

such as they/it might be,

though at least on that front,

the existence of the Constitution

and modern-day law

serves 

to rein in.

As one records these thoughts

at past one am

with the first rain 

of Cyclone Titli 

creating a constant beat,

butterfly-coincidences come to mind:

Mind-control, human will, rights, the journey of science....

To a layperson,

mathematical theories

that rule matter

are understood 

more 

as an indistinguishable mass

of superstitious beliefs

for now

today's Hindi/Urdu poem Tabdeeli (Change)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Tabdeeli (Change)

Tabdeeli Aaiyee
toh tabh dheeli kyon
One belt kya
One road kya
elocution ho ya compensation
abh toh mulkon key beech
conversation hee conversation

a Hindi/Urdu poem i wrote in 2013: Aaj Ajmer Kee Soch (Today, Thoughts of Ajmer / Think of Ajmer Today)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Aaj Ajmer Kee Soch (Today, Thoughts of Ajmer / Think of Ajmer Today)

Mukhtalifiyat sey
aa pahunchey

ek khazaaney par. 

Kya waakahi
yeh
Ek khabar hai
Ya nazariyaat
kee honee unhonee

khawaab?

Badaltey idaarey
Adaalat kinaarey
Padee huey jamooriyat.
Junoon key zarooriyat

ho toh aisee.

Jalsey mein phirey
Mashallah girey
par quam ney jashn manayee

beshak.

Ab jashn aur bhee baaki hai
Jab insaaniyat aur insaafiyat
Chaa jaayegi har monsoon key gulley mein
Tabh Jashn-e-Jannat kahengey hum.
Us mannat ko poora
samjheyngey hum.

Beyond the Cave

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

winching an iceberg
towing a car
a crane's a bird
that flies in from afar

governors, presidents, elected reps
the system's to improve
-no titanic wrecks

a tilt to the left
and a tilt to the right

balance is balance
though wobble it might.

a poet's a mathematician
on auto-pilot
(well, almost,
since
the plot
still unfolds)

red fort, robot-bot, diamonds

gems and jewels sandwiched
in hill-burgers
no divers, strivers
they remained
forever
yours sincerely,
Diamonds et al.

nine stones, limestones, quarries, queries
astro-charts, tarot spreads
questionnaires

the unaccounted metre
the suspended verse
the inexplicable gap
-the diverse
variables

beyond exceptions, beyond rules
imagine a variation

Infinity Rules

Elements

not averse
to nonsense verse
or rhymes.

Only to
finite
reasons. (Or rather, the often limited power of reasoning)

so:
shroobie doobie
mulling over a pun-doobie

art embeds stone embeds art

-and other media.

think now, think science, think gadgetry

[though i'm sure, the angles of pythogoras and other non-flora, non-fauna (sort of) imagined they were the
height
of discovery]

From the deep seas to the stars
From Venus to Mars (which, by the way, is a comparatively very short distance)
From what, exactly?
We'll see
And again,
We'll say:
Long, long ago, there was a time....


By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Announcement for European Union Readers

Dear EU Readers:

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I post from India, and am unable to check whether or not the standard notice is visible to readers from EU countries. Just in case the notice is not visible to you, please note that:

The site provides me (the blogger) the option of reading some basic reader-statistics, such as the country the reader is reading from; the site that's directed them here; page-views; operating systems used; date of visit etc.

I would also appreciate it if you let me now if the notice from the Blogger website is, indeed, visible to you while reading my blog from the EU.

Thanks!

V Shruti Devi (Quill-0-the-Wisp)

An Indian blog interviews me on my writing: a link to the blog interview

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

In which I discuss Earth Republic, Deep Wood trance, my politics and my poetry

Click here for an interview by Aditi Ray Bose on her blog, Lovewordie

PRESS RELEASE and Video footage of the book launch of Earth Republic

Hello everyone!

Though this is my blog for creative writing, mostly poetry, I think people here might be interested in the knowing about my recent non-fiction book, Earth Republic: Chatter from the Capital's Cauldron (and Beyond) by V Shruti Devi

Here's the press release and the video footage, enjoy! -shruti

ALMOST-RAW VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE NEW DELHI BOOK LAUNCH

PRESS RELEASE dated 21^st March, 2018

BOOK LAUNCH OF EARTH REPUBLIC BY V SHRUTI DEVI AT MAVALANKAR AUDITORIUM, CONSTITUTION CLUB OF INDIA, ON 15^TH MARCH, 2018

Earth Republic, V Shruti Devi’s second book in quick succession after Deep Wood Trance (which is a work of fiction published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta), was launched at an event at the Mavlankar Auditorium of the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, on the 15^th of March, 2018.

Published via the Notion Press publishing platform, Earth Republic: Chatter from the Capital’s Cauldron (and Beyond), is a set of ten essays, of which nine were written within a span of three months in late 2017. One of the pieces, a commentary on Imran Khan’s election campaign of 2013, was written during that period.

The free-wheeling articles written in a deliberately conversational style sometimes quote from the author’s diaries of the 1980s, her Facebook posts, and an interview of her grandmother’s personal food history that the author had conducted before her grandmother passed away in 2013.

The running themes through the apparently chatty curation of topics are the themes of global governance, world peace, sustainable development, and human rights.

Topics that range from sports to legal concepts are mooted for discussion, with a strong peppering of autobiographical elements that draw the reader into a participatory approach to the reading experience.

In keeping with the author’s grassroots approach to politics, the first edition is a populist glossy paperback, rather than a hard-bound book.

All versions of Earth Republic are easily located online via the following methods:

Print version in India: amazon.in ; Flipkart; Infibeam

Print version International: amazon.com ; amazon.uk

E-books: amazonkindle ; googleplay ; kobo ; ibooks

The book launch at the Constitution Club was on the eve of the meeting of the Subjects Committee of the Indian National Congress Party that conducted its AICC Plenary at New Delhi from the 16^th to 18^th of March.

The author, V Shruti Devi, was in town as an AICC Member to attend and participate in the AICC Plenary.

While the book launch did not follow the traditional practice of inviting a designated chief guest to launch the book, there were speakers from the fields of Politics; Law; Spirituality and Theatre:

Prof. Saugato Roy, former Union Minister from the Trinamool Congress party, who discussed aspects of secularism in Indian politics spoke straight from the heart. He pointed out that he knows the author since the late 1970s, when he was a colleague of the author’s father in Parliament. His erudite and distinguished presence, and the sharing of the highlights of a recent conversation on modes of worship with the new Congress Party President brought the world of politics even closer to an already tuned-in New Delhi audience.

Advocate Karuna Nundy from the Supreme Court of India, deftly gleaned legal concepts from the overall work, and described parts of the writing as being “stream of consciousness”. Her articulate and able manner held the crowd in rapt attention.

Deepika Kumar, awarded as an Iconic Leader in Peace and Spirituality at the Women’s Economic Forum, referred to various points of the book that she had enjoyed reading. Emitting positive vibrations and energy, Deepika Kumar’s cool, calm and unhurried pace of conversation reflected the approach she employs to tackle tough questions and situations.

Theatre personality, Jaya Iyer, delineated some of her work in theatre in which the author has been a participant and activist. This includes networking with international theatre personalities from South America and elsewhere. Jaya’s wealth of experience in grassroots theatre, and simplicity and austerity would accord to her, the tag of being a Gandhian theatre activist.

All the speakers mentioned how they knew the author, and their comments were acknowledged by the author during the first half of the programme that was dedicated to speech-making.

The second half of the event was a format that the author had devised: The Insta-Review segment. A novel idea, whereby members of the audience who had submitted their names volunteered to select and read out a passage from Earth Republic. This was followed by a brief conversation with the author about why they had chosen the piece. A roving mike then went around the auditorium for instant comments/reviews from the audience, based on a hearing of the specific paragraph, thus generating instant reviews of those pieces.

Among those who did readings were: Ezeugo Nmundi Lawrence; Malati Rao and her daughter, Annika; Pranab Dhal Samantha, and Ishita Deb Burman Ahirwal.

Copies of Earth Republic were handed over to the winners of the insta book review segment by Kavi Kapur, who has been associated with the Delhi Stock Exchange, and by Ms Madhavi Goradia Divan, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, among others.

Members of the teaching community, including those from Mater Dei Convent and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, were present, as were members of the bar, and friends and relatives of Shruti from different walks of life.

The event organizers were Kriti Team, whose founder leader is Aanchal Kapur. The main compere for the event was Veenu Kakkar. The organizers, as well as a member of the audience, Rohini Chauhan of The Angels Network livestreamed the event on social media.

Shruti Devi, a true believer of the concept that the world is now connected in all ways, chose to do a livestream of the event, which was keenly followed by many people of the community.....In a way, reiterating the title of her book, "The Earth Republic"!

Shruti Devi's spontaneity came across through the very flow of events at the launch. It was intellectually stimulating to observe the author holding relevant dialogues after each speaker had expressed their views on various topics of the book. Her impromptu comments & conversations kept the audience’s attention invested in the moment.

One would indeed say the book launch was an event which brought "The Earth Republic" together!!!

The evening was an eclectic mix of thought and creativity, vignettes of life and politics, reflection and experiences expansive of environment, spirituality, rights and more, much like the book which is a light and yet insightful read into the minds and spirit of the Republic we belong to.

Shruti’s book will be a great read, as she brings so many different perspectives, and, of course, her great experience, to the work.

From

Kriti Team, the event organizers of the New Delhi book launch

The author may be reached at shrutidevi@gmail.com

Link to an amateur video clip of a part of the author interview of Earth Republic at the book launch

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

In conversation with V Shruti Devi on Earth Republic