Rati Mehrotra's Blog, page 4

The way that things have been

It is 18th June, it is raining, and I just got my second jab! In two weeks I can…go to the dentist. The optometrist. The physiotherapist. Ah, the wild times ahead. Seriously, though, I am hopeful that everyone who can, does get vaccinated as quickly as possible. That’s the only way back to some near-normalcy – the only way we can stay ahead of a mutating virus. And if you have long Covid (as I possibly do) anecdotal evidence suggests that the vaccine may help reduce your symptoms.

Summer has arr...

Eighteen Days of Barbareek

Story Day! Very pleased to announce that my short story Eighteen Days of Barbareek is now live at Uncanny Magazine and free to read online here. There are some stories one is compelled to write, and this was one of those for me. Barbarik/Barbareek is a lesser known character from later versions of the Mahabharata epic, and I could not get his story out of my head. So I wrote about his. He spends the eighteen days of the Kurukshetra war as a disembodied head. I’ve written more about him in this p...

Protected: Gender Fluidity and Homoeroticism in Hindu Mythology

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Favorite Novel Reads of 2020ish

Hello, Happy New Year 2021! I’m here to talk about some of the great books I read in the horrible year of our pandemic 2020. I know, I have been remiss. I really should have talked about my favorite novel reads of the past year before February of the next year. My excuse is the pandemic really sucks. We are in our second lockdown in Ontario, but considering I never left the first, and the glacially slow vaccine rollout in Canada means I won’t get a shot until August at the earliest…well, this is...

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

Isnt that a beautiful title? You are not allowed to say no. Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is the name of my very first YA Fantasy novel to be published in Summer 2022 by Wednesday Books. Ive mentioned this book here a few times, havent I? Ive said that I love it, that I hope I get to share it with the world some day. I feel very very lucky that this particular dream can come true, that one day this book will be a reality I can hold in my hand and offer to you.

Here is the official...

Magnificent Maurice, or the Flowers of Immortality

It is a cold, dark November day, but I have a bright, warm story to share. Very pleased to report that my story about a universe-protecting cat Magnificent Maurice, or the Flowers of Immortality is now live at Lightspeed Magazine. I answered some interesting questions about the story posed by Alex Puncekar (Thanks Alex!) and you can look those up here. This is my third appearance at Lightspeed. Very pleased that the first time wasn’t a fluke, heh.

This story was very fun to write, and I hope you...

The Joy of Lentils

This is threatening to turn into a food blog, isn’t it? You all will have to put up with it while we’re under a pandemic. The world is a trash fire, but see, I can cook. And really, if I can find joy in lentils, which are a cheap, innocent and widely-available source of protein, then I’m good. Also today is Diwali and I was supposed to be in India celebrating, not blogging about lentils, sigh.

Dal is a staple part of the Indian diet, and most Indian cooks will have half a dozen varieties in stoc...

November may not be the cruelest month

Yes, it’s cold, wet, and windy outside. But I feel full of (perhaps misguided?) optimism today, this first day of November. I have a short story publication to report, a new short story sale, and I’m working on yet another story – a happy state of affairs. Best of all, in two days, our southern neighbor may not re-elect a petty, vindictive, dishonest tyrant! Fingers and toes crossed, friends.

On to my writerly news. My short story Magnificent Maurice, or the Flowers of Immortality (about a unive...

One-Pot Chettinad Chicken Biryani

I haven’t eaten out since…February. And I’ve come to realize that cooking is a kind of coping mechanism for me. Here, at least, is something productive I can do which is useful to the entire family. I enjoy the creative aspect of it, the physical labor, the exploration of new recipes, and the ultimate reward: the eating and sharing of good food prepared at home. So here is my recipe for Chettinad Chicken Biryani.

I’ve always been fond of biryani, and we have some terrific takeaway options in To...

The Severed Head in Indian Mythology

I’ve been re-reading bits of the Indian epics and the Puranas lately, and what struck me most forcibly is the excessive amount of decapitation going on. What’s up with that? To answer that burning question, here is a blog post dedicated to the decapitated. It will be long, but I will endeavor not to make it too gory.

No. 1: Top Pick

Barbarik, the grandson of Bhima, decapitated himself at the request of Krishna before he could fight in the Kurukshetra war. Krishna deduced that he was too powerful...