Smitha Vishwanath's Blog, page 24

Dhaka Diaries: Women’s Day- A trip to Old town

What better way to celebrate Women’s day than with women friends. On March 8th, five of us decided to explore Old Dhaka- that part of town steeped in History. One friend proposed the trip and oiled the engine to get it going and her friend (who I did not know prior to the trip), agreed […]

Thursday 070324- Doors, flowers, reviews, gratitude and more

I couldn’t share a post last Thursday for the ‘Thursday Doors’ challenge, hosted by Dan Antion, as I was at an exhibition of Benarasi silks held at the Le Meridien hotel in Dhaka. This was my first experience at such an exhibition and I needed a lot of coaxing to go for it. I’m glad […]

Of parks, flowers, poetry and news: Tanka Tuesday 060324, Jo’s Monday Walk

Tired of walking in the park in front of home which has a bookstore, a coffee shop and green trees but barely any flowers, I coaxed my husband to walk up to the Gulshan Lake Park which is a kilometre away from home. The roads were strewn with leaves as if it were Autumn. The […]

Book Review 05/50- The Parcel by Anosh Irani

This book took me longer than normal. No, it’s not long, and no, it’s not dull. It’s difficult to stomach.  It talks of the hard reality that transgenders faced in India prior to the law being passed in 2014, sex trade, and child trafficking. The book is a detailed account of the Red Light district […]

Art diaries: Mugs of joy

Like I said in my earlier post, I’ve run out of cotton canvas sheets for painting. I have asked someone who’s traveling from India to get them for me. However, as I didn’t want the lack of sheets to put a spoke in my painting wheel that’s just got moving, I decided to use paper. In […]

Friday Fictioneers 280224- Gift

The photograph loomed like a giant threatening to topple over the present. It was the family’s first car. Little Anil had rammed it into the neighbour’s wall on its first day at home.   He’d gone on his first road trip in it, driving along the West coast- he and three of his friends. In […]

Art Diaries : In the country & Tanka Tuesday: No. 23, 2/27/24

Like I said in my earlier post, I’ve been working on my art. Last week, I did a value study in grey of a photograph of the countryside and then I did the same one in color. It’s only when I finished this painting did I realize that I have no more canvas cloth. I […]

Jo’s Monday Walk – 26.02-24- A walk in the park

Yesterday, we went for a walk, our second, after returning. Since it had rained the previous day, the dust had settled and all the trees in the park looked glossy and clean. The path was strewn with yellowed leaves but the cleaners weren’t raking up the leaves because the ground was still wet. That was […]

Friday Fictioneers 24.02.24- Change of Plans

The photo prompt for this week’s Friday Fictioneers challenge, hosted by Rochelle, is a wagon used in the early days. For some reason, I almost missed seeing the challenge but here I am, just in time. "What’s that?" Aaron asked, crinkling his eyes. "A wagon,” Jennie replied, patiently. "Where’s the engine? And what about the […]

An award, a review, Thursday doors and more

Among the millions of things I’m grateful for, here are a few that are exclusive to this week. ‘Coming Home’, my debut novel was awarded the Certificate of Excellence at the 6th Asian LitFest on the 20th of February. I’m extraordinarily grateful to all those who read the book and shared a review of the […]