Smitha Vishwanath's Blog, page 6

Tanka Tuesday : 130525 – poetry challenge no 12- Hainka, Thursday Doors 150525 and a birthday!

I’ve been missing in action for the last few weeks and as much as I wanted to participate in the Tanka Tuesday challenge, I couldn’t. In case you’re interested in knowing the reason, it’s because I moved countries. To read more about it, you can check this post. This week, Melissa is the host of […]

A new chapter… a new destination

After living as an expat (in the real sense of the word) for the last seven years, and being filled with anxiety and dread during my first two moves (one of which was to my home country) and the other to a neighbouring country (Bangladesh), I no longer felt anxious when I heard we were moving again. I knew it was imminent.

Book Review 2025 11/50 : Din about Chins by Santosh Bakaya (Vignettes about Mother-Daughter)

Santosh Bakaya’s, ‘Din about Chins’, is an endearing book of thirty snippets that recount her daughter’s childhood and teenage years and how the equation between the two changes with the passage of time, love being an immeasurable factor. Being a mom of two girls, the subject interested me and led me to pick up the […]

Book Review 2025 10/50 : Lost Canvas by Rukhaya MK

My reading halted in April as I was busy with Napowrimo, family and travelling. I had picked up the ‘Lost Canvas’ as soon as it was published because I couldn’t wait to read the poet’s work (I had read her previously on Fb and had found her poems piercingly direct). Rukhaya MK’s poems gently fall […]

Art : Brass is beautiful

I finally picked up my brush after two months and twenty-three days. Unlike writing, as much as I love painting, I can’t do it when I’m travelling or am busy hosting people or doing other things like meeting friends, shopping etc. This means that I invariably relegate art to the background. I have been itching […]

Rishikesh & Haridwar Diaries Part 2

This is a continuation of our trip to Rishikesh and Haridwar. There was a delay in posting it because I was participating in the national poetry writing month (April). Anyway, we left Rishikesh after taking a dip in the Ganges. The water was freezing cold but the sun overhead was pleasantly warm allowing us to […]

Published : An Epiphany by Spillwords Press

My poem, ‘An Epiphany’ has been published by Spillwords Press. The poem is written in anapeat style (five stanzas, one line repeats in each stanza, it’s the first line in the first stanza, second in the second stanza and so on). When I received the below message yesterday from Spillwords, I was thrilled. ‘Dear Smitha, […]

NaPoWriMo 2025, Day 30 : Country Roads

Yayy! It’s finally the end of the poetry month. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it with all the travelling and family engagements I had, but miraculously, I managed to reach the Finish Line. I want to thank Maureen for the prompts which pushed me beyond my limit. I totally admire those […]

NaPoWriMo 2025, Day 29 : The night the music stopped

Today’s daily resource is the online galleries of the Whitney Museum, where you’ll find artwork as varied as this fun portrait of Billie Jean King, a Frank Stella sculpture that looks like what would happen if a space station fell in love with a bridge, and this contemporary take on the classic embroidered sampler. And now for today’s prompt – optional […]

NaPoWriMo 2025, Day 28 : My Home is the River

Today’s daily resource is El Museo del Barrio, a New York City museum focused on the experience of Puerto Ricans and Latin Americans in the United States. The museum’s website provides highlights from its permanent collection, as well videos exploring the art and artists featured. Last but not least, here is today’s prompt (optional, as always). […]