Strangely Familiar

Happy Diwali, to all! Diwali, as many of you know it, is the Hindu Festival of Light. But, you don't have to be a certain religion to invite light into your life. Every step any of us takes toward education, toward knowledge, toward truth is a step toward our own inner light. Today, I invite that light into my home and into myself so that I may spread light on to others. As I grow older, I find it more difficult, in many ways, to keep with the traditions of my culture and family. When I was younger, my parents led the charge, making sweets, putting up lights, and having us sit down together in prayer. In college, being so connected to a group of youth similar to myself culturally and spiritually made it almost as easy. Celebrating these holidays was a fun, shared experience. As a full-fledged adult, it's harder for me to set time aside for these things. I have to do it very intentionally. It's so easy to plan my year around the "normal" holidays (e.g. Christm

     Visiting my sister’s house is always a dive into another world. A world where time is not a rule but a guideline, where busyness is sometimes there, but comes with equal measures of peace and silliness. This weekend, staying there, I spent much needed time outside under trees, birds, and butterflies. I walked with my dad, spent time playing with my niece and nephew, and took the time to read and reflect that I had not done for some time. While reading Mindful magazine, I was particularly struck by an article on being addicted to being busy. And there I was- reflected right there in those words. “The busier we keep ourselves, the more we avoid being confronted with questions of life and death… We keep a safe and comfortable distance to the issues that are sometimes hard to look at…” And most importantly, the conclusion: “Busyness is a choice. We may have deadlines, projects, and activities, but we have the freedom to choose whether we become action addicts and busy-lazy, or jus

Friends, I've had this poem brewing in my mind for a while, and finally put it onto paper. I am constantly reminded of Bishop Desmond Tutu's famous quote, and one of my favorites: "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." As a society, we can only progress so far when some of compatriots are kept so far behind. I don't believe we're rich if 48.1 million citizens live in food-insecure households. I don't believe we're educated if 14% of the American adult population is illiterate. I don't believe we're safe if an average of 86 individuals die each day from gun violence, and mass murders are sprinkled in our news coverage like a sick salt. Mostly, though, I focus on the systematic racism and oppression that is still perpetuated in so many invisible and visible ways in our society. I can't breathe thinking about all these horrific murders. I can't breathe thinking about how my skin color makes me less saf

Hey friends! I've been on a reading spree this past year, so I thought I would share with you what I've read and what I've thought about these books. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd be glad to hear them =) It’s What I Do- Lynsay Addario-  Fabulous book about a woman’s passion for photography and furthering her career, while also balancing the realities of being a war/conflict photojournalist and wanting to have a family. The Emotional Life of Your Brain- Richard J. Davidson  Very informative, but fairly dry and intellectual. He talks about different emotions, how they relate to and are shaped by our brains, and vice versa. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel- Milan Kundera I was more than disappointed by this book. While the story had a few gems of literary moments, it largely follows the path of a Czech couple and their extramarital couplings, as well as the accompanying sadness of such a life.  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Dou

My secret dream: To perform spoken word in front of a large audience and move them. I haven't actually done it (yet), but a couple of years ago, when I was in Chicago, I prepared a piece to (maybe) take to the Green Mill. Here's what I wrote, here's what I still feel: No one ever bothers to ask why we dance- isn’t that a funny thing? Humans have been dancing from the beginning of ‘sapien’ until 2015 and it is never a question of why- it just is. Babies dance from the minute they can hold themselves upright to the tune of the their momma’s favorite song. Some of them just keep going, dancing until their bones are brittle and their progeny wonders if they should help grandpa back to his chair before he breaks his hip. Oh, but grandpa don’t care. Dancing isn’t only for the young, it’s not only for the old. It’s for the “Oh! This beat is so good, that if I don’t I get my groove on right now, I will burst!” kind of people. You know who I’m talking about- the good people wh

I have a flash of memory from when I was a child where I was standing in my room looking around. I noticed the bed, the dresser, the bookshelves, and the many things that lay strewn about. I also noted the spaces in the room, the emptiness that was existed between the things. It occurred to me- quite suddenly- that there could be another universe stacked on top the one I was in. I imagined having the vision to see another Poonam busily drawing a picture on the ground, or else another family in my house altogether as I stood there and looked on. Why not? I thought. If the universe is infinite and if the divine is omnipotent, why can’t there be infinite parallel worlds stacked atop one another? Why do I presume to believe I must be able to see or sense them, and take that as the only evidence that they do or do not exist? My human form is limited. I may not be endowed with the ability, the faculty to see or understand such a limitless world. Humbly, I am an amoeba compared to this univ