Short Story: Samaresh
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Everyone was talking of the jhor. As I was eating rice, saag and fish, Dida told us about the jhor. She said it had a name, Amphan.
The Masked Way
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Seeing people masked makes me wonder of the masks that we always have on. I mean the ones we cannot see.
‘Sraboner Dhara’: Human Relationships and Alzheimer’s
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Sraboner Dhara depicts the issues of the caregiver with great sensitivity.
‘Smile Please’: Photographs, Memories and Dementia
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Streaming online now, Smile Please is a must watch for anyone interested in the way a film deals with a medical condition and handles it wonderfully – a rarity in Indian cinema.
A Review of Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar’a Two Collections of Poetry
By Nishi Pulugurtha
A reading of the poems in the two volumes reveals the poet working his way through metaphors that reveal his development and growth as a poet handling a myriad of subjects.
Short Story: The Ride Home
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Parama suddenly said that something that happened a few days ago hurt her a lot. “What is it,” I asked. “Is it something at work? Did someone say something?” Mili asked. She shook her head. We waited for her to speak. It was obvious that whatever it was had caused her a lot of pain.
Book Review: L.S. Rathore’s ‘Romance Over Coffee’
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Rathore’s poetry draws on the everyday, to emotions and feelings that are real and perceptive, to literature, history and Indian myths and stories that have to do chiefly with love. This collection, his first volume of poems, records impressions and facets of lived everyday moments.
Book Review: Gopal Lahiri’s ‘Return to Solitude: haiku and other short poems’
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Gopal Lahiri’s Return to Solitude: haiku and other short poems, published by Hawakal Publishers, is a slim volume of poetry written in genres not very often used in India. A bilingual poet who has authored seven collections of poems in English and Bengali, editor, critic and translator, Lahiri has also written short stories.
Memoir: Pickled
By Nishi Pulugurtha
This year avakai arrived a week ago by courier – my cousin, Valli, made sure we get it fresh. This morning, my aunt, Amma’s sister, called up saying she had prepared magai and a couple of other types, menthi avakai and thokkudu pachadi, all made from raw mangoes.
Alzheimer’s and Recognition
By Nishi Pulugurtha
In spite of all the muteness of responses, all the cognition disappearing slowly, she does understand intuitively about comforting presences, about her dear ones. I think, in spite of not being able to recognize me most of the times, I am a familiar presence; my voice and touch comfort her.
From Kakinada to Calcutta: Finding a Way through Languages
By Nishi Pulugurtha
These days I speak Telugu much less. Amma does not speak anymore; Alzheimer’s has wrought ravages with her speech. I still speak to her in Telugu. I am sure some bit of my talking does reach out to her somewhere. Appagaru is in another world.
Chinsurah by the Ganga
By Nishi Pulugurtha
Nothing of the Dutch Fort Gustavus remains today. Above the staircase of the bungalow of the Commissioner of Burdwan is a plaque with the letters “VOC 1687”, a sign of the Dutch past. Next to the Hooghly Madrassa nearby is a house that once served as the residence of the Dutch Governor of Chinsurah. The original building has been demolished and the British constructed a building in the same place, which serves as the residence of divisional commissioner of Burdwan.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 