Author Archives: lalitanoronha
Constellations: Of Glow Worms?
March 23, 2012 I have been rolling the words, Arachnocampa luminosa, a lyrical mouthful, on my tongue all week— ever since I returned from a visit to the Kawiti Caves. Several million years old, the caves were discovered in the 17th century and are still owned by the descendants of the original Maori family. [...]
The Monarch and The Swan
While my neighbor was visiting family in Thailand, she asked me if I would water and weed her garden in exchange for a couple of traditional Thai to-die-for body massages. I happily agreed, forgetting that my body is a grouchy, old, creaky machine with hinges that incessantly squawk and squeak, but is a magnet for [...]
What’s In A Name?
The word “weed” conjures up immortal tough grasses with long tap roots that grow down into the belly of the earth and scar your hands when you try to dig them out, and then stubbornly reappear the following year with more vigor. Or the hairy crabgrass that grows wherever the sun hits the ground, along [...]
Ever heard a Tui sing?
Yesterday, I heard a Tui sing—and that was just one song of her repertoire. It was a beautiful pulsing beat, the sound of a flute, one note, mesmerizing and almost hypnotic. Like us, tuis sing different tunes—joyous, plaintive, flirtatious melodies, and sometimes, they click, cackle, wheeze and grunt. I assume that’s when they’re in a [...]
When does New Year’s Day Begin?
My sister, whose home is in New Zealand, told me that she spent the first day of the new millennium sitting in a comfy chair watching the sun rise over the rest of the world. By the time that gorgeous, glittering ball at Times Square began its descent, and strains of Auld Lang Syne filled [...]
Christmas, 2011
Sitting on the porch in a sleeveless blouse under clear skies on a Christmas evening can only mean that I’m not anywhere close to my home in Baltimore, Maryland. In fact, I am in New Zealand, called “Aotearoa” translated from the Maori language as the “land of the long white cloud.” I’ve seen that long [...]
Welcome to my New Blog
As a writer, I want my blog to blend elements of Indian and American culture, the two countries that are “home” to me, my careers as a research scientist, teacher, poet, and author, and now that my parents are deceased, my role as the oldest member of a multinational, inter-faith family spread out on four [...]
