Gallery of Villains ...

Thought we'd share pictures of our homemade Ravana from this year, as well as years past. So, ***drum roll*** presenting ...

the Demon King Ravana of 2004 the Demon King Ravana of 2007!!

and finally, the Demon King Ravana of 2009!!In case you're wondering how they meet their end ...
Sorry pal!!

There goes Ravana ...

Tomorrow is Dussehra ...

During the 9 days leading up to the festival of Dussehra, plays that tell the story of the Ramayana (this kind of play is called Ram-lila), are staged all over North India. On the tenth day, the last battle between Rama and the demon Ravana is staged, and a huge effigy of Ravana (stuffed with fireworks!) is set alight. The guy playing Rama usually shoots Ravana with a flaming arrow. It's pretty fun to watch. But in New England we have to make our own, rather lame, versions and stick them in the fireplace. Still fun though!

So, the kids and I were looking for a good Ravana design to make. Then I realized my sister Anuja sent me a clip a while ago, in which she demonstrates how a make a Ravana, with the help of her kids and their friends, for some holiday special in India. No idea where this aired originally ... but it's fun!

I'm posting this as my kids are coloring the ten heads of our Ravana on paper plates!!

Update: Check out our homemade Ravanas past and present in our Gallery of Ravanas!

Poetry Friday - Itchy dog

Nani's sister and cousin, with Nana Ji and Donny - June 1958 Surajkund lake

ITCHY DOG - Nandini Bajpai

He liked to snake beneath the hedge;
a spiky, scratchy, bushy hedge,
curving along the edge
of Nani's garden.

Crawling commando slow,
itchy-twitchy limbo low,
tunneling thru prickly rows,
in canine heaven.

We're chronicling memories of old family pets via verse. The idea is to write down anecdotes my kids like to hear about critters that belonged to my parents and grandparents (Nani and Nana Ji = grandparents in Hindi). They're totally off the cuff, but kind of fun for all of us, and a good break from Revising The Novel.

To read more about Donny, the dog this is about, see THE DOG IN THE RICKSHAW.

Poetry Friday roundup is hosted today by Susan Taylor Brown.

Pictures from Boston's first Kidlit Pie Night

More on that tomorrow ...

Oh, never mind. Mitali Perkins has covered it comprehensively at Mitali's Fire Escape!!

Fever ... and Guilt most horrible.

I knew it, I knew it IknewitIknewit.

Should have kept the kid home from school on Friday, and skipped the show in Boston that night. Not gone to the bookstore on Saturday, or let her help walk the dog with hair still damp from the shower. Sure enough, signs became symptoms, her fever spiked, coughs became wheezing.
And I knewit all along, darnit.

Rant done, must go pick up medicines from the pharmacy (sigh).

'this comes from within'

(Eggshells and shattered mirrors ... click for a better view! Though my grainy picture really doesn't do justice to this lovely sculpture. Apologies!)

Thought I'd share some pictures taken yesterday at an installation by Natick artist Virginia Fitzgerald at the Medicine Wheel Production Studio in South Boston. The installation titled 'this comes from within' is part of Virginia's ongoing Dress Project. I'm thankful to my friend Martha for taking us along. I thought the work was a beautiful, provocative, visual treat. My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Check out some of the other dress sculptures below ...

(The Valentine dress)

(The Poetry dress)

Poetry Friday - Love that boy, Love that dog

(Poem on the post-it by Ravi, illustration by Kiki)

My son wrote the poem on the post-it (above) at school yesterday. They're reading Love that Dog in class, and he said he was inspired by it, as well as Love that Boy by Walter Dean Myers. Thought I'd share excerpts from both as well as his original here ...

Love that boy by Walter Dean Myers

Love that boy,
like a rabbit loves to run
I said I love that boy
like a rabbit loves to run
Love to call him in the morning
love to call him
"Hey there, son!"

Love That Dog -Jack from the book Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Love that dog,
like a bird loves to fly
I said I love that dog
like a bird loves to fly
Love to call him in the morning
love to call him
“Hey there, Sky!”

Love that Pup - by Ravi

Love that pup
like Sona likes to hunt
Love that pup
like Beta likes water
Love chasing him in the afternoon
then call him "Yogi, Yogi, Yogi."

(Should mention that Sona is a cat and Beta is a fish ... but you could guess that, right?)

Write your own instant Love that poem here

Round up today is at Becky's Book Reviews

Poetry Friday: The Dog in the Rickshaw

(Nani with Donny - 1957?)

THE DOG IN THE RICKSHAW - Nandini Bajpai

What is most recalled about Donny
is that he was Stubborn.
So Stubborn that when Nani
took him for his walk
he always refused, refused
to turn back.

Luckily, he wasn’t the
Brightest bulb.
So Nani found a circuitous route
which brought them home
eventually.
And that worked fine.

Until the day Nana Ji walked him.
Nana, as you know, is very Bright
but just as Stubborn as Donny.
And sometimes (he's your Nana)
his Stubborn overcomes
his Bright.

They left. Two hours passed.
And Nani knowing
two Stubborn beings
can get into a
Standoff
began to worry.

At first Nana Ji didn’t
remember Donny's ways.
He just kept walking
and after a reasonable amount
of time, turned back.
Or tried to.

No matter what Nana Ji did
Donny would only go Forward.
He could have tricked Donny
quite easily
but remember what I said
about Nana Ji?

"You want to keep walking?"
Nana Ji said.
"Let's go then.
We’ll walk, and walk, and walk.
Until you are so tired that
YOU will turn back."

No one knows how far they walked
before they sat down
panting
exhausted
by the side of the road
and had to hail a rickshaw.

Nani laughed when
she saw them coming
up the street.
Thirsty hot, Stubborn mad
Dog tired
in a rickshaw.
------------------------------

My kids love stories about old family pets. Even ones they've heard over and over. Since I'm poetry challenged, I've decided to write the stories down in free verse to have something to post on Poetry Fridays. That way the kids can have them for good.

Maybe one day I'll even revise ...

Note: Nani and Nana Ji mean Grandmother and Grandfather in Hindi (Ji is like San in Japanese.)

The round up today is at the Wild Rose Reader

Yogi and Maya

SatoReunion-457, originally uploaded by warlotte.

Just received an email from the Northeast Animal Shelter with a link to pictures from the Save a Sato reunion last month. This photo is my favorite!!

It shows Yogi (our dog, the white one) meeting his sister for the first time since they were adopted. We knew he had a sibling attending and actually guessed it was "Heather", now renamed Maya, right away. It's amazing how similar they look even with their different colors. And how well do their names match? Strange and wonderful! Really wonder how much they remember ...

Back to Revision

It’s been a while ... but I've been busy. Not drafting, revising, querying or anything remotely useful in the writing sense, just busy. One thing I’ve realized over summer is that kids 24x7 and writing do NOT MIX WELL, at least for me. So it was either summer camp for 2 months (too expensive given our revised budget), me turning into Momzilla while trying to write with them underfoot, or for the writing to be sidelined for a bit. I chose option three. It was actually fun not to care about deadlines and wordcounts and outlines for a bit since I’ve been writing pretty much without a break since Jan 2008. But I missed it, and it’s good to be back!!

New goal: revise LEELA’S STAR by September end.