Poetry Salad : a Series of Poetic Servings!
Poetry Salad is a short video series where you will be served spoonfuls of poetry- the angst, joy, beauty and techniques of writing- by poets of our land. This one features Soni Somarajan and Sonia J Nair, poets from Kerala who will take us through the menu.Here is the link to the first part of the video series
Happy to find my poem ‘Retreat’ in the current issue of gulmohar quarterly. This piece was scribbled down during a transition period in my life, when I could neither feel the sun glide down my back in the morning, nor the moon caress my heart at night. Each day was a repetition of the other. But then the cave woman has to rise up. The race is hers, and hers alone 
Excited to share space with dear friend Athira Unni and others. Thanks to Jerin Anne Jacob for suggesting gulmohar for submission. I realize how much of a collective spirit lies behind a publication! The issue is a literary feast. Please do check out.
https://www.gulmohurquarterly.com/contents
Sharing the joy..*Traversing two languages which you hold close to your heart, is like treading on a slippery bridge. And a thriller like Anju’s book which talks about child protection, art and a missing man takes a bit more than mere linguistic exercise to be transported into the global tongue. The angst I felt while translating the climax was too difficult to handle for a few days. That is when I realised that translation requires one to stay objective in the approach towards the text, without losing the personal touch with the characters. I walked with Jershid in Anju’s Paint Brush and tried to coax him and his stories into The Unfinished Masterpiece, as much as possible
I hope much is not lost during these tongue-trips. Copies are available here
https://notionpress.com/read/the-unfinished-masterpiece and also on Flipkart https://www.flipkart.com/the…/p/itm800605256a12f…
Please do read and let us know your comments. Congrats again to Anju for bagging this year’s Best Young Woman Writer’s Award instituted by Malayala Puraskara Samithi . Also, for entering India Book of Records 2021 . Thank you for trusting me with this venture
@ Lantern Kalyan
Thank you Jerin Anne Jacob for the opportunity to sort my thoughts on the necessity of choosing multiple career paths. It was wonderful to be a Guest Writer for the Kalyan Lantern September 2021 issue. The text is copied here.
What do you think is the best? To stick on to a single profession, die for it or choose more than one, merging your passion with your profession, and leave something for the posterity to remember ? Read on. 
A child grows up observing a social order which judges the merit of a profession on the basis of its financial rewards. More than the value of the service rendered, it is often what one earns that matter. ‘Easy money, easy life’ has become the motto of contemporary times. In such a scenario where we and the next generation gradually evolve into money-making machines, it is wonderful to meet people who choose paths differently. There are youngsters who divide their time between different jobs, not solely for monetary perks. They either move between two or more professions simultaneously or between one which they keep as a back up for financial reasons, and the other wherein they willingly invest their body, mind and soul for theirs and others’ betterment and wellbeing. There are also young people who after being placed in covetable positions have not stopped their education. Coursera, Ed-ex and Skillshare offer them ample chances to share their expertise and also learn about an otherwise unexplored area in their life, which can sometimes lead to a second career option. I would argue that choosing more than one way to travel is the best way to bless yourself. It will gift you with a feeling of being wholesome. In mitigating ourselves to one career, we inhibit our capacities to experiment with different possibilities of life. More than one path helps us to gain experiences from different sites, widen our social connections or networking, learn from different resources and let our creative energy flow through different channels. Being creative does not mean that we should excel in it to turn it into a profitable venture. For instance, you might be a creative story teller who can make people laugh and friends say, “One more, dear”. But that need not necessarily make you a renowned writer. At the same time, keep pumping your storytelling creative juices with which you make people around you happy. You can donate your free time to share stories and crack jokes with the lonely in old age homes, or children who live in orphanages. If you are ready to invest a bit more time and energy, the small backyard garden of yours can bloom into a small-scale organic farm, along with your corporate life. Or if you love baking, you can start an online cake shop along with your teaching career. Well, Dr. Nivetha Lakshman (doctors_bake_ on insta) is a dentist-baker. Twyla Tharp, one of America’s greatest choreographers and recipient of many awards including the Emmy, says in The Creative Habit, “Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way”. Being creative will help you build a routine and bring more order into your life. It will definitely help in your mental well-being too. It can also help you heal. Manohar Devadas is a scientist, artist, writer and the recipient of Padma Shri Award in 2020. In his memoir Mahe & Mano: Challenges, Resilience and Triumphs he writes about how sketching and drawing helped him and his wife, Mahema tide over the tough situations in their life. In spite of a degenerative retinal disease, he and his wife worked on a special set of greeting cards every year. Mano made the drawings and Mahe sitting on a wheel chair, prepared the brief accompanying write-ups. They donated the sale proceeds of the cards to charity. Having multiple work options for reasons beyond materialistic fulfilment is a good way to break away from the monotony you feel in your daily life which is often centred around your solo career. People do not venture into choosing optional paths along with their current jobs because they believe that they won’t have time enough for all of it. Kabir Sehgal is a corporate strategist at a Fortune 500 company, U S Navy Reserve Officer, writer and record producer. In “Why you should have (at least) two careers” he says, “I make the time”. The key to making time is to do what you are passionate about as your second career option. Twyla Tharp agrees: Another thing about knowing who you are is that you know what you should not be doing, which can save you a lot of heartaches and false starts if you catch it early on. So, cheer up! Your life starts when you decide to choose between that which gets you a million dollars (period) or the ones which fetch you your daily bread, lots of sleep and good friendship (and much more). To quote Rutger Bregman’s Human Kind: Our biggest shortfall isn’t in a bank account or budget sheet, but inside ourselves. It’s a shortage of what makes life meaningful”. Paul tells Timothy, “So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content”. Even when there won’t be enough of food and clothing, there will be endless peace and self-gratitude. Dr. Nithya Mariam John
Ruminations & Reflections : a Pinch of Poetry& Perspectives was one of the resilient ways in which I edged my way in 2020. Here is the link: 🙂
This is a short review on one of the chapters from Together by Vivek H Murthy. He talks about loneliness as a global illness and offers solutions in the book.
The video is a presentation on reading. Hope you enjoy!
The following three videos are on Imtiaz Dharker’s “At the Lahore Kharhai“. This is a brief analysis from an exam point of view. Please share if you find these useful. Thanks!😊
The four videos analyse the essay on Practical Criticism by Neil McCaw whose expertise include Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature and Textual Criticism. The PPT presentations try to critically summarize his argument. This essay is also part of the prescribed syllabus for Vth semester UG students in Literature under Mahatma Gandhi University, and the videos have been done from an exam point of view. Thanks.
A brief introduction to Metaphysical Poetry and John Donne’s ‘The Canonization’
Her Literature: Very brief videos on Elaine Showalter’s “The Female Tradition”.
Wings of Poesy: Perspectives on Poetry
This is a very brief video on Emily Dickinson. Do post your comments and suggestions. Thanks 😊
The following three videos dwell upon the world of poems where imaginations takes flights to worlds beyond and within. I have mentioned the art installations in Kochi Biennale and briefly touched upon poets like Akhmatova, Szymborska, Brodsky and Liu Xiabo to note how poets are never really “exiled”. True poetry never dies, and in the digital era, it is not simple a verbal pleasure, but offers visual treats too. – Nithya
Searching for her Rooms: A Very Brief Introduction to Feminism(s).
Video One: Truth and Nangeli
Video Two. : Feminist Positions
Video 4: Waves of Feminism
Feminisms Video 5: bell hooks
2. Bleats and Roars : An Anthology of Poems
3. A translation of Unni R’s short story Sahayathra, in essence capturing the spirit of the times.
4. Protests of a New Kind: An Analysis of #me and Breastfeeding Campaigning in Kerala
http://newmancollege.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/book-final-17.2.pdf
5. Outside the image and likeness: A Feminist Reading of the Book of Revelation
http://www.mgutheses.in/page/about_book.php?q=T%203095&
6. A poem in Indian Ruminations http://www.indianruminations.com/contents/poems/the-borderline-nithya-mariam-john-kerala/
7. A poem in Cerebration http://www.cerebration.org/nityamiriam.html
8. Poem in “our poetry archive” https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/2018/12/nithya-mariam-john.html?m=0
9. Bible and Literature
www.mercycollege.edu.in › p…PDF
pursuits – Mercy College Palakkad
10. Poems in samyukthapoetry
http://www.samyuktapoetry.com/4-nithya-mariam-john/
11. On “The Passion of Mary”
tlhjournal.com › products › 3…PDF
Web results
The Passion of Mary – Literary Herald
12. Poems in Subalternspeak http://tlhjournal.com › products › 3…PDF Web results The Passion of Mary – Literary Herald
13. Letter to The Hindu https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/disturbing/article5157554.ece/amp/
The video lectures are very informative and precise dt it helps the learners to understand the topics easily. Great effort dear… Hopefully waiting for more sessions.
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Thank you anu.😍
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Beautiful and informative Presentations. It’s very simple and easy to understand. Looking forward for more video lectures from our dear Nithya miss.
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Thank you Parvathy
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Very helpful for students! Good job miss!
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