Author Archives: subincontinentia

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About subincontinentia

writer and eternal optimist

The same son

Posted on November 19, 2012 by subincontinentia

It’s not easy to find out how someone died in India. You invariably receive the most meager explanation. Sometimes simply a body part. “Stomach,” or “Heart” or “Liver.”  So, when I asked Sunil how Rakesh’s father died, he didn’t feel … Continue reading →

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The bucket bath….millions do it, so can you!

Posted on November 7, 2012 by subincontinentia

A LESSON FOR NON-INDIANS IN 20 EASY STEPS. YOU WILL NEED: 1 ten litre plastic bucket at 225 INR (or 300 depending on whether you or your Indian friend buys it) 1 plastic jug at 50 INR (or 100 depending … Continue reading →

Posted in Moving on...., Rose Apple Island | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Delhi police, the CIA, and…me

Posted on November 4, 2012 by subincontinentia

I visualized bodacious diplomats in double-breasted suits shinnying down ropes from black helicopters, flashing their business cards and saying things like, “We’ll take it from here, ma’am.” The knock had the tone of entitlement. So I was only mildly surprised … Continue reading →

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Close encounters with my mother

Posted on October 13, 2012 by subincontinentia

It was the scene where Richard Dreyfuss sees the aliens for the first time as they half-float out of the spaceship that’s landed behind Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Everyone in the cinema was in a hushed awe-filled silence. … Continue reading →

Posted in epoche | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Surrealism in motion

Posted on September 30, 2012 by subincontinentia

I went to find the masseuse that Mee, my guesthouse manager, had recommended. “Her name is Da Da,” said Mee, writing it down like someone used to catering to tourist infants. Well, it was certainly the most surreal massage I’ve … Continue reading →

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Accidental paradise

Posted on September 29, 2012 by subincontinentia

Koh Chang island, Thailand. Tail end of monsoon, September 2012

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Lonely bitch

Posted on September 28, 2012 by subincontinentia

1a. Without companions; lone. b. Characterized by aloneness; solitary. 2. Unfrequented by people; desolate: a lonely crossroads. 3.a. Dejected by the awareness of being alone. b. Producing such dejection. As the ferry chugged away from the mainland, I studied the … Continue reading →

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Of gods and men: the ultimate olympian

Posted on August 24, 2012 by subincontinentia

Being in the United Kingdom during the 2012 Olympics was, I hate to admit it, uplifting. The Union Jack was retrieved from the purview of the National Front (UK’s more politicized version of Aryan Nation), and waved gleefully in the … Continue reading →

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One for my father

Posted on August 15, 2012 by subincontinentia

For Kipling, ‘triumph and disaster’ Were one ‘impostor’ dressed as two Thomas saw life in the death of a daisy A ‘snow blind love’ in a ‘hellborn dew’ Plath knew ‘the knife not carve, but enter’ Lived ‘to the knucklebones’, … Continue reading →

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The believers

Posted on July 14, 2012 by subincontinentia

Pushed to the wall The believers dissolve it Earth stuck on a cog The believers revolve it A dim-hearted simian The believers evolve it The sin of a lifetime The believers absolve it

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