by Lakshmi Kalarikkal The city of Tokyo is structured like a poem, soaring mountains flow into deep valleys, while babbling streams undercut the sounds of trains. A unique beat hums across the metropolis. This rhythm has made the Tokyo in poetry truly lyrical. Some of the poetry that brings me home is transcribed below. TokyoContinue reading “The City of Tokyo in Poetry”
Tag Archives: literature
Wearing a Bamboo Hat around Hanoi, Vietnam
~dedicated to Prerna Mukherjee Mizu was getting used to Hanoi’s streets. It wasn’t long until she realized the lack of street-crossing rules. She had waited for a good fifteen minutes before she took a step, and then another, dodged a big Hanoi cyclo and scurried across the road. She didn’t dare look up to seeContinue reading “Wearing a Bamboo Hat around Hanoi, Vietnam”
Less than a day in Adelaide
The train came to a screeching halt at the Adelaide Parklands Terminal and a few restless passengers got off in a hurry. They were instructed that they only had ten hours in Adelaide, at the end of which the train would take off to Perth. Mizu and the young man had got off too andContinue reading “Less than a day in Adelaide”
The Great Pacific Train Journey
Day 1 Mizu boarded the Indian Pacific at Sydney and navigated her suitcase through the narrow corridors of the train. She found her seat besides a square window inside a compact twin cabin. There, two vacant bunkers lay waiting to be occupied by two strangers. After placing her suitcase beneath the bunker and sitting byContinue reading “The Great Pacific Train Journey”
Mizu lands in the “city of bones”
Beneath the runway, a million bones lay waiting to stir. At touch down, a loud rattle struck the entire airplane and the man beside Mizu almost jumped off his seat. “You heard the bones then?”, asked Mizu, making sure she wasn’t dreaming as she had in the past. “I think seat belts were made onlyContinue reading “Mizu lands in the “city of bones””
Farewell Tokyo!
Mizu stood by the peculiar love-hotel and looked up at its two signs, “shukuhaku” and “kyukei” which meant stay and rest. She had received none of the two. This 2000 yen-per-hour hotel was her makeshift service apartment for a month. Now, she stood by it with her new compact suitcase and had resolutely given upContinue reading “Farewell Tokyo!”
Mizu City 