को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत्कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः |
अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेनाथा को वेद यत आबभूव ॥
Who am I?
I'm someone, anyone; I might be Bachir Gemayel: among guns and shells a Maronite; between powers a puppet - a pawn in a Great Game; weak, then powerful; alive, then dead; somebody, anybody, nobody. I might be someone else, I might be you, I might be a third person; I might as well be Bachir Gemayel.
This I know: I can write scintillating copy, strategise and help bring a brand to market in memorable ways with 30 months of experience; I can also do PCR and sequence DNA if necessary (that's 7 years of experience); I can read an epigraph with some difficulty, operate a microscope, teach a classroom practically anything (given I've taught French, Sanskrit epigraphy, the taxonomy of ants, Danish colonial possessions in South Asia, and copywriting). I aim is to be a poet-novelist of some Nobelity, to be creative director in a decent firm, and to be remembered with tears centuries from now.
This I tell: Raamesh Gowri Raghavan moonlights as an award-winning copywriter by day and daylights as an award-wanting poet* by night, and sandwiches archaeology, running a literary club, running a literary journal, the occasional trek, some peer counseling for suicide prevention, and learning languages in between.
I think I am funny, but friends vehemently disagree.
In a nutshell: writing anything, imagining, epigraphy, DNA sequencing... doing what I effing please**
My internet existence, bulletted:
Professional Profiles:
Profile: LinkedIn, Bayt
Portfolio: Behance
Public performances, readings ktp:
Reciting my story 'Idlinama' at Tall Tales (October 18, 2014): here and here
Reciting my story 'The Village Cricket Ground' here
A talk on 'Technology and Literature' at TEDxCTAE
Work:
@ OgilvyOne Worldwide: YouTube
@ 4nought4: YouTube
@ Indigo Consulting: YouTube, project website
@ RK Swamy BBDO Interactive: project website, project website, blog
Academia
Journal I run: Narrow Road
(with Paresh Tiwari and Rohini Gupta:)
Volume 1
Volume 2
Submission Guidelines
Molecular analyses of microbial diversity associated with the Lonar soda lake in India: an impact crater in a basalt area | also here, here
Preliminary Explorations in Kothaligad, District Raigad, Maharashtra | also here
Lecture on Grantha Script at Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, University of Mumbai
Will the Indian Ocean ever truly be India’s Ocean? (Prospects for the future of India’s maritime legacy)
Tamil-English Dictionary: Freelang
Opinions:
Mission Telangana
Wordpress
Poems published Online:
Pearls at S Balachandra Rao's blog, August 2003
Fashion Street in Kritya, 2006
Mumbai in Kritya, 2006
The city won't stop for him in Kritya, 2006
They've put tin sheets around my house in Kritya, 2006
mary jane - snow white super girl at Fictionaut, 2010
Motherless Andhadi at Cerebration, 2011
Pallankuzhi at Indian Review, 2011
Fear Ye by Oxford Book Store (no longer online), January 2012
Shaving in Siliguri at RLP Award Longlist, 2013
From Chellammal to Bharathi at RLP Award Longlist, 2013
You at RLP Award Longlist, 2013
Children's Books at Whispers in the Wind, July 2015
The Return of the Native at Whispers in the Wind, September 2015
Flying Scotsman at Whispers in the Wind, September 2015
yellow at Whispers in the Wind, October 2015
An April Wedding at GloMag, October 2015
still waters at Whispers in the Wind, October 2015
a poem unfinished at GloMag, November 2015
A Wanderer's Funeral in GloMag, December 2015
The Solitary Reaper at Whispers in the Wind, December 2015
The Morning After in GloMag, January 2016
The Message in GloMag, March 2016
Commas at Whispers in the Wind, April 2016
Rain Raga in collaboration with Angelee Deodhar at The song is..., May 2016
Ego-Friendly Poem at GloMag, May 2016
Saudade #1 at Whispers in the Wind, June 2016
Names at GloMag, June 2016
Opening into the darkness at Whispers in the Wind, July 2016
The Contents of my Fridge at GloMag, August 2016
War is Necessary at GloMag, October 2016 | Also here
Who writes Poems to Karela Chips in GloMag, March 2017, p192
This Tendency to Die at GloMag, May/June, 2017, p168
Someone write me a Love Song at GloMag, July 2017, p124
Saluva Timma, Mahamandaleshwara at Indian Periodical, August 2017
The Night of the Serpent at GloMag, August 2017, p223
The Pastorale That Isn't at Setu Bilingual Journal, August 2017
Going Home at Setu Bilingual Journal, August 2017
City of Dreadful Night at Setu Bilingual Journal, August 2017
Tapestry Poems with Shernaz Wadia:
Partition | also here
Tattoos
Summer
WEEDS
Rain in the Hills at GloMag September 2016 | also here
Night in the City
Conversations | also here
Tapestry Poems with Avril Meallem:
Homeland
Poems in Print:
Dignity - Published in South Asian Review Conference and Poetry Issue 26 (3); 2005; ed. K. D. Verma. ISSN: 0275-7196
A poem for my ageing wife and Rose - Published in Writing Love an Anthology of Indian - English Poetry, ed. Ashmi Ahluwalia; Rupa Publications, New Delhi, 2010. ISBN 978-81-29116-66-6.
A Song of Spring - Published in Kavi Kala - The Visual Poetry Project, ed. Madness Mandali; Cinnamon teal, Goa, 2010. ISBN: 978-93-80151-79-3.
She's Complicated; Pockmarks; Yesternight and Yesterday; and Conversations - Published in Making Waves - A Poetry Anthology, ed. Pam & Bill Swyers; Swyers Publishing, Dacula, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-9843113-6-1.
Eyes - Published in The Heart Only Whispers... Love Poems by 60 Indian Poets, ed. Glory Sasikala; Pubros Consultants, Chennai & Poets Printery, Mdantsane, 2014. ISBN: 978-09-92202-20-8
Music Rediscovered - Published in Chants of Peace, ed. P. Nagasuseela and P. Gopichand; Authorspress, New Delhi, 2016. ISBN: 978-93-52073-50-4.
Learning Portuguese - Published in GloMag February 2017, ed. Glory Sasikala; Cyberwit.net, Allahabad, 2017. ISBN: 978-93-85945-78-6.
Kosovo Polje, Grandfather's Chrome Pendulum - Published in Remember, ed. Paragram; Four Point Press, Shepperton, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-9927123-2-7.
Darknesses - Published in Poetic Prism 2015 Multilingual Anthology of Poetry, ed. E Sivanagi Reddy & Padmaja Iyengar; The Cultural Centre of Vijayawada, Vijayawada, 2015.
Haikai and Tanka:
Two vanguard haiku at World Haiku Review, Spring Issue, April 2014
Tanka at cattails, May 2014
Haiku (in Hindi) at Haiku Darpan, May 2014
Haiku at Issa's Untidy Hut, Wednesday Haiku #189, August 2014
Sikkim at Frogpond 37:3, Autumn 2014
Bazaar at Shamrock 28, 2014
Tanka at Atlas Poetica, September 2014
The Burger at cattails, September 2014
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose at cattails, September 2014
The Trial at Chrysanthemum 16, October 2014
Haiku at Brass Bell, November 2014
Mumbai at A Hundred Gourds, 4:1, December 2014
Tanka at Skylark, Vol. 2, No. 2, Winter 2014
Still Life at Ink Sweat & Tears, February 2015
Haiku at Whispers in the Wind, May 2015
Haiku at Whispers in the Wind, August 2015
Edifice at Shamrock 31, 2015
Tanka at A Hundred Gourds, 3:4, September 2015
River at Whispers in the Wind, September 2015
Overture to a Root Canal at A Hundred Gourds, 4:3, June 2015
Bombay at A Hundred Gourds, 4:4, September 2015
Haiku at Whispers in the Wind, February 2016
Commander of Sheep at GloMag, February 2016
CST Station at 7:45 PM on Sunday 21 December, 2008 at Glomag, April 2016
Senryu at Failed Haiku, May 2016
Generation Gap at Miriam's Well, May 2016
When was the First Time you did Something for the First Time? at GloMag, July 2016
Haiku at bear creek haiku, July 2016
Haiku at Ardea 6, September 2016
Tragicommedia at GloMag, November 2016
Twelve dog haiku at GloMag, January 2017, p178
Haikai and Tanka in Print:
Three haiku published in naad anunaad - an anthology of contemporary world haiku, ed. Kala Ramesh, Sanjukta Asopa & Shloka Shankar; Vishwakarma Publications, Pune, 2016. ISBN: 978-93-85665-33-2.
Six haiku published in bear creek haiku (chapbook), ed. Ayaz Daryl Nielsen; bear creek haiku #135, Longmont, 2016.
One haiku published in Proceedings of the Two-Day International Conference and Utsav on Contemporary Haiku (Distilled Images) organised by The Department of English, SIES College of Arts, Science & Commerce in collaboration with IN haiku 13-14 September, 2014
Alien Buds - a Sci-Fi spring shisan renku - Published in scifaikuest 48, ed. Teri Santitoro; Alban Lake Publishing, Cedar Rapids, 2015. ISSN: 1558-9730.
The Burger - Published in Neesah Lovers of the Book Vol 1, Issue 1, ed. Rochelle Potkar and Nivedita; Nivasini Publishers, Hyderabad, 2014.
Travelogues at TerrainSpotter:
Thikse Gompa
Jawhar
Guwahati
Sarchu & Darcha
Anthologies Edited:
the taste of sea breeze: An anthology of haiku, senryu, haibun, renku, tanka and renbun
Essays:
Why I Write at Fictionaut, September 2010
Mother's Parijata Tree at Pune Tree Watch, January 2012
Why Mothers Can’t Grow Bonsai Trees at Women's Web, March 2012
Indian Parenting 101 (and why my parents failed it) at Made in India, June 2013
Adventures in Nine Languages at Made in India, September 2013
Idli Vs Aloo-da-parantha at Made in India, September 2013
Languages I know at Quora, July 2017
On Tiffins: Preface to GloMag, September 2016
Interviews at GLO-TALK:
Angelee Deodhar
Johannes Manjrekar
K. Ramesh
Ramendra Kumar
Short Stories:
The Zamindar's Footprint at Indian Periodical, August 2017
The Perfect Plan at Fictionaut, September 2010
Kanha's Dream at Fictionaut, September 2010
Stories in Print:
The Zookeeper's Son published in Tinkle, July 2010 Vol. 30 No. 575, ed. Luis Fernandes; Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, 2010. Script by R. Nalini, illustrated by Ajit Vasaikar and coloured by Umesh Sarode.
Book Review:
All and Nothing by Raksha Bharadia
Archaeogiri by Shubha Khandekar
Events organised:
Distilled Images: A Conference and Utsav on Contemporary Haiku
Mentions in the media:
For Distilled Images: Indian Express | UHTS
For Archaeology: Times of India | Bombay Times
For Amaravati Poetic Prism: The Hindu | Andhra Pradesh Magazine
For 4nought4: The Economic Times
Blogs & blog listings:
The Tweeting Haijin - my haikai blog
Autophony - my poetry blog
The Reckless Sonneteer - my 'sonnets'
GLO-TALK - collaborative blog with Glory Sasikala
Maxvani - in honour of the late Max Babi
The Great And The Glubby - where mail forwards go to die
Yakṣapraśnāḥ - quiz blog (defunct; will hand over to whoever is interested)
Cafe Haiku - maintained on behalf of IN haiku Mumbai
IISc bloggers' list
Social profiles:
@tweetinghaijin
Google+ (Oh yes, I'm still on it)
Instagram, mirrored at The Picta
Slideshare
Sulekha
Fictionaut
Medium
Quora
Foursquare
Bonobology
YouTube
MuseIndia's YourSpace (with Shernaz Wadia)
(Yup, I'm all over the place.)
Write to me:
iambecomedeath@gmail.com
azhvan@yahoo.co.in
*since fulfilled at the Amaravati Poetic Prism 2016 with a somewhat expensive shawl presented by a surly Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
**with the constraints of money, family bonds, asthmatic lungs, and inescapable laziness.