ivy

Hoooooray! I have been voted "Person of the Year 2006" by "Time" Magazine for my blog , my website , my MySpace, Tagworld and Facebook Profiles and for my editorship of Wikipedia . So has my hubby and everyone else who has embraced "la Nouvelle Technologie". What a wonderful world we do live in!!!
"Persecution makes one stronger,look at the case of the Jewish people"
"Seeking Justice is far more noble than seeking Revenge!"
"Inspite of everything, Love still makes my world go round"
"It's great to receive, but even greater to give"
"A Poet is seldom recognised in his own country, especially one who has been gang (group)- stalked (google this)and black-listed for 25 years ."
Salut mes amis francophones!
Historienne de formation, ex-fonctionnaire, auteur, chroniqueur et journaliste,femme fatale, cuisiniere , chauffeur,jardiniere, femme, mère, grande-mère, tante et grande-tante. Ces differents roles m'ont conduite de Kuala Lumpur a Singapour, puis a Karachi et enfin dans les environs de Paris, ou nous vivons, ma famille et moi, depuis 24 ans. Dans l'introduction de mon livre "Singapore Accent" ,j'ecrivais "l'avocat du diable court le risque d'etre pris pour le diable lui-meme". C'est cette meme volonte de veracite qu'est dedie ce site ; renoncer a se poser des questions, c'est renoncer a l'existence.
Meera & Steve

p'tit repas entre amis!
Vermont Retreat painting by Chandran
TWO OF MY HUSBAND'S POEMS
SOME DAY IVY, THE SNOW WILL SEEM HAPPY AGAIN
in arizona
the trees grew leaves in crazy patterns
and in the snow was inviolable happiness.
in lafeyette park
when the young sun closed your eyes
you were winefilled, smiled and were beautiful.
in kirrimuir, in scotland
on someone else's doorstep, again in snow
you have sat and waited for love
to grow into an unified being, not doubting,
rehearsing the happy days already lived
in other places, for the final affirmation
and it did not come.
so now in this fenced in balcony
you sit with these year old slides
letting the japanese viewer light up eyes.
with no resentment, you can cry
and I can bear to feel your past happiness
melt into your anguish tasting your tears
slowly mixing their salt into snow.
while your voice, now strong, now fading
moves a wind in some high mountain
whispering, questioning, sad but not sorrowful.
and even if I want to, I cannot touch you
or comfort you. I am external to your past.
(From After the Hard Hours This Rain by Chandran Nair)
About me:
"Every dog has its day!"
Born in the Chinese Year of the Dog, I am happily married and a mother of 3 girls. I have a house in Paris, France, and a condo in Singapore; a daughter working in Cardiff, Wales, another in Philadelphia, USA, and the youngest (Chandrika) studying microbiology in the UK. All three topped their school (EAJBM) in the International Baccaleurate exams and the two eldest (both Welcome Trust Scholars) have PH.Ds (doctorates) from Oxford (neuro-science) and Edinburgh (Immunology), respectively. The eldest (Radha) is a lauréate of the prestigious French Concours Général (founded in 1747 and counting, among others, Lavoisier, Robespierre (aaargh!), Camille Desmoulins, Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Louis Pasteur,Jean Jaurés, Georges Pompidou among its members) and the second (Meera) holds a first class honours degree (microbiology) from Imperial College of London.I graduated from Greenfield High School, Greenfield, Wisconsin,USA in 1965, the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, in 1969, and La Sorbonne University, Paris, France in 1987. I was an AFS (American Field Service) exchange student from Malaysia to the US from 1964 to 1965. I have been a senior civil servant of Singapore, author , columnist, journalist and wife of United Nations (UNESCO) diplomat, first in Karachi then in Paris. My husband, Chandran Nair, is also an established poet and writer. He retired recently as a UN civil servant & a Mediator (Ombudsman) of Unesco in Paris. Check out my website and my husband's website.
But more importantly,
I AM NOT:
A snob, a liar, a heartless capitalist, an uncaring parent, a selfish wife, an ungrateful friend, a miser, a spendthrift, a boor, a gossip, a hypocrite, a lily-livered fence sitter, a pushover, a sucker, a spy, a bully, a racist, a bigot, an energy guzzler, a sycophant, a back-stabber, a neo-con, a religious fanatic, a Bush supporter, a gang (group) stalker. . .
Meet my best friend in Philly, Mattie .
GRANDFATHER
(The following poem will be used by the University of Cambridge International Examinations for their examination papers)
The seventy six years beneath his eyes
burst like rain, flood my earth with desolation;
his seventy six years have compromised my eyes
into a hardness that grows on me,
the imprint of his frown I wear
without his laughter.
grandfather walks the bunds of seasons,
ploughing, sowing and harvesting years.
In drought stricken months
he wears his old age as lightly as his beard,
his smile transcends.
to be born from unlucky seeds,
a friend once wrote, is tragedy;
the curse flows unmuted, immutable--
only the hot stares of the gods persuade the proud.
gods bothered him,
but temples missed his sacrifice.
he found truth, relief, away from divinity,
spacing out years in padi fields,
unfolding particular nuances, lack of attainment.
like the padi stalk, once green, easily bent,
he grew with age, aged to ripened toughness
to resist anger, misfortunes of stricken years
with dignity, unpersuaded.
(From Once The Horsemen by Chandran Nair)
Grandma(Poh Poh "I knows it") & Baby Menna Bhargavi