The Elephant Whisperer

(Review of an Oscar Winning Short Film from India 2023)

The Elephant Whisperers, a short Documentary which has won the Best Documentary Short Film Oscar for The 95th Academy Awards in 2023; is a profoundly beautiful bonding and love story between Bowman and Bellie, both single adults, and a baby elephant adopted by them. The baby elephant’s mother had been tragically killed earlier as a background to the movie. Leaving the tiny baby elephant on his own…

by Rebecca Lyle, USA

Artificial Discourses: Conversations about Artificial Intelligence (AI)

(A Tech-Article on Evaluating AI for and by Individuals)

Saturday morning… The sun is not yet up. Bleary-eyed and throat scratchy, I make a coffee and trundle over to my computer. Switching it on, I take my first blessed sip. Ahhhh… The World is still and silent bliss. “Hello, Michael. How are you this morning?” I am startled by this sudden Greeting… Despite my misgivings, I croak a feeble… “Hi Froddo. Quit the theatrics and let’s get straight to work. What is Today’s Report?”…

by Michael Hislop, Australia

Living with Natural Herbs: Fenugreek

(An Article on Herbs, Food and Lifestyle from India)

Looking medicinally, Fenugreek is a native herb from Asia, Africa, Mediterranean, and Europe similar to clover. Seeds and leaves and seeds are used widely in foods and medicine across different cultures. They are packed with nutrients. They lend a good aroma and are versatile to use. In this article we will mainly focus on the food side of Fenugreek.

by Jayashree Trao, India

Hamlet’s Dilemma from Ray’s Calcutta

(A literary review of Satyajit Ray’s movie “Kapurush”)

Hamlet is one such paramount character of enormous complexity of utter desolation, brackishness and cynicism arising from Shakespeare’s play. Hamlet suffered from indecisiveness, hesitancy and contradictions. Many analytical brains for centuries have been impatient in deciphering and analyzing it but none have dared to live the life of it…

by Prabhas Lahiri, India

The Blue Bird Book Store

(A short story of small town rural America)

It was a cold December day, and I was a bit sad. It seemed like a long, lonely drive as I always took the back roads instead of the interstates. It had been a while since I visited the old homestead and while it always awakened good memories it was a sad lonesome and abandoned place. It was my home for many years and some of my most cherished memories were made on that old tobacco farm…

by Larry Tyler, USA

Aghoris

(A short-story on India’s Mysticism)

Aghori Sadhus in some parts of North India are well known. Some people in those parts, especially women and children are afraid of them. But why they should be feared – because they don’t even have an inch of reason to live in reality. They believe and live all the time in some transcendental reality and mood. Thus I was hearing some stories about Aghori Sadhus from my mother as I was growing up. Later on I knew more about Aghori Sadhus – the disciples and followers of Lord Shiva…

by Pragya Suman, India

Artificial Intelligence - AI and Art of Haiku

(An Art-Tech article on AI and Haiku)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an in-thing or a buzzword in technology circles these days. The Generative-AI is being tried for all types of writings – poems, stories, blogs etc., with varying degree of success. On the other hand, Generative-AI is used for converting text lines to images as well. The article by Connie Gregory on AI and the Art of Haiku is thus at the interface of the technology and art - Art-Tech in general…

by Constantine Gregory (USA)

Romancing the Portugal

(A travelogue to Portugal)

We were a group of four, with two of our friends who also live in our community. We were planning to travel together to Italy, and they suggested a trip to Portugal. Portugal was an intriguing country. I was a novice and ready to explore anywhere or somewhere old with history, yet new to me. I was excited to explore a country I knew little about, but excited to experience and learn…

by Sheila Solomon, USA

Marriages Smell Sweet in Nigeria

(An Article on Culture from Nigeria)

Try to attend a marriage in Nigeria, with the aroma of the foods, the sweet smell of wines, the strong smell of schnapps, the reeking smell of tobacco, and the fragrance of perfume come together and smell sweet in the air. As the brides change multiple attires, and waltz and strut to walk away on the runway of the new life envied by spinsters and other bachelorettes, the marriages keep on smelling sweet and sweeter after them.

by Atungwu Allan Di’Eldra, Nigeria

Race To Fairyland

(A Children’s Story from England)

The race to fairyland is a race unlike any other in the world. All life that lives here looks forward to this wondrous event throughout the year. It is a time of celebration of all life living within this magical world.
This year, the elders have chosen to invite two boys from outside of the fairyland as well. What would they make of this enchanting world.

by Georgina Robb, UK

An Immersive Art-Exhibit Evening with Van Gough

(An Art-Tech article from USA)

The latest trends in the art-exhibit world are immersive-art-exhibitions of legends like Gough, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and others. My own first experience with immersive art exhibits, displayed on the huge walls as well as on the ceiling above and the floor below, came recently with traveling Van Gogh's exhibition in San Francisco…

by DS, USA

Jorpokhri: A Magical Place in Himalayas

(A travelogue into Himalayas from India)

The blue-green hills of eastern Himalayas had beckoned us. In our quest to go far from the jaded monotone of city life, we had traveled to Jorpokhri, a pine-wrapped, mist-enveloped mountaintop in Darjeeling district in India…

by Pritha Lahiri, India