Hues and Dews Poetry

January 2008 ; just a few months after my family and I moved to the United States.       Hailing from the Southern part of India, to us snow was an abstract concept; something we witnessed occasionally in film songs and music videos.  It was sometime after the 3rd period in 6th grade when a kid yelled out "Hey look, it's snowing!". Along with the whole class, I turned towards the window too. To the kids around me, these powdery white flurries meant a seasonal occurrence; a simple reminder of the winter wonders. But for me, it was a monumental moment. An event like no other! Something I have never witnessed or experienced before in my life. It continued to snow and during my bus ride home, I just stared out through the window, completely mesmerized. We all played in the snow at our bus stop and all along the way to our homes. I am quite certain that I might have even crunched down a few handfuls of snow. What made this experience even sweeter was the fact that we...

    As the year 2025 has dawned upon us, we are flooded with "Happy New Year" texts from our loved ones and New Year wishes from our acquaintances. In a few days it will slowly fade and soon disappear. And then like clockwork, around this same time next year, there will come the resurgence of these New Year wishes. The first day or maybe even the first week of a particular year is celebrated and then pretty much swept under the rug. People often go back to their old habits and many even fail to followup with their resolutions,  most of which they themselves might have forgotten by then. Each day will only come once and when it is over, there is no going back. As we are mortal beings, there clearly is a limit to the amount of days we will get to live through. In this unpredictable journey called life, tomorrow is only a hope and never a promise. It is of utmost importance that we celebrate each minute and each hour of the day. As this epiphany has dawned upon me, I'l...

Ever since the hues were washed away from my life, it has become nothing but a blur.  Mundane agony and constant worries  have ended up covering it fully like fur.  But at this moment right now,  all that have become a memory; As I  stumble upon an aura, so luminous, vivid, and shimmery.  Along with the sky,  it is painting my soul and along with the surroundings,  it is lighting up my life.  An experience like no other; Something I have craved to see.  There it is, the alluring aurora, right in front of me. As I am floating high with euphoria, basking in this kaleidoscopic experience, I find myself asking if this is what a thousand rainbows look like.  Rithin. (keep scrolling down for photos and a little write-up) October 10, 2024 10:00 PM EST  The Northern Lights/ Aurora Borealis has been a phenomenon I have always wanted to witness/ experience at least once in my life. And how incredibly fortunate was I on that phenomenal ni...

"The truth is fluid. There is always another way to spin the story, another wrench to throw into the narrative. I have learned this now, if nothing else." - Yellowface by R.F Kuang As part of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, my public library had a section dedicated to books by Asian authors, encompassing both classic and contemporary fiction, memoirs and other non fiction books. This novel with its bright yellow cover instantly grabbed my attention and made me curious. I have heard about this recent book in many online avenues and wanted to know what the hype was about. And frankly, there were a lot of insights and wisdom I gained from this work of fiction. This book is a contemporary tell-all about the world of book publishing, describing in details the trials and tribulations one has to face, and the hurdles to be jumped in order to get a book published, but even more importantly, about staying relevant in the literary scene. The significance of soci...

Am I becoming more cynical or is this part of growing old? With a doomed outlook towards the future, suddenly my heart has turned cold.  It seems like life is only happening in cellphone screens; a land where everything needs to be documented. No one sees through their eyes or think with their minds as everyone has become blind and demented.  Since they can't take their eyes off the screen,  they will never see a person drowning or choking, even with the crying or screaming. How could anyone hear or see this,  as they cannot miss an update  from an influencer who is live streaming. As humanity and humility will soon die, the machines will make it impossible for humans to differentiate truth from a lie.  Today words and sentences are written for you by A.I; soon enough they will teach you how to smile or even cry. Hopeless and pessimistic,  let me finish writing down these words before the machines replace us and destroy this world in packs and herds....

     Up until I watched a 2008 film titled "Humboldt County" a few weeks ago, I had no idea about the "marijuana capital" of America with it's counterculture roots deeply embedded in the "back-to-the-land-movement". The film was an eye opener for me and really got me intrigued about the whole place. This interest and fascination led me to reading this well written book by Emily Brady.                                                                  Image courtesy: Amazon      Whatever a person's view on cannabis and it's legalization are, this book really serves as an important piece of history highlighting the struggles, risks, and turmoils faced by the cannabis farmers and traders, and how the federally illegal business become the backbone of the county's economy.  The author does a pheno...

Keep building mosque after mosque, church after church and temple after temple. After all, it is the best way to keep people separated; easy and simple. Almost two centuries ago, Karl Marx called religion "the opium of the masses". And even today, majority of this world blindly follows it like a bunch of sheep or ignorant asses.   God and religion are man made concepts created to separate people and make them fight each other; A weapon potent enough for somebody to blindly kill someone else of another faith even if it's their own mother.  This world will only see happiness the day we shun religion and give up this delusion. This world will only see peace the day we realize it is all a made up illusion. But until that, people will kill  each other over this made up idea, whether it is a Hindu, Christian,  Sunni Muslim or Shia.    -Rithin. huesanddewspoetry.blogspot.com. 

    It has rather always been the smaller works of literature that have often made a voluminous impact on me. To that list, including George Orwell's Animal Farm, Tania El Khoury's Garden Speak , I would like to add "The Cafe on the edge of the World" by John Strelecky.       Parallel to the protagonist stumbling upon a cafe in the middle of nowhere, I stumbled upon this book out of nowhere in a free book bin. Upon completing it, the sole question that plagued my soul was: "Why didn't I find this book before?". In today's hustle and grind culture with everything happening at an incredibly fast pace, sometimes a slow down, perhaps a mental vacation is much needed. This novel initially appeared as a mental vacation to me but soon enough turned into a map for the road ahead.       With simple words and a mystical premise, the novel makes one question their life and the purpose for living it. It transports one to a mythical place far away mu...

Stuck in an online world of vanity filled with makeup and muscle, along with toxic masculinity and the culture of grind and hustle. People seeking attention; oh, there are many. But what about those paying attention? Can’t seem to find any. -Rithin

After the thunder came the rain, with droplets made out of lead. The rivers flowed and flooded, but with endless blood shed. Can't even hope for an end to this living hell; as there are more unidentified bodies than pennies in this wishing well. -Rithin.

There is never a winner in the battlefield. There is no reward or even a worthy prize; Just lost lives and harrowing cries, And as usual, the innocents paying the price.  -Rithin.

I don't want to fit into,  or even conform to this world,  a social media platform. Too occupied with the likes  and follower count that if not videotaped,  does a good deed even count?  Too busy seeking  other's validation and approval that you must mute your inner thoughts.  How cruel?  People avoid being alone by seeking companionship,  often too many. But isn't sheer solitude  a man's greatest known company?  Go ahead and join the rat race,  partaking in the chaos and violence,  as I shall rather stay behind  and be left alone in my own silence; Some call it a "solitary confinement"  but I prefer "the kingdom of solitude". So go ahead, fight and riot, as I stay behind, peaceful and quiet.  -Rithin  @hues.and.dews.poetry

Some books are eye openers, while others leave you in shock. Then there are books that alter your perception and understanding forever.  I can say with confidence that "What The Eyes Don't See" by Mona Hanna-Attisha falls into the third category.  I found this book in the free bin at my local library bookstore and since I was ignorant and wanted to learn more about the Flint water crisis, I didn't have a second thought before grabbing the book. I was able to connect with the book as a doctor, a public health enthusiast, and as an immigrant.  Even though the author does a phenomenal job in underlining, investigating, and finally helping solve one of the worst water quality problems America has ever faced, the book shines in other categories too. With the mix of anecdotes about the author's life and the roots of activism that runs through her family, the readers get to connect and empathize with the author.  Instead of merely stating facts and figures, the author ad...

This book may be very thin but don’t let that fool you. The words within it are heavier than a hundred concrete blocks.  As someone who was unaware or rather ignorant about the crisis in Syria, this book served as an eye opener and a wake up call. The injustice and atrocities committed against Syrians by their own government regime and terrorist groups are beyond heart breaking. I really liked the letter writing format used by the author to tell the stories of each martyr. It adds a personal touch and creates more of an impact on the individual reader. Since the author asks the audience in the performance piece of this book to write a letter to the martyrs, I would like to further continue this analysis in a letter format. Dear martyrs, I was touched by each and every one of your stories. The words pierced my heart like bullets and crushed my soul like a fallen shell. It numbed everything inside me after each story and ended up leaving a void within myself. Tears were coming from m...

Everything happened so spontaneously!                                              Image courtesy: Goodreads It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was enjoying that week's The New Yorker fiction issue. I came across and enjoyed reading a fiction piece called " Arrivals " by Bryan Washington. Finding a sudden liking for the writer's style and close to real life characters, I was instantaneously looking for more works by the author. I suddenly found myself driving to the public library and picking up a copy of his novel "Memorial". Having read and enjoyed " Call me by your name " by André Aciman, before reading the Memorial, the latter felt like the former's stark contrast (definitely not in a bad way). While CMBYN seemed almost too dreamy, Memorial seemed more rough and real. While the scenes of CMBYN had a poetic nuance embedded in them, Memorial gave a more raw, humanly tou...

Even with temperatures out of normal range, People still aren’t addressing the climate change.  Wild fires, flash flooding, and even a drought; This too is a pandemic no one is talking about.  With global temperatures on the rise We are heading towards this planet’s demise.  Already too late but better late than never; At least act now, more than ever!  -Rithin.  @hues.and.dews.poetry  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading the newspaper or watching television, there is nothing but a plethora of news about heat waves, glacier melting, flash flooding, sudden drought, wildfires, and so forth. Climate change is very real and is very much happening right now. This could have been prevented decades ago but we didn’t bother. Time is running out as this ecosystem and environment has become nothing but a ticking time bomb, awaiting one natural disaster after the other. Enough is enou...

I get anxious when I go out  And lonely when I stay in.  Too shy to hangout with real people  And fully aware of fake profiles online.  Could there be a middle ground  Or even a compromise? Because, I am too old to go back to the womb  And certainly too young to end up in a tomb.  -Rithin.  @hues.and.dews.poetry 

The world has turned into an inter-web of lies, as our lives have become scripted and staged.  Memories are Facebook reminders  about photos from years ago; And friends and follower count  determines a person’s popularity.  As everything has become fake  and only seen through Instagram filters, what’s clear and what’s real? -Rithin. 

  In honor of Pride month, I chose to read the novel “Call me by your name” for the month of June. It felt more like a beautiful ballad than a novel to me.                         Image courtesy: Goodreads The words spoke to me like sheer poetry, gifting my mind a visual treat with the seamless flow of phrases and sentences.   I had watched (and forgotten) the movie adaptation so many years ago but it failed to give me the feel and experience the novel gave me. Not only does the reader get a chance to enter into the sacred world of Elio, they are also able to feel the heartbreak. The reader lives through the pages, getting a chance to clearly see Italy through their imagination. Along with Elio, the reader feels a glimmer of hope, despite very well knowing that things will not end up the way one hopes they would.   The novel and certainly it's ending can be compared to an aged wine; despite the sweetness, there i...

Bullets showering this world like rain, Leaving behind nothing except agony and pain.  Loud enough to silence begging and screams; Always ending with blood enough to fill lakes and streams.  But with a system so twisted and bend, To this menace, will there ever be an end? -Rithin.  @hues.and.dews.poetry