Chrysanthemum Chronicles' Podcast

Oh! The surreptitious vogue of Bansuriwala,

Enchanting the mortals with his melodious strain.

Enlivening the morbid hearts dissimulated in the canopy of mist

As he nonchalantly moves across the lane.

For full reading of the poem, you can request a copy by sending your query to [email protected]

Indrani Chatterjee is a perfective homemaker and mother of an only autistic child. Even from the barred layer of felicity, her emotions occasionally well up to inundate the white in blue. Nothing is ceremonial in her revelation and approach, purely self motivated. She only wishes her readers to glide along with the rhythmic undulations of her penmanship. She's a co-author of the Shiva anthology titled 'Aniconic Cosmic Dancer', and another anthology based on the theme of love which has been published in the Anniversary Edition of 2022. Both are initiatives of the House of Chrysanthemum Chronicles.

She is also an ardent music lover specializing in Rabindra Sangeet (songs composed by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore). Currently she is pursuing a Senior Diploma in the same. She also pursues Karaoke singing and performs on social media platforms. Her son also shares the same love for music. It shapes the bonding between them.

This is the saddest story I have ever heard.”

That was the first thought which crossed through my mind;

The crowd stood around, watching, as the big shots conferred,

To the real problem that had ensued, they were quite blind.

The day had begun like any other day, as noon followed dawn

Two different religions, in a land that claimed to be secular and sane,

The followers shouted chants, the long lines meandered on,

Processions, each following their own designated lane.

All would have gone well, if the two had not met,

If two roads had diverged and the groups had gone by,

However, it took just one raucous voice to disturb the whole set,

One loud shout that rankled, followed by a rallying war cry.

For a full reading of the Poem, you can get a copy of 'Monochrome Verses' our latest Coffee Table Book, by sending a query to [email protected]

Bzzt...bzzt the phone vibrates on the side table of your bed. The light impedes your eyes and you pick the device up with eyes half open, half closed; but the number that is reflecting on the screen takes you with surprise, brings you back to senses and you are still in awe. It’s a call from beyond, will you answer it? What would be your first feeling, joy, excitement, or fear? Because that place called ‘beyond’ is where earth finishes and so does life.

Chrysanthemum Chronicles: A Contemporary Publishing House brings to you an audio poetry book entitled ‘A Call from Beyond’ made by love from Cc and with the voices given by the poets themselves who wrote their poems for this theme. This audiobook is a gift from all of us here at Cc and from the contributing poets for this Christmas season. Let there be love light and blessings. Stay till the end to listen to some of the brilliant poetry by the collaborative efforts of some of the greatest women poets of the time. The poets' names in order who have given their voices are  Sheerin Shahab, Gowri Bhargav,  Shristee Singh, Soumya Bharathi, Jyoti Nair, Daisy Bala, Dr. Paromita Mukherjee Ojha, Chandrika R. Krishnan, Nandita De nee Chatterjee and Dr. Shweta Mathur Lall.

All the different music credit rests to varied artists at Pixabay Royalty Free Music Website. 

Fortunate are the ones who can take a call for themselves, unlike Shubhadra who had grown up on borrowed grains. She looked resplendent, dressed head to toe in bridal finery. A bride who shall be envied for being a ‘SadaSuhagan’ for time immemorial. A bride who will be revered and plundered simultaneously. A bride who shall be a concubine to many but a companion to none. Lady of the Lord; married to the Gods- A Devadasi!

Every night she dressed as a bride and consummated her marriage. Her heart sang the song of distress, knowing well that no one would reply....

‘Always remember the bride, you cursed,

Shattered within, plundered on earth.

Her soul is parched, her eyes a dried well,

Alas! I am a bride, who didn’t cry, but died within.’

The author has chosen through her story a tribute to all the women who suffered in silence, this abominable custom of DEVADASI. It was practised extensively in South-East Asia and Southern states of India, for centuries. Though it’s now banned it’s still practiced in its contorted version.

#About the Author

Dr Shweta Mathur Lall is a practicing dentist by profession and a writer at heart. She explicitly expresses herself through words and loves to pen down her thoughts. She has excellent oratory skills and has diligently compered many functions. She loves to travel, explore places and nature in its simplicity.

Background Score/ Music by :Music by GoodBMusic from Pixabay

Ellaraine Lockie is widely awarded and published, both nationally and internationally, as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Sex and Other Slapsticks is her fourteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won the Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, Encircle Publications Chapbook Competition and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Her poems have found their ways onto broadsides, buses, rented cars, bicycles, cabins, greeting cards, key chains, bookmarks, mugs, coffee sack labels, church bulletins, radio shows and cable TV. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops, frequently judges poetry contests and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.

This is her Weekly Poetry Podcast powered by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.

Ellaraine Lockie is widely awarded and published, both nationally and internationally, as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Sex and Other Slapsticks is her fourteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won the Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, Encircle Publications Chapbook Competition and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Her poems have found their ways onto broadsides, buses, rented cars, bicycles, cabins, greeting cards, key chains, bookmarks, mugs, coffee sack labels, church bulletins, radio shows and cable TV. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops, frequently judges poetry contests and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.

This is her Weekly Poetry Podcast powered by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.

Music by WinkingFoxMusic from Pixabay

There is a tyrannized bride, Gauri, in the story whose tears at one point of her life, couldn’t relieve her of her plight; so she was advised not to cry. The same bride, after suffering years of trauma finds herself in a different situation later on. The new situation is one where there is only strength and positivity. There is no thought of tears at all for she has by then woken up to the power she has in determining her own happiness and growth. She looks back to her torturous past only to carry forward the beautiful and useful from there. In helping her realize her own worth and strength is the ‘new man’, with leanings towards the female principle, like the God Shiva. In the story Shankar comes into Gauri’s life, helps her understand her strengths and shows her the trick to subdue her weaknesses; the trick being complete faith and dedication to her chosen passion in life. After his work is done, Shankar exits from her life, leaving her with her bethrothed, who is also called Shiva, in a flood of beauty and love of her own making. The story intends to say that we are the creator, destroyer and preserver of our own lives on earth. We only need to choose truth and beauty and Shiva, the symbolic creator, destroyer and preserver, is our friend for life!

#About the Author

Preeti Brahmin hails from the Darjeeling hills. She has been  an educator of children  in  village  schools for the last twenty years in the Terai and Dooars of North Bengal . Between looking after her  children in school and two girls at home she tries to find time to pen down  her thoughts and experiences into poems or stories. She enjoys reading, gardening , wondering , growing and bonding with nature. '

Ellaraine Lockie is widely awarded and published, both nationally and internationally, as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Sex and Other Slapsticks is her fourteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won the Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, Encircle Publications Chapbook Competition and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Her poems have found their ways onto broadsides, buses, rented cars, bicycles, cabins, greeting cards, key chains, bookmarks, mugs, coffee sack labels, church bulletins, radio shows and cable TV. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops, frequently judges poetry contests and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.

This is her Weekly Poetry Podcast powered by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.

Music credit : https://pixabay.com/music/upbeat-background-ambient-corporate-c-by-winkingfox-2245/

Ellaraine Lockie is widely awarded and published, both nationally and internationally, as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Sex and Other Slapsticks is her fourteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won the Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, Encircle Publications Chapbook Competition and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Her poems have found their ways onto broadsides, buses, rented cars, bicycles, cabins, greeting cards, key chains, bookmarks, mugs, coffee sack labels, church bulletins, radio shows and cable TV. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops, frequently judges poetry contests and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.

This is her Weekly Poetry Podcast powered by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.

Music by MichaelKobrin from Pixabay

The first poem in The Weekly Poetry Podcast is 'An Unholy Halo that dims in the Pandemic' read by Ellaraine Lockie. 

Ellaraine Lockie is widely awarded and published, both nationally and internationally, as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Sex and Other Slapsticks is her fourteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won the Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Collection Award from Purple Patch magazine in England, Encircle Publications Chapbook Competition and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Her poems have found their ways onto broadsides, buses, rented cars, bicycles, cabins, greeting cards, key chains, bookmarks, mugs, coffee sack labels, church bulletins, radio shows and cable TV. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops, frequently judges poetry contests and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.

 This is her Weekly Poetry Podcast powered by Chrysanthemum Chronicles.