I have just returned from a wonderful visit to India, and as usual I spent most of my time in Punjab visiting family and friends, with a day or two in Delhi. The main reason for my visit this time…
Relevance of Education & Awareness Month November designated by California to Guru Nanak Prakash Utsav
The Sikh council of Central California celebrated Sikh Awareness month November ACR 25 (Wieckowski) dedicated to Guru Nanak Prakash Utsav at Kerman Unified School District, Kerman, California on November 16, 2013. The conversational type seminar was attended by Superintendents of Kerman and…
Know Your Poets: Zehra Nigah
A poet, whose work I greatly admire is Zehra Nigah, who like me had to cross the border in 1947. Only she crossed into that line drawn in the sand to the other side into Pakistan, while I crossed over to India.
Punjabi Poem by Pashaura Singh Dhillon – A Tribute to the Ghadrites on the Centenary of the Founding of the Ghadar Party
The Ghadar Party was founded in a distant land from India in San Francisco a century ago in 1913. The centenary celebration was held at the ‘Yugantar Ashram’ the original headquarters of the Ghadar Party at 5 Wood Street in…
Know Your Poets: Amrita Pritam’s Influential Poem ‘Ajj akhaan Waris Shah nu’ On Partition Violence Against Women That “Prickled My Heart And Touched My Soul”
Having worked half round the world as landscape architect for several years, I finally made central valley California my home when along with my wife and two children we bought a house in Fresno in 1992. Shifting gears from landscaping…
What is Poetry and What Makes People Write it?
I enjoy reading interviews with other poets and frequent websites on the craft of poetry. What is interesting to me is that inevitably someone will ask the question of what even constitutes poetry and what makes poets write it. While I am sure novelists and short story writers are asked this question from time to time, poets are asked this question much more frequently. These interviews, articles on poetry, and numerous books that have entire sections devoted to this aspect tells me how many times this question must have been asked before, with many answers in the past, yet the inquiry to get at the bottom of it all has not been diminished. Nor would it prevent the inquirer to ask and the poet to answer this question in the future. And I must admit, it is a question and answer I look forward to reading or listening to as well!