Puja Nominated for Best of the Net

This year Durga Puja will begin October 9. Durga Puja is a festival that lasts a week. It is not a huge festival in many places in India, except in West Bengal. In West Bengal, it is a big and exciting time of the year. In 1994 I was privileged to experience Durga Puja in Kolkata (Calcutta).

I ended up writing a poem about it. But I wasn’t satisfied. In fact, I spent the next 17 years working on the poem. Rewriting and rewriting. Tweaking really, no major rewrites. Over and over. This was a poem I refused to give up on.

As if this week couldn’t get any better, I received and e-mail Tuesday morning (India Standard Time) from the publisher of Z-Composition Elizabeth Akin Stelling (@EAkinStelling), where the poem finally found a home.

“Puja” has been nominated for Best of the Net!

To quote Eminem, is this week “crazy insane or insane crazy?”

The poem will also be one of the poems in my forthcoming chapbook, “Mera Bharat”.