Author: Vandana Shanker

“How Shall I Love You?” is a poem that pays homage to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s classic sonnet “How Do I Love Thee?”. By mimicking Browning’s introspective and expressive style, it explores the depths and dimensions of love, reflecting on the myriad ways one can express profound affection and devotion. Through its thoughtful imitation, the poem celebrates the timeless theme of love and the influence of literary tradition. How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 – 1861 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul…

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A few days ago, I came across one of the books that had troubled me so much when I first read it – over a decade ago. M.M.Kaye’s The Shadow of the Moon. I enjoyed reading the book; at the same time, it left me strangely upset. It tells the story of an English woman during the uprising of 1857. Forced out of her tame Anglo-Indian life, she lives in the harem among women who seem ignorant and complacent, deals with maliciousness and lust of the natives till the mutiny ends and hero, her protector in India returns. Since then…

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