Borderless Journal

17/11/2023

Humans should live as long as they want to.
Like a ruler of any impoverished nation,
God has seemingly dictated even our retirement age!

Poetry by Quazi Johirul Islam, translated from Bengali by Fakrul Alam

Poetry by Quazi Johirul Islam, translated from Bengali by Fakrul Alam The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo(1475-1564), Sistine Chapel. Courtesy: Creative Commons One day I too burst …

16/11/2023

As director, producer, designer, actor and professor, Raj Bisaria has left an indelible mark. Press Trust of India described him as “Father of the modern theatre in North India”. Raj Bisaria founded Theatre Arts Workshop in 1966 and Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1975 in Lucknow. He taught English literature for more than three decades at the University of Lucknow. He is the first to receive Padma Shree from Uttar Pradesh for his contribution to modern theatre.

Book review by Ranu Uniyal

Book Review by Ranu Uniyal Title: I am Not the Gardener: Selected Poems by Raj Bisaria Author: Raj Bisaria Publisher: Terra Firma, Bangalore Here is a book that I have been waiting for. In s…

16/11/2023

One year ago, on World Tolerance Day, we were delighted to launch the first collection from Borderless Journal. We have completed a year & in that year we fared well as you can read in this link —

https://borderlessjournal.com/our-anthology/

We had six reviews, a number of launches and readings. Many said they loved the book. We are grateful to the publisher and their editorial team for helping us move into hardcopy.

We would love to do more anthologies in hard copies. However, to move to our next anthology, we need to sell more copies. We urge you all the pitch in. Monalisa No Longer Smiles is in Om bookstores and some more Bookshops across India. Here are the Amazon links —

India: https://www.amazon.in/Monalisa-No-Longer-Smiles-Anthology/dp/9394046038/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10D5EM57P6QF5&keywords=Monalisa+No+Longer+Smiles

International: https://www.amazon.com/Monalisa-No-Longer-Smiles-Anthology/dp/9394046038/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

You can watch our first launch — exactly a year ago — at this link: https://fb.watch/gQFFwzq4pJ/

15/11/2023

Every morning when the forest wakes
The canopy goes for a walk
Hailing the sun, courting the wind
Discussing fruit and weather

Poetry by Mamang Dai

Title: The White Shirts of Summer: New and Selected Poems Author: Mamang Dai Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books Hello, Mountain Every morning when the forest wakes The canopy goes for a walk Hailing t…

14/11/2023

Huge thanks to the Borderless team, our contributors and readers

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/11/14/counting-colours/

Welcome to Borderless Journal November 2023 Issue

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/11/14/counting-colours/

Click on the link to read

14/11/2023

Thank you for welcoming Borderless November 2023.

Borderless November 2023 issue is live now🎉

Art by Sohana Manzoor Editorial Counting Colours… Click here to read. Conversation Banjara author Ramesh Karthik Nayak discusses his new book, Chakmak (flintsone), giving us a glimpse of his …

13/11/2023

Borderless November 2023 issue will be live soon ⚡️

https://borderlessjournal.com/

Thanks Sohana Manzoor for the fabulous artwork

13/11/2023

Meredith Stephens explores Japanese and Californian hot springs with her camera and narrative.

Meredith Stephens explores Japanese and Californian hot springs with her camera and narrative. One of the pleasures of living in Japan is taking a dip in the hot springs, otherwise known as onsen. …

13/11/2023

I turn that corner, towards the galloping glue factory homestretch,
stumble upon this wild patch of purple deadnettle…

Poetry by Ryan Quinn Flanagan

By Ryan Quinn Flanagan Courtesy: Creative Commons Purple Deadnettle, at the Foot of a Failing Rockface I turn that corner, towards the galloping glue factory homestretch, stumble upon this wil…

12/11/2023

The street lay wet and shimmering after the afternoon rains. I stood at the window sipping tea, enjoying the cool breeze for a moment entranced by the glitter of the raindrops falling off the potted plants, on window sills and ledges, down electric poles and wires by the street crossings where crows and pigeons preened and shivered like musical notes.

Short story by Nirmala Pillai

By Nirmala Pillai Chawls in Mumbai. Courtesy: Creative Commons The street lay wet and shimmering after the afternoon rains. I stood at the window sipping tea,…

11/11/2023

Festive Greetings to all of you.

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/11/11/lighting-lamps-of-love/

Borderless Journal brings to you a special edition with writings that inspire an awe of the Universe, love and kindness. We hugely thank our contributors: Shareefa Beegam P P, Sister Lou Ella Hickman, Mitra Samaj, Jonathan Chan, Gayatri Majumdar, Sohana Manzoor, Lakshmi Kannan, Marcelo Medone, Parnil Yodha, G Venkatesh, Suzanne Kamata and with translations of Tagore by Fakrul Alam, Nazrul by Sohana Manzoor and Atta Shad by Fazal Baloch.

https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/11/11/lighting-lamps-of-love/
Click on the link to read

11/11/2023

The last month of a difficult year. Let us look back on the year and think of a way out together. Write for us stories of love and compassion— of kindness that will help us unite under the umbrella of humanity. If you know migrants or refugees, tell us their stories… Let us write to heal wounds. Let us invoke humour to laugh away hardships.
Look forward to your narratives in poetry or prose. Submit as per the submission guidelines please.

All submissions need to be in .doc format and double spaced (in case of prose) with the name of the writer on top with the title. Please send your submissions with a brief third person bio (30 word…

10/11/2023

One Among You, a translation of Stalin’s Tamil autobiography, Ungalil Oruvan, is the story of the first twenty-three years of his life, from 1953 to 1976. These formative years witnessed Stalin’s school and college days, his early involvement with the DMK and his integral role in the party publication, Murasoli. But Stalin’s journey extends beyond politics. He also had a profound connection to the world of theatre and cinema…

Book review by Bhaskar Parichha

Book Review by Bhaskar Parichha Title: One Among You: The Autobiography of M.K. Stalin Translator: A S Panneerselvan Publisher: Penguin Viking Muthuvel Karunanidhi, or MK Stalin, is a …

10/11/2023

Clouds like pillows
smother the moonlight,
as waves beat the shore…

Poetry by George Freek

NIGHT AT WONDER LAKE Clouds like pillows smother the moonlight, as waves beat the shore, as if it were a door they’re unable to open. Like a moving circus the cosmos passes over my head, and I stil…

09/11/2023

Can anyone say for sure, when Japan and Kerala or, for that matter, Japanese and Malayalam languages, came into contact for the first time? No, it is all buried in the chronicles of yore! This is so, in spite of the legendary Bodhidharma travelling from somewhere in the South-West part of India (Kerala?) to China on its way to Japan in AD 520, albeit still disputed!

An essay by Dr. KPP Nambiar, who created the first Malayalam-Japanese Dictionary.

By Dr. KPP Nambiar Can anyone say for sure, when Japan and Kerala or, for that matter, Japanese and Malayalam languages, came into contact for the first time? No, it is all buried in the chronicles…

08/11/2023

Dreaming when Dawn’s Left Hand was in the Sky
I turned to Dawn with a very deep sigh,
“Crikey, dear, that’s a massive hand you’ve got.
Why not get out of bed and bring me coffee—a lot?”

Rhys Hughes’ The Coffee Rubaiyat —

From Alien Buddha Press Kindle edition Title: The Coffee Rubaiyat Author: Rhys Hughes Publisher: Alien Buddha Press Introduction The famous old poem called The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is known to …

07/11/2023

It was a few nights later that she came into my room. It must have been around midnight. She had not put on any lights in the house. She walked in like a ghost and sat crouched in a chair near my bed.

Short story by Neera Kashyap

By Neera Kashyap It took me a long time to understand that before each ‘episode’, Ma would have her mood. I was eleven on the first occasion. It was a Sunday and already noon, but Ma hadn’t bathed …

06/11/2023

We have tied bunches of kaash and
strung garlands of shefali.
We have decorated the wicker tray
with new-sprung paddy.

Tagore’s autumnal lyrics in translation

Written in 1908, Amra Bedhechhi Kasher Guchho (We have Tied Bunches of Kash) was published as a part of Gitanjali in Bengali in 1910. Kaash. Courtesy: Creative Commons We have Tied Bunches of …

05/11/2023

The red carpet is laid out right from the entrance gate to the podium where the newlywed couple remain ensconced in plush royal chairs to receive guests trudging with gifts and bouquets. The kick one gets when one walks on it is indescribable, as real-life experiences of such episodes remain fresh and permanently etched on my memory. It is the closest to what ordinary mortals can ever experience of celebrity status.

Musings from Devraj Singh Kalsi

By Devraj Singh Kalsi Courtesy: Creative Commons Even if it has nothing to do with Cannes or any other star-studded celebrity jamboree or political protocol, walking the red carpet is a dream come …

04/11/2023

And while I slept I dreamed
of a problem philosophical,
namely who has the
twitchiest whiskers.
Mysore cats?

Poetry by Rhys Hughes

By Rhys Hughes Courtesy: Creative Commons I decided to go to Mysore because it seemed quite rude not to pay it a visit while I was in the mood. Ate too much food. Mysore tum! Sat on a porcupine. My…

03/11/2023

Makoto Shinkai is a giant in the world of anime…His first work as a director was a five-minute long monochrome Japanese animation movie titled Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko (She and her cat) released in 1999 which won grand prize the DoGA CG Animation Contest in 2000. In 2013, Shinkai along with Nagakawa wrote a novel under the same name, whose English translation, She and Her Cat, was released in 2022.

Book review by Aditi Yadav

Book Review by Aditi Yadav Title: She and Her Cat Author: Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa Translator: Ginny Tapley Takemori Publisher: Penguin Random House Makoto Shinkai is a giant in the world…

02/11/2023

Smoking under the
bleak wintery overcast
memories of your
bright summery laugh dissipates
into a fleeting mist.

Poetry by Rex Tan along with two translated paras of Tang dynasty poet Yuan Zhen

Poetry and translation by Rex Tan A Homage to Yuan Zhen’s Grief of Separation* Shall I compare an ocean’s vastness to the width of the greatest river? The evening sky pales to the azure of th…

01/11/2023

The one-storey school, perched high up on the brow of a hill, overlooked the turquoise-tainted Indian Ocean. The large windows of his class afforded pupil and professor much visual pleasure when grammar became too much of a bore, and Mr Richards too weary or hot to break the boredom.

A story about a tsunami & the dark roll of revenge… by Paul Mirabile

By Paul Mirabile Mr Richards, employed by the British Council, had been teaching English at a posh, private preparatory school in Thailand for more than four years in the Province of Prachuap Khira…

31/10/2023

While the horror generated by wars deeply saddens with its ultimate disregard for all kinds of flora and fauna, including humans, the horrific as we savour in festivals can cease to be terrifying. It can even be cathartic…
Showcasing writings from across the world by Michael Burch, Tulip Chowdhury, S Ramakrishnan, B Chandramouli, Rhys Hughes, Paul Mirabile and Jay Nicholls

Courtesy: Creative Commons Can horror be fun? While the horror generated by wars deeply saddens with its ultimate disregard for all kinds of flora and fauna, including humans, the horrific as we sa…

31/10/2023

Sometimes we catch them out of the corners of our eyes—
the pale dead.

Poems on Halloween by Michael Burch

By Michael Burch A statue of Lorelei on the Rhine. Courtesy: Creative Commons SIREN SONG The Lorelei’s soft cries entreat mariners to save her … How can they resist her seductive voice throug…

30/10/2023

Halloween in Massachusetts digs into memories of my childhood’s haunted and ghost-ridden world in a Bangladeshi village. I was scared then, but now it’s more about exploring life. Life balances fears and hopes, sorrow and joy; between it all, ghosts, jinns, fairies, and angels hold me spellbound in real life. I relish every magical moment of it.

A musing from Tulip Chowdhury — a migrant’s relish for Halloween…

By Tulip Chowdhury Bengali Spooks. Courtesy: Creative Commons Around the early ’70s, in my village home in Bangladesh, we kept ourselves far away from anything spelled “ghost or ji…

29/10/2023

We divide and unite,
while they conquer all sides.
We scream hail,
while they spew deceit.

Poetry from Maldives by Hawla Riza

By Hawla Riza THESE POLITICIANS! We divide and unite, while they conquer all sides. We scream hail, while they spew deceit. Look at us standing, offering flowers and worship. Their talks of hope, c…

28/10/2023

I am fascinated by robots. They are not always what people expect. Sometimes they are soft and fuzzy. As soon as I learned of the robo-seal, I wanted to put it into a story. However, I sometimes feel uneasy about the replacement of humans by robots…

Notes from Japan by Suzanne Kamata

By Suzanne Kamata When I first came to Japan from America to teach English on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, I had no idea how popular baseball was in this country. I quickly found …

27/10/2023

Speak of the sun,
Of the moon.
Speak of light,
Of life.
Cast away the gun!

Poetry by Mubarak Quazi, translated from Balochi by Fazal Baloch

Translated by Fazal Baloch Mubarak Qazi (24 December 1955 – 16 September 2023). Photo courtesy: Kamanchar Baloch Fellow traveler! “Moons and seasons” have changed. The eyes and the gaze are now tra…

26/10/2023

In an essay written several years ago, the India-born Canadian author Uma Parameswaran had defined the plight of diasporic people by using the mythic metaphor of ‘Trishanku’ borrowed from the Ramayana where this character wanted to go to heaven alive but denied entry there, he was sent back and since then resided neither on earth nor in heaven but was suspended forever in an illusory middle space in-between.

Book review by Somdatta Mandal

Book Review by Somdatta Mandal Title: Won’t You Stay, Radhika? Author: Usha Priyamvada Translator: Daisy Rockwell Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books In an essay written several years ago, the India-bo…

25/10/2023

I have decided, with some rhymes and a little reason, to create a nonsense poem that gives the reader rather more latitude in the way it develops. As an absurdist piece, the freedom of choice is limited to different meaningless outcomes, but my hope is that some of the permutations will be musical enough and sufficiently evocative to make the procedure worthwhile.

A kit for making nonsense poems devised by Rhys Hughes

Nonsense poems consist of nonsense without choice. You may choose to read or not read them, true enough, but once you have embarked on the journey you are helpless in the rushing of the raging word…

24/10/2023

The chanting of the lamas filled the air. It was part of the evening ritual. Gentle drum beats punctuated the chanting. I felt fortunate to be in such a tranquil space.

Travelogue by Sayani De

Narrative and photographs by Sayani De I sipped on my cup of piping hot, sugary tea at Kardang monastery, twelve thousand feet above sea level. The chomo who prepared it chatted away the details of…

24/10/2023

“Do not, O night sky! leave
tonight, with your lot of stars --
Once you go, blissful night!
So will my heartbeat!

Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Bijoya Doushami (the last day of the festival of Durga Puja) translated by Ratnottama Sengupta

Ratnottama Sengupta translates Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Bijoya Doushami (the last day of the festival of Durga Puja when the Goddess is supposed to return to her own home from h…

23/10/2023

At the crossroads where seasons pass by,
Still, like a small hut, a long journey ahead,
One jujube is dreaming silently beside the front gate.

Korean poetry written & translated by Ihlwha Choi.

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi Beside the front gate, a single jujube, Grown ripe and red throughout the summer, Even the cat passes it by without a second glance, And the magpie…

22/10/2023

‘At the end of the monsoons when the first clear light of Autumn suffuses the skies, when the lotus blooms and the waving kaash is reflected in the waters of ponds and rivers, Bengal villages come alive with the singing of Agomoni.’

Narrated by Aruna Chakravarti

‘At the end of the monsoons when the first clear light of Autumn suffuses the skies, when the lotus blooms and the waving kaash is reflected in the waters of ponds and rivers, Bengal villages…

21/10/2023

Usually, I buy a glass of smoothie from the Mohican youth
Making energy drinks on his machine,
Savouring afterwards a glass of the diamond-gold drink.

Poetry by Quazi Johirul Islam, translated from Bengali by Fakrul Alam

Poetry by Quazi Johirul Islam, translated from Bengali by Fakrul Alam Courtesy: Creative Commons Going up from East River to all heated up 46 Street, Crossing quite a few avenues one after ano…

20/10/2023

With the onset of wars and natural disasters, let us take a respite to rekindle our belief in syncretism, our sense of humour and revive towards finding solutions. Autumn heralds the start of the festive season. Our Festive special welcomes your perusal with writings/translations from Aruna Chakravarti, Fakrul Alam, Somdatta Mandal, Nazes Afroz, Tagore, Nazrul, Syed Mujtaba Ali.

Durga Puja, a community- based festival. Courtesy: Creative Commons Long ago as children, we looked forward to the autumnal festival of Durga Puja. For those who lived outside Bengal, there was no …

19/10/2023

If he had stayed in his first job as a bank clerk, perhaps Tomaž Serafi would never have discovered new worlds beyond the borders of the small central European country he grew up in. But he ventured out to find both ancient wisdom and inner truths. He talks to an old friend Keith Lyons.

If he had stayed in his first job as a bank clerk, perhaps Tomaž Serafi would never have discovered new worlds beyond the borders of the small central European country he grew up in. But he venture…

18/10/2023

A discussion with former BBC editor, Nazes Afroz, for his translation of Syed Mujtaba Ali’s ‘Tales of a Voyager( Joley Dangay)’ from Bengali with a brief introduction to the book.

A discussion with Nazes Afroz along with a brief introduction to his new translation of Syed Mujtaba Ali’s Tales of a Voyager (Joley Dangay), brought out by Speaking Tiger Books. Joley Dangay by Sy…

18/10/2023

What will you call someone who puts down his profession as ‘quitting job regularly’ while applying for his passport? The short answer is Syed Mujtaba Ali. Even though written in jest, this succinct phrase describes him perfectly—his wicked sense of humour, his peripatetic life, his ability of making fun of himself, his propensity of not settling down in one place or a job—everything can be packed into that phrase.

Former BBC editor introduces and translates Tales of a Voyager(Joley Dangay) by Syed Mujtaba Ali

‘Syed Mujtaba Ali knows how to perform magic through his writing! One moment his humour and wit will make you break out in roaring laughter and the next you find yourself buried in deep thought bei…