Beautiful, strong and regal That’s how this goddess is described She is the queen of all the gods And helps families unite
Although she is a champion Of women and their lives Her heart is full of poison For her husband’s many lies
She is married to grand old Zeus Who loves being with the ladies Hera has tried with all her might To send him off to Hades*
But the god of death cannot best Zeus and his lightning bolt So Hera now tortures her step children With punishements untold
When Hera is having a good day She is sweet, gentle and kind The cow, the peacock and the cucukoo Shine as her symbols divine
But when she is angry with Zeus She is as jealous as a goose Zeus says sorry and stands on his head And then finally there is a truce
Along with Zeus and his lightning bolt Hera lives with her cuckoo and crown She reigns from above on mount Olympus But to earth, she rarely comes down.
Introducing my 4th and final book in the Curious Animals and Quirky Creatures series: MORE QUIRKY CREATURES, A SNOWMAN, A SUBMARINE AND A SNAIL.
The Curious Animals and Quirky Creatures series is both educational and entertaining as it takes children and their parents/ teachers on fun and informative little journeys through tropical jungles, deep blue seas, steep cliff sides, frozen landscapes and even their own backyards. These books also liberally emphasize the importance of being kind, brave and even silly sometimes.
From the greedy little marmoset monkey, to the submarine looking for friends, to the friendship between a bear and a girl, there are ten little stories in this collectible about delightful and funny creatures. Every story tells of a little act of courage, humour and kindness as each of the little creatures saves the day in its own little way.
IN SRI LANKA: The book is available at Barefoot, Selyn, Expographics, Pendi, The Jam Fruit Tree and Sarasavi.
IN PAKISTAN: It should be in stores in another month. The other 3 books in the series are available at Liberty Books, Paramount Books and The London Book Company.
IN DUBAI: The series is available with my sister. (Please message me if you’d like to connect with her for the books).
750 books in the series sold to date! So, thank you to all who have bought, read and gifted them 💕 Here’s to #Rasingreaders 🌸
Reading from my book of short stories, “THE GIRL WITH THE PAISLEY DUPATTA”. The book is available at Sarasavi, Barefoot, Jam fruit Tree, Expographics and Pendi in Sri Lanka and at Readings, Liberty Books and Paramount Books in Pakistan.
Many of the stories in this book are from outside the bell curve of our lives, embracing sensitive social elements that are spoken of either in subdued whispers or not at all: from the brutal vigilante justice dispensed in the name of religion in “The Gods of Fury”; to the harrowing custom of honour revenge in the “Sins of our Fathers”; to the patriarchal ruthlessness that so many young women are subjected to in the title story “The Girl with the Paisley Dupatta”.
Some of the other stories are of women and men negotiating life, love, friendship, careers and tradition in the sometimes tumultuous and many times limiting folds of their families and their communities: from the enterprising love affair of 61 year old Nighat in “Love in Rawalpindi”; to the shenanigans of a dancing queen in “Riotous Love”; to the complicated friendship between two middle aged unmarried society girls in “Days of Purgatory”.
My book of poetry and essays SHIMMERING SCRAPS OF POETRY AND MADNESS will be available in bookstores across Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the end of December 2022.
FRIENDS IN SL can get their copies TODAY from the Jam Fruit Tree bookstore on Galle road in Colombo via call/ WhatsApp to 072-7268078.
Shimmering Scraps is a collection of poems and essays, rumblings of the heart about the joys, the truths, the pain, the controversies, the funniness and the wonder that criss cross all our lives in one way or another.
The book is divided into five sections: Joy, Foot-in-the-mouth, Truth, Hope and Serenity. The Truth and Foot-in-the-Mouth categories are especially brazen and raw. As with most such uninhibited writing, the objective is to assail the sensibilities and even if just for a while, to look the truth right in its jaundiced eye. The other three sections are largely whimsical and uplifting very much like walking through a zen corridor, which I’m hoping, will also soften the sensory assault of the former two segments.
Reading from my book of short stories, “THE GIRL WITH THE PAISLEY DUPATTA”. The book is available at Sarasavi, Barefoot, Jam fruit Tree, Expographics and Pendi in Sri Lanka and at Readings, Liberty Books and Paramount Books in Pakistan.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Many of the stories in this book are from outside the bell curve of our lives, embracing sensitive social elements that are spoken of either in subdued whispers or not at all: from the brutal vigilante justice dispensed in the name of religion in “The Gods of Fury”; to the harrowing custom of honour revenge in the “Sins of our Fathers”; to the patriarchal ruthlessness that so many young women are subjected to in the title story “The Girl with the Paisley Dupatta”.
Some of the other stories are of women and men negotiating life, love, friendship, careers and tradition in the sometimes tumultuous and many times limiting folds of their families and their communities: from the enterprising love affair of 61 year old Nighat in “Love in Rawalpindi”; to the shenanigans of a dancing queen in “Riotous Love”; to the complicated friendship between two middle aged unmarried society girls in “Days of Purgatory”.
The last three stories are a tribute to that most ingenious art form, political satire.
These tales will make you laugh, cry and ruminate in equal measure while niggling at the peripheries of conventional value systems.
Reading an excerpt from the short story “Velvet Dreams” from my book THE GIRL WITH THE PAISLEY DUPATTA. The anthology of short stories is available across bookstores in Sri Lanka and at Liberty Books and Paramount Books in Pakistan. Do get your copies folk 🌸
The Girl with the Paisley Dupatta is divided into three sections: Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the USA. The last category is an ode to that most ingenious art form – political satire.
Most of the stories in the book revolve around the social, cultural and even faith related challenges that women face in their day to day lives. This particular story however is about family pressure and the main protagonist is a man 🤓
Mahvash Mohtadullah 