Creative and inspirational writer and poet, I lam also an addictive reader of novels, poetry and children story books.
I am the author of Soul Poetry a book of inspirational poems, verses and quotes (2015)
The Maker of Miracles (2006) and My Journey with God (2008) are narrations about my journey with my spiritual guru.
My new poetry book INK Echo of life and love published by Éditions de L’Ocean Indien earlier this year (2019) in Mauritius, my birth country is a collection of love poems extolling the feelings and desires of women.
The Princess and the Crow is my first story book for children ,released by Austin Macauley Publishers London in March 2019.
I love to write. I guess my writing has a special cliché of island 🌴 life, natural,unpretentious and full of beauty.
Aging is not stopping me from writing. My poetry journey continues as new wrinkles unfold on my face, my neck and my hands.
Along my journey I have come across the adorable editor of Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Kathleen Trocmet,on the internet. Inspired by her commendable work I started to submit my haiku poems to Scarlet Dragonfly Journal.
I thank her for selecting my haiku for the month of April 2022 issue.
a person should be honest in the first instance
no matter how harsh the truth is
Once, the mother of Mahatma Gandhi, Putlibai Gandhi was fasting and she let it be known that she would break the fast only when the she heard the song of the cuckoo.
She waited a long time but, alas, the cuckoo did not sing. Gandhi Ji was a small child then and he felt very sad that his mom would not take a morsel of food.
A brilliant idea crossed the mind of the adoring child. He rushed to the back garden and imitated the song of the cuckoo. He came back to the house, went up to his mom and said- ‘Maa, you can eat now; the cuckoo has sung!’
His mom unfortunately would not be fooled and she got very angry. ‘I am ashamed to have a son like you!’ she said. ’How can you speak such a lie? A lie is a sin!’ she added.
Gandhi Ji was heartbroken. He realized that his mother was extremely upset. He also understood that he had made a big mistake by lying to his mother. From that moment, he vowed that he would never tell a lie in his whole life. He never did.
Mother is, undoubtedly, our first and most important teacher. The bond of love between mother and child is sacred. It is the purity of this relationship that makes every lesson, that we learn from our mother, a lesson for life. We may forget what the school master teaches but, not what is taught by our mother.
Gandhi believed in honesty. Trying to conceal a lie may require a person to lie even more and this becomes a vicious circle. Therefore, a person should be honest in the first instant, no matter how harsh the truth is.
A Pink Moon rises
Plum tree blossoms like ink marks
In a poetry book
Hi friends, writers, and readers,
I am glad to share with you the publication of my new book, PINK MOON, an anthology of haiku poems. I have made a random choice of 365 out of 700 three lines poems written over a space of two years, thinking fondly that you may wish to read one poem a day during the year.
What prompted me to write the book?
Haiku is traditionally a Japanese poem consisting of three short lines that do not rhyme.
The erudite consider haiku to be more than a style of poetry. It is a way of observing the physical world and seeing something beyond, more profound, close to the very nature of existence, and to an essential vision of life.
Traditional Japanese poetry consists of three lines that contain a kireji, or cutting word, 17 syllables on a 5,7,5 pattern, and a kigo, or seasonal reference.
Similar poems that do not adhere to these rules are generally classified as senryu.
Senryu is about the human heart and spirit, expressions of life, and love. It is similar to haiku except that haiku is mainly about nature.
I became enamored with haiku poetry in 2018. In that year, I was at the London Book Fair to exhibit my debut poetry book ‘Soul Poetry’. I surprisingly came across a work by the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho. I fell in love with his haiku poems at first glance. I saw magic, sound, and music in his words –
Early morning walk,
Tree leaves bristling,
A lovely sunrise
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan.
During his lifetime, Basho was recognized for his work in the collaborative hakai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku.
It took me a long time to learn the art of writing haiku. It demands faith, meditation, focus, creativity, love of nature, and mastery of words. All these, coupled with awe at the beauty of existence, I have jotted down these writing prompts in the traditional form of haiku, observing as closely as I can the syllable count, three lines, and a seasonal reference.
I hope my readers appreciate my haiku poems. A globetrotter, I write them as I soar on my quill in the open sky.
Many have lost a loved one, a family member or a friend as a virus reigns supreme in the world. As all bad things have a good side, human beings realize that we are all one,irrespective of our faith, religion, color of skin,likes and dislikes. COVID-19 does not choose; it doesn’t prefer one to the other. It’s a killer. It destroys all humans.
With the above in mind, I woke up this Saturday morning and picked up my pen , a piece of paper and I wrote my new year resolution. Yes, I have only one resolution. I recall when I was a kid, my mom would ask, every new year day –
Ani, have you written your new year resolutions, my child ?
Writing the new year resolutions was a tradition in our family, among the other traditions which we followed ceremoniously, too many to mention here. The only family tradition that remains after I adopted modern thoughts and life style is to jot down the new year resolutions.
A new year resolution is a traditional custom in which we resolve to continue good practices, change a bad habit or behavior, decide to achieve a personal goal, or improve family relationships and lead a happy life.
My new year resolution comes straight from my heart. It is to continue to see beauty in all things and god in all beings.
My son Yogen and my granddaughter Yana after a session of scuba diving in Mauritius. They arrived from the United States of America two days ago, now that the borders are open after two years of restrictions on travel by all the countries in the world to control the spread of the pandemic Covid-19.
After the immense success of the first edition in the French language, my audience started to ask for a version of my illustrated children’s book in the Kreole language and in English.The French version was launched and immediately put for sale in December 2020.
Wakashio the book
I contacted many translators and publishers in Mauritius to translate and publish the book in Kreole. I did not get any response mainly because Mauritius was under confinement for a long time.
As all things have a good and a bad side, I spent my time in confinement to translate the book in English.
The Mitsui O.S.K Lines (Mauritius) Ltd, the Japanese Company, owner of the bulk carrier ship MV Wakashio that ran aground on the coral reefs and spilled oil off the coast of Mauritius, collaborated in the printing and publishing of the new book.
On Tuesday 10 August 2021 , Mitsui O.S.K Lines Mauritius Ltd organized the launch ceremony of the English Edition in the presence of His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan in Mauritius, Mr. Kawaguchi.
The launch ceremony was held in the office of the Mitsui O.S.K Mauritius Ltd at Pointe D’Esny in Grand Port, Mauritius. We could see with binoculars the remaining part of the wreck of MV Wakashio. A sad sight!
With Mr.Yamashita, Manager of Mitsui OSK Lines Mauritius Ltd Krsna Bacha, my son and speaker at the function ,looking at the wreck.With His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Kawaguchi and Mr.Yamashita, Manager of Mitsui OSK Lines Mauritius Signing an autograph for His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Kawaguchi.
I am overjoyed with the progress of my illustrated children’s book Wakashio. Je souhaite partager avec mon audience cet élan de bonheur.
Je remercie mes lecteurs pour leur soutien.
‘To have a great book, we must have a great audience’. C.S.Lewis.
Thank you for being a great audience.
Anita Bacha
Wakashio the book, in the background the turquoise blue sea in South East Mauritius.
In traditional Japanese poetry a kigo is a word associated with a season. Nowadays poets mostly outside Japan do not use a kigo as a must when writing haiku poetry. I think that a kigo adds a streak of romanticism in haiku poems for the simple reason that we and our moods are ruled by seasons.
Lord Shiva is the All- Compassionate Hindu God, who swallowed the deadly poison ‘halahala’ to save the world from annihilation.
It is told, by munis (wise men) and sages, that when creation was complete, Lord Shiva and His Consort, Goddess Parvati went to live on the top of the Kailash Mountain in the Himalayas. Parvati Devi, one day, asked Lord Shiva- “O Lord! Which of the many rituals observed by your devotees please you most?” Lord Shiva replied- “The fourteenth night of the new moon in the dark fortnight, during the month of Phalgun, is My Favorite Day. It is called Shivratri. My devotees give me greater happiness by fasting rather than ceremonial offerings of flowers, sweets and incense. They observe strict spiritual discipline in the day and worship me in four different forms during each of the four successive three-hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bael leaves is more precious to me than the most fragrant flower and the most expensive jewel. They bathe me in milk in the first period, in curd in the second, in clarified butter in the third and in honey, in the fourth and last period. In the morning, after the prescribed ceremonies, they break the fast. No ritual can compare with this simple routine in sanctity.”
It is interesting to note that the bael leaf that we offer in the ceremonial rituals to Lord Shiva is considered sacred as the bael tree grows near the Shiva temple and the leaf has the particularity of blossoming in the shape of a trishul- three small leaves in a tiny twig, one in the middle and, one on each side. -Anita Bacha-