35 Comments

Swarnali, your writing is so evocative and beautiful. I see and feel everything unfolding here; I feel your pain and your observant eye. Regarding Diwali- this is how I feel about the holiday season in the U.S. No amount of lights and music can penetrate the sadness I feel about those I’ve lost in my life, both living and dead. Sending you much love.

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Ana, I see you, thank you for being here. I love your voice and your work a lot too. Across this ocean of time and space humans like us can see each other’s light because we write a have a community and for the sake of that goodness in this world let’s keep doing what we do best despite our hauntings. Much love to you too. 💜

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I feel so much reading your writing, and being there in thought right alongside you. I spent time at Emily Dickinson's grave this summer and wandered the cemetery with similar thoughts, trying to make sense of it all--and none of it would really. But still, daisies were her flower, and reading your words reminded me of those two things and feeling like maybe that is the sense to make of it--that we are all connected across oceans of distance, as much the living as the dead. 💜

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Dear Freya, I remember your pilgrimage to Dickinson’s grave, I remember your words. I keep reading it and it never gets old. It all makes so much sense. The ongoing connects us all in such mysterious threads of existence and yes the daisies! Ohh god so much makes sense. Thank you dear friend for reminding me of Dickinson and her darling daisies 💜🌼😭

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Thank you. Thank you. So beautiful, so moving.

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Thank dear friend for being here and for reading my words. 💜🌼

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My pleasure. I look forward to reading more.

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Same Pamela, I just subbed to your stack-looks so cool!

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Thank you! So happy we have connected here.

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💜

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Nov 13, 2023Liked by Swarnali Mukherjee

I just read this for the third time, and not the last.

Thank you for gathering and sharing these scraps of consciousness with us. It's a privilege to be part of your colony.

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John, thank you so much for being a laborious and compassionate one in our colony. Your presence and words are deeply valued. 💜🌼

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Reading this feels like floating on an ocean surf, feeling the turbulence and the gentle tide equally. That analogy about ants, obstructions, and world events … 🧡

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Nia, you always seem to get it! You can read what is not written and listen to what is not said 💜🌼

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It’s you! It’s your voice and writing, they bring it all through. When I see your writing, I know I’ll want to let go of distractions and follow where you lead me.

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And I will follow you into every track and trail that you take me to 🥹

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What if we keep following each other's tracks around the world, would we finally run into each other?!

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There is no doubt about it, we have already found each other, swimming across space and time, in this messy, noisy, and overcrowded world, haven’t we?

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Absolutely, my friend.

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I loved that line about the ants too--so real and layered. 💜

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It was also meant as a reference to the warm and hardworking community we have built here on substack. All of us together are so much more stronger, our voices more powerful than one world leader with his corrupted mind. 💜🌼

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It’s an incredibly powerful vision and image. I’m hanging onto it today.

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💜🤗

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Nov 19, 2023Liked by Swarnali Mukherjee

Tender and beautiful. Thank you.

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Thank you for reading Lindsey. 💜🌼

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Nov 17, 2023Liked by Swarnali Mukherjee

Nice to read about The Niligiris and Ooty. My wife house is in Coonoor and I’ll be there in December for couple of days to check on a house we are renovating. Thanks for sharing.

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The entire Nilgiris is a haven of ecological wonder, I am writing more about the indigenous life in my up and coming series. It’s fascinating to learn about a place that we have always known existed from a new perspective, isn’t it? Thank you for reading Raj! Hope you have a safe trip in December, it’s going to be pretty cold there.

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Nov 17, 2023Liked by Swarnali Mukherjee

So you are going to write about the Badaga history? Can’t wait. I’ve visited to some of their villages. Let me know if I can help. My wife’s family is there from several generations so need info or contacts, I can help. Let me know.

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Nov 17, 2023·edited Nov 17, 2023Author

Yes Raj, but I am touching all the tribes in unison and how colonialism impacted their ownership of land. It’s wonderful to know that your wife has such connections to Nilgiris, I love that land for so much reasons but one of the most important one is that I love the people of Nilgiris 💜

Thank you for offering your wisdom and support, I shall seek your advice on specific matters when I find difficulty seeing them through. Such a gift it is to find a friend while delving in what we love the most. 🙏

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Dear One, I was so moved my your writing and the beauty and rigour I always find there. HHHHmmmmm. The dance of gratitude and compassion are wonderfully alive in your words and are a guide to us all to pay attention and feel into the flow of life, Thank you once again.

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Thank you for reading Ann, your presence means a lot to me. I hope you are well 💜🌼

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Grateful for these words

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Thank you for reading Rishi, I found your stack a few weeks back and I love it!

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grateful to be in community 💕🤝🏾🌊

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Welcome and hope you will stay longer.

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