April is National Poetry Month, and I thought how better to celebrate it than by honouring the mesmerizing cherry blossoms that are beginning to show everywhere! In Japan, this is prime hanami (flower watching) season, a time that brings together Japanese families as they gather for picnics beneath the shade of the cherry trees. The custom...

As Ireland gears up for the onslaught of tourists for St Patrick’s Day (17th March) it struck me that this would be my third St. Patrick’s Day here in this beautiful city of Dublin. Every year, for 2 to 3 days Dublin is turned into a heaving mass of green as tourists throng from all...

March is the month of awakening. It is the month of the first rays of warm sunshine, of the first flowers, the vernal equinox, and of festivals. As a kid, we were introduced to the very concept of Spring (which is near non-existent in South India) through the work of English poets. We grew up...

Europe is in the grip of a heightened cold snap due to a Siberian freeze that’s bringing with it numbing winds and snow. Dublin is feeling it too. February is supposed to be the month when spring begins in Ireland. I am only now beginning to see signs of it when I spotted the first...

There is something sad and heartbreaking about an orange tree ruing its fruitless state. That’s why the moment I chanced upon this poem I decided to highlight it for “Versedays” this week. Written by Frederico Garcia Lorca, one of Spain’s most loved poets of the 20th century, The Song of the Barren Orange Tree immediately...

I came across a news item today that made my mouth water. In what it described as a ‘dream job’ the article described how Cadbury is looking for a chocolate and cocoa taster. But would I love chocolate if it became a job to taste it? I don’t know. Anyway, chocolate set the theme for this...