Madhu B. Wangu, Author at Madhu Bazaz Wangu - Page 31 of 52
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Author:Madhu B. Wangu

India: A Wonderful Weave

Posted on November 8, 2013
in Being in Nature
1 Comment

It has been two weeks since I returned from my trip to India. Distance of a decade from the country of my birth made it possible for me to observe it as an outsider.  I wondered, was I born and brought up here? So I just looked and breathed it all in. Years of my previous experiences as a young woman resurfaced as I soaked in the sights, sounds, smells and local foods. I felt saturated with the sensuousness, consumed with warmth of the people, their love. The colors, the art, the music, the ethnic food bursting with flavors revived my senses, made me feel alive. So hard to describe the experience! The month divided itself into three segments. First, the research for my second novel in the villages of Deorala...

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CANDY By Gwyn Cready

Posted on September 26, 2013
in Meditation
6 Comments

My grandmother used to read me a story about a girl who was given a magical box of candy. As long as the girl ate no more than two pieces each day, when she woke up the next morning, the box would be full again. But if the girl got greedy and ate more than she needed, which of course she did, the box would lose its magic and never refill itself again. I can think of no better metaphor for the joys of this world. If we can give up our need to dictate the terms of our joy-the amount, the timing, the flavor-we will find all the joy we could want without even looking for it. We need the red leather sandals with silver buckles, but we find unexpected joy...

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Transmuting Tragedy

Posted on September 26, 2013
in Being in Nature
2 Comments

Transmuting Tragedy Into Romance The day Gwyn Cready, our guest writer this month, joined the Mindful Writers Group, her poignant face and somber demeanor intrigued me. There was something about her that I felt connected to. What was it? Then last July at our one-on-one meeting, I asked her what inspired her to write romance novels. 'Death of my younger sister when I was 34,' Gwyn said. During our conversation, at certain moments, her eyes welled up. An outpouring of emotion, a floodgate of forgotten memories opened in my heart. A sorrow dormant within Gwyn stirred a latent emotion inside me. I too had lost my brother in my mid 30's. My 38 year-old-brother, my mother and my father passed away within eighteen months. Life seemed meaningless. Numbness enveloped me. When my sensation...

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A Month In India

Posted on September 19, 2013
in Being in Nature
3 Comments

On the morning of 5th September 1987, as I was going through the card-catalogue of Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh, a friend (also a student of world religions) informed me that a young Rajasthani woman had committed Suttee in India. A day before, an eighteen-year old woman named Roop Kanwar had immolated herself on the pyre of her dead husband. The ritual was witnessed by thousands of townspeople.  Stunned and speechless, my lead laden legs felt cemented to the ground. At that frozen moment the seed of a book was planted in my mind. But the seed stayed dormant for decades. The incident continued to sear like a wound at the back of my mind. Yet I was not emotionally ready to write about it. All these years I trawled...

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NANI, DO YOU KNOW WHAT M-A-TH-E-M-A-T-I-C-S IS?

Posted on July 9, 2013
in Journaling
1 Comment

Our grandson, Mokhta has written his first fiction book. The two-hundred-plus-words booklet has four chapters. Written with a pencil on two 8 x 11 mauve colored thin drawing papers, the pages are cut in half and then folded making the booklet sixteen pages long. The title is Basketball Meets Pin. I reprint it below without changing a word. He wrote all exclamation points himself. Chapter One Basket Ball was lonely. He met pin. They played. They talked. They had fun. One day Basketball saw a swirl. Not just swirl, a beautiful swirl. It was a single swirl with lots of colors in it with some green color. The swirl could take them 97 miles an hour! It was funny. Chapter Two Then pin came over. Can I greet you, asked pin. Yes, said Basketball I...

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MINDFUL WRITING PHENOMENON–TRAINING FOR A MARATHON by Lori M. Jones

Posted on July 6, 2013
in Meditation
4 Comments

"Just stick with it. What seems so hard right now, will one day be your warm up." I came across this quote from a running Facebook Page, but I thought it could apply to writing as well.   A few years ago, I needed a goal to maintain my workout schedule. I'm a quitter when it comes to exercise, but I enjoyed running. My goal was to run in a 5K. No measly 5K, I signed up for Pittsburgh's Great Race with 5,000 other runners. When I survived that first one, I scheduled the next and the next.   Each one became easier than the previous one. As a writer, I decided to implement the same plan for establishing a schedule and improve my writing stamina. I needed a goal. My...

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Writing in Solitude; Writing with the Mindful Writers Group

Posted on July 6, 2013
in Being in Nature
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Until 2010, for twenty-five years I wrote alone in the solitude of my study. Every weekday my writer's voice emerged as I meditated, wrote in a journal and worked on my projects. The daily practice helped me overcome my fears, my internal critic and writer's blocks. I wrote for long hours, my writing improved and I was able to liberate my authentic voice from self-doubt. The practice resulted in Writing Meditation Method. I decided to share it with other writers.   In March 2011, I started the Mindful Writers Group. Lori M. Jones and four other writers joined me on this journey.  Once a week we wrote together. Since then, writing with others has enriched my experience of writing in more than one way. Over the last two and a half years...

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Summer Solstice Soiree

Posted on June 15, 2013
in Being in Nature
2 Comments

Come and celebrate the summer solstice Soiree evening Friday, June 21, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at  Courtyard, 516-522 Allegheny River Boulevard, Oakmont, PA-15139, with the following authors: Kathleen Shoop* Meredith Mileti* Lori Jones* James Robinson, Jr.* Madhu B. Wangu* Bill Deasy SK McClafferty JD Wylde (*Mindful Writers)   In addition to meeting and greeting the authors you will have an opportunity to win one or more of the following raffle baskets on display: Mini-ipad Basket Coffee & Gift Card Basket Kid's summer fun/books basket Summer books basket   Don't miss this evening of meaningful conversations, music and literary gathering! See you there!   ...

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GO DAD GO! by Meredith Mileti

Posted on May 30, 2013
in Meditation
13 Comments

For the last several months I've been traveling between Pittsburgh and Boca Raton to help nurse my dad as he battles the challenging complications of a chronic illness.   Although lately I haven't been able to devote as much time to my writing as I would like, every day I try to practice what I've learned in Mindful Writers Group with whom I practice the Writing Method Meditation. Never before has the Method, which includes Journaling and Meditation, been more important to me. Journaling allows me to create quick emotional sketches that provide insight into what I am feeling. Meditation sharpens my focus, while also centering and calming me. Together the two practices help me understand and accept the next steps in this difficult journey. Being mindfully present with my...

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Chrysalis Becomes A Butterfly

Posted on May 30, 2013
in Being in Nature
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For the last several months, we have missed Meredith Mileti at our Wednesday Group meetings. She was unable to come because of her frequent commute from Pittsburgh to Florida to help nurse her dad: one week sitting beside her father in Boca Raton, next week standing by in her Pittsburgh home ready to get on a plane.  Sadly, her dad, Robert Mileti passed away peacefully on May 29, 2013. He was 81 years old. Meredith was by his side just as she had been throughout this journey, difficult for both of them.   Even at this trying time, Meredith kept her promise of writing a post for our website. (See "Go Dad Go" on Writing & Meditation page) Death of a parent is a time of deep sorrow. No matter how...

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