Madhu Bazaz Wangu | Blog
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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

Conversations on LinkedIn

Posted on March 3, 2016
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Good Morning Readers! Last month I shared more information about the novel. Now I have created a group on LinkedIn to share passages from various chapters of the book. It is also a place for you to share your input and start a conversation about topics such as art, spirituality, cooking, travel or any other topic that would come to your mind as you read the novel. The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey will be released in April. To begin, Login on LinkedIn Home Page Click on “Interests” Click on “Groups” Click on “My Groups” and search for "The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey" “Join” OR Join the conversation by cutting and pasting this link in your browser: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8478377 Thank you!...

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Novel is Completed in Reader’s Mind

Posted on February 25, 2016
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During the early 70s in art school, I learned an adage that goes something like this: A painting is “done” when an artist signs and declares it finished but it is “completed” in the imagination of its onlookers. Since my passion for arts shifted from painting to writing I have often contemplated on this adage. I believe what is true of painting is also true of novel. The process of reading is as pleasurable as the process of writing. When readers read they let their fertile imagination and creative flow stream with that of the writer’s. In other words, in their imagination they coauthor the novel. A novel’s setting, scenes and narrative capture reader’s creative power. Each reader’s version is unique depending on her or his social, political, religious and cultural background....

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Watching Sunset

The Immigrant Wife and the Mindful Writers Group

Posted on February 15, 2016
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I wrote my first collection, Chance Meetings: Stories about Cross Cultural Karmic Collisions and Compassion and the final drafts of the novel, The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey during the Mindful Writers Group weekly meetings. What a fine fellowship of writers! For almost thirty years I have begun my day with meditation and journaling. These two practices have dramatically improved my attention, deepened my insights, revealed ideas and enriched my imagination. Until 2010, I wrote alone in my study. I loved the room’s silence and solitude. Occasionally, I wrote in libraries, coffee shops or bookstores. There were days when writing in isolation was lonesome. But life of a writer is a lonely affair. I craved to write with fellow writers. Almost all writers groups available were critique groups. In absence of such...

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Why Behind THE IMMIGRANT WIFE

Posted on February 8, 2016
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Why Behind The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey The beginnings of The Immigrant Wife came from two sources: first, the two journals I kept in 1997 on Semester-at-Sea, University of Pittsburgh. I voyaged around the world with undergraduates sailing to Bahamas, Venezuela, Brazil, South America, Kenya, India, China, Japan, Vietnam and Philippines. I taught history of Indian, Chinese and Japanese Art and Architecture. The second source was the story of a woman I met in Toronto, Canada. I had gone to attend the cremation of my young nephew who died a tragic death. At the last family meal in his apartment I met a newly married woman. When she discovered that I was an artist she said she was an artist too and talked passionately about her paintings. So much so,...

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The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey

Posted on February 1, 2016
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Its my pleasure to share with you the cover of my novel, The Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey. Forthcoming in April 2016, the book is about Shanti, an artist from the Valley of Kashmir. Her fervor for art and nature. Her constant battle between the pressures of social expectations and her own burning desire to be an artist. Her encounter with deaths in India and America. And finally, her spiritual renewal....

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Watching Sunset

Sun and Moonscapes

Posted on January 26, 2016
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Dear Readers, I am happy to finally share something that I have been working on diligently over the past decade. I am filled with anticipation and excitement to share its details with you next Monday. Stay tuned and have a wonderful week! On another note, while traveling around the world, I have had the pleasure of delighting in landscapes especially of the sun at dawn, noon and dusk. And the moon against the blue black sky. The sun, its rays and its light garb distinctive sceneries in magical colors. Whether the orange/yellow sphere peeks behind the fluffy white clouds or is sheer against pristine blue sky, it never fails to mesmerize me. Exquisite! Many a time, whether reflecting on the peaks of Grand Canyon or on the calm waters of the Caribbean Sea, I have soaked myself in its liquid golden light. So much so that I have tried...

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A New Year’s Surprise!

Posted on January 18, 2016
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My friend, Kathleen Shoop, is giving away 'It's a New Year Prize Pack-- #1!' "A Fabulous prize pack is coming your way! Madhu B. Wangu’s short-story collection, CHANCE MEETINGS, a $25 AMAZON gift-card, a JENNI BICK one-of-a-kind leather journal (Peacock), cozy socks and much, much MORE! CHANCE MEETINGS is bursting with beautiful, lush, lyrical stories and rhythmic language that transports and transforms—each and every story in Wangu’s collection is an unforgettable journey. Enjoy an AMAZON gift card to buy that item at the top of your New Year’s wish-list. Curl up with a cup of hot tea while you sink into these compelling stories. Chronicle your own personal journeys in this stunning, made just for you journal by JENNI BICK. And there’s MORE… But that’s a surprise—you’ll have to win to see!...

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Conversations with Mindful Writers: Lori M. Jones, A Stellar Woman

Posted on January 14, 2016
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In March 2011, when the Mindful Writers Group (North) met for the first time, Lori was one of the five participants. She is the only one from that meeting who continues to participate and occasionally lead the group of twenty writers. Since that March, Lori has become an award-winning author of women's & children's fiction. Her first children's book, RILEY'S HEART MACHINE, was released in 2012, followed by CONFETTI THE CROC in 2014. Mother of two young daughters, Lori’s younger daughter's heart defect was the inspiration behind Riley's Heart Machine. Her debut novel, RENAISSANCE OF THE HEART has won the SILVER medal by READERS' FAVORITES in women's fiction. Her second novel, LATE FOR FATE, is forthcoming in 2016. Lori is on the national Board of Directors for the Children's Heart Foundation and...

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Welcoming 2016 With Three Thals!

Posted on January 4, 2016
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Dear Readers and Friends, Happy New Year with these 'Thals' (Platters) of Blessings! May 2016 be filled with warmth of the family, joy in day-to-day life and adventure of life opening up to you! Many of you, who saw our family thal posted on various social media, wanted to know the meaning of the things placed in the bowls and on rice. Here is an excerpt from my forthcoming novel, "THE IMMIGRANT WIFE: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY (April 2016) that explains the significance of these items. Christmas Day turned out to be better than Shanti could have imagined. She had prepared flavorful dishes for her family and they had savored them. They had exchanged gifts and had seen, done, and learned a million things in the new country. She hoped her resilience would...

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Days Thirteen, Fourteen & Fifteen: Old Delhi and New Delhi

Posted on December 31, 2015
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Old Delhi and New Delhi Circa 1200-Present The two-week trip to South India with my husband Manoj, and our daughter’s in-laws, Drs. Young Woo Choi and Young Soon Choi was an unforgettable experience. This is the last post about our site seeing in Old Delhi and New Delhi. Delhi is replete with Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain monuments but out of them all, Mughal monuments are outstanding. Qutab Minar is the tallest brick tower in the world. Located in New Delhi, the 240 feet high tapering tower is 47 feet in diameter at the base and 9 feet at the peak. The Qutab Complex includes Emperor Asoka’s iron pillar, two tombs, a gateway and a madrassa. Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, built it in 1200 in red sandstone and white marble. Inside...

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