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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

Heals and Fulfills: The Other Shore

The Other Shore by Author Madhu Bazaz Wangu is a collection of liminal stories which surprise you even as they make you soar. If Mother Nature had chosen to be a writer and not the painter who composed the Universe, she would be Madhu Wangu. Each story shines a light on what has become dark not because one was ignorant but because one chose to ignore. Like a mirror blackened by time. Madhu makes one see the interlocking roots of trees beneath the earth tied in a tight embrace, she turns one into a bird whisperer as the cardinal who revives her spirit. She makes one smell the fetid life of the sister of the protagonist, Jyoti. The characters are honest and shock one - “I hate to hold knives without...

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2022

Happy and Healthy New Year! May these Navreh Thaals (Plates to welcome the New Year) from our and our daughters' homes usher good look and shower you and your families with delight, wonder and joy!   The plates (thaals) show traditional ingredients of bowls of milk and yogurt, sugar and salt, fresh and dry fruit, book and notebook, pen and pencil, gold jewelry and a mirror. The items are placed over uncooked rice. Modern items added are red chili, pods of tamarind or similar items. At the end of the day each ingredient is transferred back to their containers to bless the household and its dwellers. Rice symbolizes sustenance and gold abundance. The transformative process of milk turning into yogurt signifies skill, method, duration and patience it requires for a task to begin, jell,...

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The Other Shore

Each Story a Gem

"Each story is a gem," says Eileen Hodgetts in her review for THE OTHER SHORE, a collection of twenty stories. Here is her complete review: "Madhu Wangu writes from a unique perspective reflecting her current life in United States and her roots in India. Her new book of short stories is a treasure trove of thought provoking ideas. The stories are grouped beginning with a collection of tales that are deeply mythic and calming to the spirit . The later stories move through tales of life in India to tales of life in the United States. For me the most moving stories were gathered in the section of Dowry Brides and the shock of finding that even highly educated Indian women can be held captive by tradition and become domestic slaves...

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Gorgeous Offering for Short Story Fans

THE OTHER SHORE Reviewed By Christian Sia for Readers’ Favorite The Other Shore: Ordinary People Grappling with Extraordinary Challenges by Madhu Bazaz Wangu is an anthology of short stories, an engaging collection, indeed. Readers will encounter well-developed characters as they navigate the challenges of life, trying to understand the world around them and how it works, like Mohini in “The Other Shore.” There is the story of Man and Woman in which Woman follows Man on his wanderlust and wonderment in “Magic Box,” watched and commented on by the gods. “Cadmium and Crimson” is the tale of a dream that would change the community. In “Silence Heard,” Madhuri wants to befriend silence and surround himself with noiselessness, but her journey is one that will surprise her and readers. Each story is...

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V. Dublado Gives 5 Stars to The Other Shore

Reviewed By Vincent Dublado for Readers’ Favorite Twenty stories are told under six different themes that fuse art, spirituality, and existential angst. Madhu Bazaz Wangu, by her own account, reveals that she has written The Other Shore: Ordinary People Grappling with Extraordinary Challenges because she wants you, as the reader, to grow intellectually and be emotionally touched by her tales. Her stories bridge inner and outer realities: the reality of what we say and what we think and feel. The women in this book are remarkably spirited and the men exist to find out more about themselves. The Other Shore tells the story of Mohini and how the seasons she spent with her grandparents have filled her heart with their love. In Dowry Brides, a feature story about a dowry demand...

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New Five-Star Review for The Other Shore

Reviewed By Jose Cornelio for Readers’ Favorite The Other Shore: Ordinary People Grappling with Extraordinary Challenges by Madhu Bazaz Wangu is a collection of short stories with an appeal to readers with different tastes — Magical Realism, Women’s Fiction, Multi-cultural, Romance, and Inspirational. Told in varying and gripping voices, the stories feature interesting characters in different situations as they navigate through real-life situations, grappling with realities of death, love, protecting nature, making a difference, being human, and more. While we might not have the space to go through each of the stories in this review, there are characters that will capture the attention of readers like ten-year-old Mohini who has a strong relationship with her grandparents. This relationship leads her to appreciate the cycle of life and to learn lessons that follow...

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READERS' FAVORITE FINALIST: THE OTHER SHORE ANOTHER FIVE STAR REVIEW Reviewed By Vincent Dublado for Readers’ Favorite Twenty stories are told under six different themes that fuse art, spirituality, and existential angst. Madhu Bazaz Wangu, by her own account, reveals that she has written The Other Shore: Ordinary People Grappling with Extraordinary Challenges because she wants you, as the reader, to grow intellectually and be emotionally touched by her tales. Her stories bridge inner and outer realities: the reality of what we say and what we think and feel. The women in this book are remarkably spirited and the men exist to find out more about themselves. The Other Shore tells the story of Mohini and how the seasons she spent with her grandparents have filled her heart with their love. In...

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The Other Shore

Book Launch Today!

THE OTHER SHORE Today we are gathering at https://www.facebook.com/madhu.wangu to launch, The Other Shore, my second collection of stories. Readers, writers, friends and family are gathering to pay their good wishes. I will post short videos throughout the day. I’d love it if you too would write a few words of blessings for its success!  Thank you very much!  ...

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