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Red Tide
Dead redfish on Manasota Key Growing up in the Cold War era, I associated Red Tide with communism. Recently, I saw the results of another kind of Red Tide. This one caused by a population explosion of toxic plankton in the ocean usually from environmental factors like warm temperatures, calm seas and high nutrition content, …
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A man of peace, but not the prize
Three pioneering women — Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen — won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. The Nobel committee recognized them for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” It made me think, as I …
Heading West: The Stage Stop
On the last day of our vacation, we get back in the car — after two days in Denver — and head back west on a scenic drive towards Boulder. Back on winding roads with magnificent vistas. We decide to pull off the highway in Rollinsville, hoping to grab a sandwich and something to drink. …
Heading West: Yellowstone
We drive into Yellowstone on winding roads between towering snow banks. The east entrance will close at 10 a.m., we are told, because of the risk of avalanches. I stare upward at the white slopes and wonder when they might come crashing down. I grew up hearing about Yellowstone but somehow, I never made it …
Heading West: Winter in June and Buffalo Bill
We leave Deirdre’s house early in the morning. We have a long way to go. We drive up Interstate 25, stop in Buffalo and then, Sheridan. It’s Memorial Day and the town is shut down. Even the J.C. Penney is closed. There’s a steady drizzle and I keep hoping that any moment, the sun will …
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Remembering Ma — and a great poet
I made it through Mother’s Day. I thank birthday celebrations for Rabindranath Tagore for keeping the tears at bay. Well, most of the time, anyway. My mother died 10 years ago. At her memorial service, we honored her with the work of Tagore, who had been such a big part of her life. He won …
Baba's legacy
A new book of my father’s writings was released last week. “The Selected Works of Debabrata Basu” was compiled by Anirban Dasgupta, one of my father’s former Ph.D students who now teaches at Perdue University. Dasgupta wrote in the introduction of the book that he took on this task with a great deal of apprehension. …
Suchitra
“If they answer not to your call, walk alone,If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall, open your minds and speak out alone.If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness, trample the thorns under thy tread, and along the blood-lined track, travel alone.If they do not hold up the light …
