Greetings of Diwali to all the patrons across the globe from the Setu family.
Darkness dissipates. Illumination begins: That is the message of the Festival of the lights.
It signifies true regeneration: Moral, emotional, physical.
And the prayer on this occasion: Let trials get over. Positive results flow from your good deeds.
May peace, prosperity and harmony prevail in each life, community and nation. Let there be light---inner and outer---to guide humankind towards the path of righteousness, duty and an earthly existence, balanced and ethical in orientation.
Let Mother Earth be restored to its former pristine glory. Clouds of climate change recede through active and collective interventions in a crisis affecting the future of the world and all the interdependent species.
Let common sense prevail.
That is real Diwali.
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October-2019 marks the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, and, an inspiring figure in a divided world. A great year for a grateful nation! Time for remembrances and insights and quest for a way forward under his stern gaze and guidance. Gandhiji is a necessity now for a civilization grappling for answers to some tough questions around the very survival of the degraded planet.
Our respectful tribute to this simple saint who made a colonized nation awaken from deep slumber of centuries and thus galvanized, throw off the yoke of slavery, and dismantle, as the awakened subjects, the brutal dominating structures of power imposed by the invading army of an imperialist, foreign island-nation. The Mahatma gave an exploited country the much-cherished freedom from the British Raj but ironically and sadly, got assassinated for his philosophy of Ahimsa. A painful chapter in the history of the post-colonial India. His legacy continues. In this year, we need to reassess his influence and contextualize his enduring teachings.
Elsewhere, the veteran writer B.S. Tyagi writes about Bapu’s continual relevance to a world teetering on violence, hatred and anger. The Gandhian thought continues to motivate peoples across the world even today to lead austere life and stand for certain principles, as opposed to passivity and mass consumption.
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Happy to announce that Setu has recently crossed million-plus views and it remains indebted to all the friends and well-wishers for their sincere love and support to the bilingual journal making rapid strides on the cultural stage. Without your support, this milestone would not have been possible. Thanks, again.
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As usual, this edition is a right mix of the major forms of literary writing. Photo feature by Gopal Lahiri captures the beautiful shades and spaces on film, moments cherished forever via the popular medium of photography. His skills as poet and photographer further add to the value of this evolving journal.
Senior editor Robert Maddox-Harle comes up with a radical fiction. He is tireless in his pursuits artistic and enlivens almost every issue with his renaissance-like figure. The famous Australian is sheer delight, whatever the genre he attempts.
And an interesting debut by a teen poet.
Other equally interesting works by eminent writers for your consumption.
Please enjoy!
Sunil Sharma,
Editor, Setu (English)Kalyan, Mumbai Metropolitan Region,
Maharashtra, India.
October 31, 2019
Congratulations Setu, thanks Sunil for your, as always, encouraging words. And fantastic to see a young poet join our group of seriously talented writers and artists. Rob
ReplyDeleteThanks and welcome dear Rob.
ReplyDeletegreat issue, great editorial. congratulations!
ReplyDelete