A howdy Sunday morning tableau of cuteness to combat the virus blues. The social distancing and self- quarantine measures adopted across the world right now are wise and essential. But hey- we can still smile and find loads to praise in the everyday.
#ClosetotheBone audiobook releases on @Audible_ind on Women’s Day and I couldn’t be prouder. It was a wonderful and frankly emotional experience bringing my words alive and narrating this travelogue of the soul. Click the link in bio- and let me know what you think
#ClosetotheBone #Listeningisthenewreading
No such thing as a next gen nymph. Nymphs are eternal and not subject to categorization. They just appear amongst us to be adored.
Lockdown
Yes, there is fear.
Yes, there is isolation.
Yes, there is panic buying.
Yes, there is sickness.
Yes, there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world, people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes, there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes, there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes, there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes, there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes, there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing. – Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13th, 2020
Via #SukeshMotwani
Repost from @shamimsarif using @RepostRegramApp – ‘Leyla, are you sure you wouldn’t prefer an elbow bump?’ @lisaraniray and @beneaththesheetz fail epically at #socialdistancing in #icantthinkstraight – but it was ok back then 🙂 #keepsmiling #openhearts
🙏🏼 Social responsibility is reviving. Compassion for the other is reviving. Humanism is getting a shock of oxygen. Let’s each do our bit. If you ever doubted we are interwoven like so many threads in a great quilt, living through #Covid-19 will hopefully reset your notions. I’m trying my best to practise non judgmental compassion. Towards those who are in denial. Not taking it seriously, thinking only of themselves and not the vulnerable who can easily get infected by careless actions. I see fear in them. An ache for guidance. Confusion. Our global culture hasn’t done a stellar job of guiding us towards universal human values. Maybe this big reset is just what the doctor ordered. I say this with deep empathy for lost lives, and the health warriors on the frontline.
Can we all pull together?
#inthistogether #cleanhands #openheart
. I was a crooked girl
in a crooked world
with an appetite for the discolored
corners of the soul, come into
inheritance
I could not recall pining
for,
at least not in this life time
life
line
or
crease.
there’s more to it, of course, when
you’re made of matter and the mantel
of your collar can’t contain
a murder of desires
because they are swollen
with other plans
and stunting down your throat. .
the world is prickly, no doubt, and
I used to think it very important to know
how to debone Dover sole, but then
I came across off duty
waiters, who looked like all the men
I wished I’d known. .
so I tried to straighten out by careening
into the edges of things
but the furies took it personally and
withdrew support of my deficiencies
and everyone knows there’s no eulogy
for the living. .
stunned.
.
I dropped the wineglass, drank
deeply from the calyx of a meteor
cramming my mouth with
ragged stubs of grace
stealthy, so stealthily
ripped
from inner thighs
from motherless thieves
and childless mothers. .
now I have become patience.
everyday I fail, I fall.
I press my crooked spine into masonry
and I don’t take it personally when the shop
attendant leaves me to answer the phone.
she knows I am no hero.
and every breath is unique.
I’ve tried
left efforts like skid marks
across my wrists
to save myself from fear
surrender surrendering
soldering
stung
and spumed into a world
where on some days I remember
telling an inconsolable child
on a bus. .
wait until we stop. .
just wait. .
Lisaraniray
Via @preetasukhtankar who knows me best and can attest to the veracity of this statement as it applies to moi.
Be like Tom. But don’t be like Tom.
Keep calm, wash your hands and carry on.
#lifewithcoronavirus2020
Repost from @pritishnandycommunications using @RepostRegramApp – Don’t be perfect. Be amazing.
#fourmoreshotsplease #season2 releases 17 April. The ladies are back. Are you ready?
@primevideoin @4moreshotspls @rangitapritishnandy @pritishnandy2018 @nupurasthana @devikabhagat7 @misschamko @sayanigupta @iamkirtikulhari @maanvigagroo @banij @nehapartimatiyani @jabeen_merchant @sohelsanwari @parichit5 @aasthasharma @reannmoradian @mikey_mccleary @_prat @milindrunning @neilbhoopalam @lisaraniray
The Art of Disappearing
When they say Don’t I know you?
say no.
When they invite you to the party
remember what parties are like
before answering.
Someone is telling you in a loud voice
they once wrote a poem.
Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.
Then reply.
If they say We should get together
say why?
It’s not that you don’t love them anymore.
You’re trying to remember something
too important to forget.
Trees. The monastery bell at twilight.
Tell them you have a new project.
It will never be finished.
When someone recognizes you in a grocery store
nod briefly and become a cabbage.
When someone you haven’t seen in ten years
appears at the door,
don’t start singing him all your new songs.
You will never catch up.
Walk around feeling like a leaf.
Know you could tumble any second.
Then decide what to do with your time. ~ Naomi Shihab Nye
My favourite poet via @mishtickle 💜🦋
How did that old song go?
.
Rang rang mere rang rang mein
Rang jayegi tu rang
Sang sang mere sang sang mein
Sang aayegi sang
Hey rang rang mere rang rang mein
Rang jayega tu rang
Sang sang mere sang sang mein
Sang aayega sang
Rang sang mera mil jayega
Ang ang tera khil jayega
Rang sang mera mil jayega
Ang ang tera khil jayega
Rang sang mera mil jayega
Ang ang tera khil jayega
Rang sang mera mil jayega
Ang ang tera khil jayega
Rang rang mere rang rang mein
Rang jayegi tu rang
Sang sang mere sang sang mein
Sang aayegi sang
Rangon mein hai ishq pyar
Aankhon mein hai mast bahar
Ho baahon meim hai pehla yaar
Are lamhon mein hai intezar
Honton pe hai ek pukar
Dil mein hai dard e jahar
Honton pe hai ek pukar
Dil mein hai dard e jahar
Haan rang rang mere rang rang mein,
Rang jayegi tu rang
Sang sang mere sang sang mein
Sang aayegi sang
#HappyHoli
“Things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
From Pema Chodron’s book ‘When Things Fall Apart’
And that is why we read. To expand the spectrum of our understanding. Or to try on another life for size for a while. These are unerving times. If you are fortunate enough to find time for yourself on a cosy couch, read. It doesn’t have to be my book, but if you do me the honour, you can let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
#CLEANHANDS #OPENHEARTS #FACTSNOTFEAR
What a perfect reminder. Thank you @ritiksood and my sangha 🙏🏼❤️
The Litany Against Fear is one of the greatest passages of modern literature as my friend @ghoshuvo pointed out when I posted this after @punjewbi shared it with me.
The text of this particular version comes from #Dune and well, it’s super relevant in these times, and I suspect it always will be.
#liveandtimeswithCorona #fearistemindkiller #Iwillfacemyfear
In these sobering times, a poignant Holi song from my film, the magnificent #DeepaMehta directed #Water, about hope and humanity and the resilience of a girl child, contains even greater resonance today.
Socially distanced. Emotionally engaged.
Via @farrokhchothia
Repost from @thebangalorecreative using @RepostRegramApp – ⚡{Women Superheroes}⚡ – Lisa Ray {In conversation with the superhero, @lisaraniray }
.
What are you most passionate about and what is the driving force?💫
Helping other women find their voice and self-definition. I spent too much of my life being labelled and struggling to prove my worth outside of what others thought of me. Today I know who I am, I’m not looking for validation but I also stand proud and loud in my power and challenge anyone who tries to put me in a box. My differences are my strength. Deep dive within, touch your uniqueness and stand out in the courage it takes to be yourself.
E.e. Cummings said it best: To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
Biggest challenge you have overcome? 🔥
My own limiting beliefs about myself. Even if we think we are duelling external enemies, really the struggle is all within our own hearts and minds. And my own inability to let go of pain led to my cancer- I believe that. So awesome emotional and mental hygiene is the ultimate in fulfilling your potential. I’m embarking on my most glorious phase- writing books- finally after overcoming my inner obstacles.
Advice you would give to your younger self and all the youngsters who want to be like you?💬
Don’t let the world define you. Your self-worth should not be defined outside of yourself. You are worthy and valuable and loveable. Without doing a thing. .
.
#womensday #iwd #iwd2020
#womenempowerment
#womenofsubstance #women #internationalwomensday
#womeninleadership #actress #actor #cancersurvivor #writer #author #fitnessmotivation #fitlifestyle #womenfitness #fitnessinspirations #fitwomen #girlpower #strongwomen #fitandfabulous
@protestpoet
Repost from @amutedstory using @RepostRegramApp – We spend so much of our lives defining ourselves by our identities. We attach labels to ourselves, labels of race, ethnicity, language, culture, class, caste, religion, nationality, political and sexual orientations. We fragment ourselves into more and more pieces and then hold on to the narratives we construct around those bits.
.
If anything, this crisis has shown us how none of that matters. Underneath it all, the same blood flows through our veins and the same lungs work overtime to pump oxygen into our organs. But it’s gone a step further to show us how are actions are interdependent, no matter which ivory towers we live in and how high the walls we build around ourselves are.
.
I must admit I am very guilty of setting myself apart from other people in this way, judging and looking down upon them. Even now I find myself getting angry at the selfish individuals who are risking others’ lives through their irresponsible actions. So nothing will be a harder lesson than this one. As a species, we are only as strong as the weakest among us. We all learn together or we all fall apart together. The idea of holding onto an ego has never seemed more laughable or more useless than right now. Will we finally learn that we are all one in time or finally only learn when it is too late?
.
#angelanddevil #notblacknotwhite #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #shotoncanon #canonphotography #travelphotography #faceoff #learnedthehardway #weareone #corona #loveinthetimeofcorona #compassion #bekind #selfless
Thank you @toi_books for naming @closetothebone.book as one of the twenty most talked about in 2019. I am so humbled and grateful to readers for showing love and support to my writing debut. I promise there’s many more books coming your way. Thanks always to @diyakar73 @jilpanz @shabnamsriv @jayapriyavasudevan @harpercollinsin for believing in me and my words 🙏🏼 #ClosetotheBone is currently available in India on @amazondotin @flipkart and in bookstores.
Some very interesting announcements for my memoir coming your way soon ✌🏼🙏🏼
Repost from @wendellrodricksdesignspace using @RepostRegramApp – ~ Remembering Wendell Rodricks ~
Wendell loved to sketch and he did it with effortless flair. Here he detailed out designs of dresses for @lisaraniray and @mallikasherawat for the Toronto International Film Festival.
#wendellrodricksforever
#wendellrodricks
Repost @feministaaofficial
@lisaraniray’s life story is synonymous to her words – “a plethora of colors”. Watch the full Interview with Feministaa’s Founder @medhamukerji.
A Women’s Day Exclusive!
#staytuned
#notforabhlanaaris @feministaaofficial #closetothebone
Let’s Celebrate Women every day ✌️
via @audible_in
Very proud to present the audiobook version of #ClosetotheBone
Live the story of a superwoman who didn’t deter even in the face of adversity. Listen to @Lisaraniray’s fierce tale #CloseToTheBone, on #Audible.
#ListeningIsTheNewReading #ClosetotheBone
