Literary Animal

I started a new blog http://sangamithra.wordpress.com/ that I’m calling Literary Animal. I will post things literary, animal or both, and it will be musings on writing, reading and being(s).

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In Search of Sacred Cows

See latest videos I narrated for Brighter Green with some footage from our trip in 2009:

“In this new two-part video series, Brighter Green examines the challenges and effects of India’s beef and dairy industries.”

Double-click to view full screen.

Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice

I just received my contributor copy of Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice, edited   by Lisa Kemmerer.  Very honored to be included with all these women. Contributors are Carol J. Adams, Tara Sophia Bahna-James, Karen Davis, Elizabeth Jane Farians, Hope Ferdowsian, Linda Fisher, Twyla François, Christine Garcia, A. Breeze Harper, Sangamithra Iyer, Pattrice Jones, Lisa Kemmerer, Allison Lance, Ingrid Newkirk, Lauren Ornelas, and Miyun Park.

My essay “Small Small Redemption” is about my time in Cameroon volunteering for a chimpanzee sanctuary and coming into awareness of how logging, hunting and big oil are disrupting the forests and the many beings within them.  It is a personal story that explores the linkages of environmental destruction and economic disparities.  It is also a story of mothers and babies and the trauma of breaking that bond.

More about the Book:

“Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice addresses interconnections between speciesism, sexism, racism, and homophobia, clarifying why social justice activists in the twenty-first century must challenge intersecting forms of oppression.

This anthology presents bold and gripping–sometimes horrifying–personal narratives from fourteen activists who have personally explored links of oppression between humans and animals, including such exploitative enterprises as cockfighting, factory farming, vivisection, and the bushmeat trade. Sister Species asks readers to rethink how they view “others,” how they affect animals with their daily choices, and how they might bring change for all who are abused. These essays remind readers that women have always been important to social justice and animal advocacy, and they urge each of us to recognize the links that continue to bind all oppressed individuals. The astonishing honesty of these contributors demonstrates with painful clarity why every woman should be an animal activist and why every animal activist should be a feminist.”

A Portrait of An Activist as a Young (and Old) Man

I recently  reviewed Joseph Lelyveld’s biography of Mahatma Gandhi for the lovely folks over at Our Hen House.   I chose to focus on a few things I gleaned about activism and those which I thought would be relevent to share with activists.   See review of Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India here.

Interview with Minal Hajratwala

Check out Issue 4 of the Tottenville Review which includes my interview with the fabulous Minal Hajratwala and her impressive book, Leaving India, My families Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents.   This book is a well-researched and beautifully crafted story of the Indian Diaspora.

Give Geese A Chance

Geese arrive at Hands Across the Lake Demonstration

Earlier this afternoon, when a crowd of concerned citizens gathered by the lake in Prospect Park, a flock of geese in V formation landed near the water.   The geese had returned to Prospect Park despite last year’s culling, when 368 birds were rounded up in the middle of the night and gassed to death.

A  “Hands Around the Lake” demonstration was organized today to prevent the mass culling from happening again this summer.  Verite Catering, prepared vegan snacks for the particpants.

Verite Catering feeds the Crowd.

Mary Beth Purdy-Artz gave the opening remarks and introduced the first speaker.  Council member Letitia James of Clinton Hill told the crowd about her roots in Prospect Park.  Born in Methodist Hospital, she grew up in the neighbohood.  When her family couldn’t afford to go on vacation, they came to Prospect Park.   The geese issue is close to her heart.  When people ask her why she’s working on this issue, she tells them, “You don’t know Tish.”  Contrary to popular belief, she said, “I was once an ugly duckling.”    When kids made fun of her at school, she came to the park and talked to the geese.

The Cries of Pigs and Cows

See my post on Brighter Green on the traumatic impact on both humans and animals  of the mass culling of animals as a result of Foot-and-mouth disease in Korea.