PACK OF 5 (contains 5 copies of the book)
 
Orisons in the Dark
Author: Pallavi Padma-Uday
 
About the Author
Pallavi grew up all over India and studied in Chennai and London before moving to Belfast. She started off as a reporter and a long-form writer for newspapers including Mint and The Indian Express in Mumbai and New Delhi. In recent years, she helped build some of India’s fastest-growing e-commerce startups as part of their core leadership teams and continues to mentor digital businesses in India and the UK. Pallavi is a graduate of London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently training as an economic historian at Queen’s University, Belfast. She writes op-eds and longreads on business and political economy for newspapers in India and the UK. She is working on her second poetry collection with mentoring support from Doire Press, Irish Writers Centre, and the Arts Council of Ireland. Pallavi tweets at @econhistorienne and blogs at www.econhistorienne.com.
 
Teaser
Storming kettles
In my home,
kitchen is a neglected space—
there are toasters and ovens and kettle,
microwave and steamer and the barbecue,
the slow cooker, the chopping board, the knives,
but it’s the kettle I use every day.
Fierce, contained, primed to a boiling point,
a scalding cauldron where ambition and hunger mix
like coffee beans in water.
It makes my coffee the easy way,
not the way my mother taught me
because that takes minutes when
my patience allows seconds.
For every drop I drink,
my impatience defines the course—
strong for the one who gifted me the kettle
black for those who wanted me pure
bitter for those who said I must know cooking.
A million coffees brewed every morning
in angry, un-abiding, storming kettles
when the world rushes out to work,
and I return to the boiler within me.
 
Reviews
“‘Orisons in the Dark’ skillfully weaves together themes of patriarchy, violence, and the evolution of women’s roles across generations. Padma-Uday fearlessly confronts these subjects, infusing her poems with palpable anger and courage. The collection explores women’s place within the home and in society at large, highlighting how these experiences shape their lives and aspirations. Despite the grim realities depicted, Padma-Uday leaves room for moments of temptation and reflection, reminding readers that hope and personal growth can emerge even in the darkest of times.”
Read ABP Live‘s whole review here.
 
“To read Pallavi Padma-Uday’s Orisons in the Dark is to come to terms with the complexities that women in deeply patriarchal societies grapple with. Her poems, often stark and direct in her poetic endeavours, cover a range of themes and spaces where we find women struggling to break out of the roles assigned to or imagined for them.”
Read News Nine‘s whole review here.