by Ralph Nazareth
“No!” they scream in horror as I spoon out
my Indian pickles, dousing, at times basting,
their bland western fare with the blistering hot kol
of gastronomic bombs.
Over time, I concoct killing combinations:
Baedecker’s Vadu Mango with plain spaghetti
Steamed cabbage made palatable by Ruchi’s amla
Linguini served with tart karandikai on the side
Patak’s brinjal in extra gingilly oil as gravy
for hash and grits or mashed potato,
Rupa’s garlic-ginger garnish livening up
the hearts of tasteless artichokes.
Occasionally, on dark and curryless nights
a touch of Ahmed’s rich achar to down
a plate of Uncle Ben’s Converted rice.
“Help!” they yell in virtual terror, “this is
nothing if not the murder of the Western tongue!”
as they vault over the hold-the-pepper pickets
of Uncle Sam’s Anti-Spice Brigade,
jazzing up their curd and whey
their death-warmed-over sandwiches
making a weekly bee line
to the chutney and pickle racks in India Bazaar.
Even after years of marriage with this alien land
red chili, vinegar and hing massalas
still accent my food, deep as soul
“Oh no!” they groan reaching for the Maalox
As for me, I say, give me pickles
or—I’m not kidding—give me death.
Usha Akella, co-director of MATWAALA:
In its signature spirit of community welcoming established and upcoming poets, Matwaala 2018 took place in NYC. Matwaala’s Big Read was hosted by Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) on 26 September 2018. The participating poets this year were Usha Akella, Zilka Joseph, Ralph Nazareth, Varsha Saraiya-Shah, Ravi Shankar, Vivek Sharma and Pramila Venkateswaran. 2018’s Poet of Honour was Ralph Nazareth. There was also a reading with a feminist theme hosted by Bluestockings Bookstore in NYC.
A poet, teacher and publisher, Ralph Nazareth was and raised in Mangalore, with a brief spell in Bombay. He earned his PhD in English Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1974. After forty years of teaching at SUNY Stony Brook & Purchase, UT Austin & Nassau Community College, he retired from academia in 2015. He is now in his second decade of volunteer-teaching in maximum security prisons in New York State. He has published four books of poetry and his writing has appeared in books, magazines, and journals in the US and abroad, including the award-winning collection Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry. Nazareth has participated in poetry festivals in Palestine, Ecuador, Colombia and El Salvador. He is the Managing Editor of Yuganta Pressa and currently also heads Graceworks Inc., Inc., an international nonprofit charitable foundation.