Holi Moley

A dose of excitement and cheer

Dear friends,

Ok, that was a terrible play on words. But tomorrow (today in India) is Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, and an occasion to be joyful. I hope there are a few—even many—things in your life that are bringing you joy. Despite all the reasons our world is throwing at us to feel grim, we must hold onto the bits of joy. Holi heralds the arrival of spring, which here in Boston is a dubious proposition in March, but it is also a festival that celebrates love and laughter and light, and those one can find even with dirt-flecked, crusty snow on the ground. Here I am in India at age 12 (I’m on the right), when I lived in Bombay, after a day of running around throwing colored powders and colored water on anyone I could see.

Today I’m hoping that the exuberance of Holi, and the fact that this year it falls on International Women’s Day, is auspicious for my literary career: my agent has just sent the manuscript of my second book out to to editors. The process is called “being on submission,” shortened to “being on sub” in publishing lingo, and it’s hard for me not to picture someone groveling at the feet of Almighty Publishing, holding up a ream of paper and begging for acceptance. Needless to say, it’s not an image I love. But it’s an exciting time. Also a harrowing time. The best thing to do is just go about my life and forget about it, because really it could take months for anything to happen. But also, something could happen any minute! But also, maybe nothing will happen at all. Ever. With this manuscript that is a piece of me, that I worked on for years. But no. Let’s focus on the light and love and all that good stuff. Holi makes a cameo appearance in my second book, tentatively titled BETWEEN LIGHT AND EARTH, and let’s just say there are several women wrestling with their role in 19th century Indian society, politics, and the arts, so it feels fitting to be sending this book out on March 8th.

I got to talk about my writing and my year in India with a group of high schoolers of Indian origin, in the living room of Anuradha Gulati, who has her own book launching next week. She runs the Indo-American Youth Group, which gives these students opportunities to develop their leadership and to explore their heritage, and I was so happy to spend time with them. I love speaking with high schoolers. I really do. (And if you are a part of an institution or group that looks for speakers, do let me know!) These young people have so much going on, so many thoughts, so many observation, and such passion for what they believe in. I talked about my shifting relationship with my mixed heritage, the ways in which I feel or don’t feel—or am considered or not considered—Indian enough. They asked questions, and a few took copies of my book, and I wanted to hug them all.

I’ll be up bright and early tomorrow to be a guest on author Michelle Hoover’s wonderful podcast, 7amnovelist here on Substack. For the writers among you, I urge you to sign up for this daily morsel of advice and inspiration. The current project is called The March March. Thirty-one days with 30-minutes each of writing help to get you to your writing desk and keep you there. You can register for the free, live webinar version by emailing 7amnovelist@substack.com. And you can catch the audio recording any time by visiting the site.

Meantime, I had my first drumming lesson, on a snare drum, and I was relieved to find that my classmates were equally beginner-y, and not young whippersnappers but people with a certain gravitas and humility and clumsiness with the drum sticks. We ran through some rudiments and patterns, and my feet were feeling left out, because they recognized similarities with kathak footwork patterns, but they were down there on the floor doing not much of anything other than tapping the beat. However, one of my classmates alerted us to School of Honk in Somerville, MA, which offers the opportunity for a weekly meetup and parade that can include people with minimal musical experience. What a fun idea!

Some day I will join in.

Warm wishes,

Anjali