Expatria · Florida · Marriage · Music · Prague · Repatria · Third Culture Kids · Trauma · Travel

Panorama: How to Plant Roots in the Sand

“The thunder and lightning crash so hard around my home it knocks paintings from the wall and tchotchkes to the floor. A wall of rain smashes down so thick I can’t see the road just metres from my front door, nor the community pool out back. I wait for the inevitable sound of sirens that follow these epic peals of skyscape fury — the majority of my town’s residents are elderly retirees; someone once had a heart attack from the noise. As the wind wails, altering the direction of the wall of water this way and that, I imagine this is what it feels like to be in a meteor storm in outer space, frightened and alone. I wait for the power to cut out as it would in Asia, but it never does. This is America, after all. And while I might have experienced ferocious typhoons in Thailand and savage monsoons in Sri Lanka, all those storms combined pale when compared to Florida’s minor tropical furies. I wonder if I’ll ever get used to these terrifying and magnificent displays of nature.” For Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel, December 2016.

Politics · Wear Your Voice Magazine

The Election Fallout Begins for Women, People of Color, Immigrants and LGBTQ Community

“It happened. We have an admitted sexual assaulter, racist, Islamophobe, white supremacist and homophobe as the president-elect of the United States — and his Vice President is even worse. Idiocracy is now a documentary. As a woman of words, I find myself at a loss of what to say, how to even begin putting this into some kind of context that makes sense outside The Upside Down. Because let’s face it: one night at some point in the past year we went to sleep in our world, and the next morning woke up in a parallel universe.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, November 2016.

Expatria · Third Culture Kids · Trauma · Wear Your Voice Magazine

Dear Tim Burton: I’m Done With Your Racism

“Learning that people of color like me who have supported your work for almost 30 years don’t exist to you, don’t interest you and aren’t relevant to you is something beyond my comprehension. And that you’ve felt this way since you were a child makes me feel sick to my stomach for having idolized you and your art.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, October 2016.

Politics · Wear Your Voice Magazine

Explaining the Seemingly Bizarre Indian-Americans for Trump 2016 Movement

“During this most insane of election cycles, I wake up every day thinking that things can’t possibly get any more surreal or bizarre — and somehow, each evening when I watch the news, I find myself surprised at what new rabbit hole we’ve gone down.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, September 2016.

Television · Wear Your Voice Magazine

Showtime’s “Roadies” is a Dumpster Fire of Asian Stereotypes and Casual Racism

“What really started to gnaw at me as the episodes went on was the unbearable casualness of all this blatant, outright racism. This is 2016. Why is nobody vetting shows like Roadies? And what kind of bubble are these creators living in that they think it’s acceptable to use racial stereotypes as punchlines to jokes? Oh, how could I forget — that bubble is called white privilege.” For Wear Your Voice Mag, September 2016.