MEETING SHIVA AND PARVATI
In The British Museum

Meandering like a river
among the exhibits I encounter
Shiva and Parvati engrossed in each other
holding the universe between their eyes.

Startled to find an offering of flowers
nestling at their feet where
Nandi, Shiva’s bull, and Parvati’s lion
gaze bashfully at each other,

this statue from Orissa, the place of my birth
carved between AD 1100-1300
on gleaming black schist demands my attention.

I am in the presence of God
conceived as a couple, male and female,
on the point of becoming One.

Over two centuries have elapsed
since the divine pair –
dressed lavishly in decorated loin cloths
their naked bodies adorned with ornaments
earrings, necklaces, headdresses, anklets –

were taken from their home in an ornate temple,
perhaps in Bhubaneswar, the abode of gods,
where worshippers thronged for a darshan
offering gifts and prayers
holding conversations with gods…

At last, all changes requested have been accommodated where possible even when they were edits rather than errors (to be the subject of a blog at a later date) and the print files have approval. The book now exists and is officiallypublished.

As we now have a definitive weight and size postal and packaging charges have been calculated as follows:

UK addresses – 1 copy £1.20; 2 copies £1.50; 3 copies £2.50; 4 copies £3.00

Eu  addresses – 1 copy £3.50; 2 copies £5.00; 3 copies £6.50; 4 copies £7.50

Rest of the World addresses – 1 copy £4.50; 2 copies £7; 3 copies £11; 4 copies £12

For those of you who have been waiting so long to pay for your copies ordered at the pre-publication price of £8 per volume this is the green light for payment.

Please pay using PayPal for the number of copies you…

Now available: issue 15 of Prole – containing a fantastic collection of fiction and poetry. Again, we’re amazed and very grateful for the fabulous contributions from our writers and photographer. This issue contains the winners of the Prolitzer Prize for Prose Writing, 2014.

To purchase a copy or a three issue subscription, use this link:

http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/

Select correct option

Prole, single issue 15, delivered to UK address £6.70 GBP Prole, issue 15, single issue, delvered to non UK address £10.50 GBP Prole 15, 16, 17 delivered to UK address £18.60 GBPProle, 15, 16, 17 delivered to nonUK address £28.50 GBPFull PDF of Prole 15 delivered to your inbox £4.00 GBPPDFs of Prole 15, 16, 17 delivered to your inbox £10.00 GBP

If ordering a subscription, issues 16 and 17 are due out in April and August 2015.

If ordering a PDF version, please be aware, our web server does not allow automated downloads. It might be…