Poetry is an Introspection and Declaration

I’m a self-taught artist passionate about growth, both as a writer and as a human being. I have pivoted from a 12-year-long successful career as a Project Manager in Business Intelligence to my passion for creative writing and activism in the last eight years. I have worked with numerous international and national literary organizations in the capacity of poet, editor, curator, judge, and literary activist, which has led to the publication of four poetry collections, six co-edited anthologies, and 1000+ works in journals and magazines around the world.

Writing poetry has always been a cathartic experience for me. My need to write poetry is coupled with a desire for self-expression and to connect with like-minded people in the creative community. Poetry is an amalgamation of introspection and declaration for me. Poetry is not only cathartic to me, but it also gives me the necessary medium to become a conduit of the unspoken and the unheard. To me, poetry is personal, and poetry is political.

A journey that started with sharing my love of poetry as a form of activism and introspection in WordPress blogs and Facebook notes evolved into the publication of four poetry collections and six co-edited anthologies. As I dabbled in more forms of poetry, I educated myself on the craft, structure, and forms of poetry by learning and reading other poets, growing a bit by every passing moment.

Being a literary activist and a poet, I have contributed heavily to socially conscious anthologies that generate revenues for organizations supporting these issues. My work inclines towards literary activism, as generating awareness through my writings is my primary goal. Keeping with the mission to raise awareness about social inequalities and build communities of empowered creatives, I have co-edited two award-winning anthologies featuring the work of women creatives across the globe, namely The Kali Project (Indie Blue Publishing) and The Medusa Project (Mookychick). Both projects featured the voices of marginalized writers and provided them with a platform for showcasing their work. Both projects have received international recognition. The anthology “The Kali Project” has been included as a reference in the coveted The Commonwealth Journal, in addition to being a finalist in the Indie Excellence Book Awards.

“The Medusa Project,” along with two other anthologies including my creative works, has been selected as a digital payload as part of a historic project, LunarCodex, and has been sent to the moon in 2025 in three rocket missions. The project received press mentions in the New York Times, CNN, BBC, Smithsonian, Vogue, Guardian, etc. The LunarCodex landing sites on the moon are now part of the Artemis Accord Heritage site, an accord signed by 53 countries to date, as part of the designated heritage of humanity, to be preserved for posterity.

Being part of historic landmark projects like the Lunar Codex that not only carried my creative works to the moon as a digital payload but also the works of other 52 womxn artists has validated not just my voice, but the collective voices I strive to represent immigrant women, South Asians, mothers, activists, and more.

Poetry has not only been my creative outlet but has also opened doors to various roles, including editor, curator, spoken word jury member, workshop facilitator, and panelist with numerous academic and literary organizations globally. One of the notable projects includes the Life in Quarantine Project by CESTA ( Center of Textual and Spatial Analysis), Stanford University (2020-2024).

Launched in March 2020 by three doctoral students and a group of undergraduates, LiQ addresses the transformations we experienced in the age of COVID-19.  The literary partnership “Life in Quarantine” with Stanford University has been presented in the Open Education Global Forum 2020 and received mention in Stanford Daily, and is being used as an open pedagogical resource for students, educators, governments, organizations, and businesses to promote cultural solidarity and global interconnectedness with inclusivity at its center.

In addition to this, I have also facilitated workshops with various universities and colleges, including the Strategic Arts Education and School of Social Justice, Columbia University, in collaboration with The Confined Arts (TCA), UC Merced Creative Writing Students as part of the San Francisco Creative Writing University, Seminar at the Poetry Seminar at the historic Poe Cottage with Bronx County Historical Society, etc.

My collaboration with cultural institutions includes poetry readings/discussions at the New York Historical Society, Hoboken Historical Museum alongside NY Yankee Poet, Frank Messina, and Emmy-Nominated, reg e gaines, a panel discussion for Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center’s 50th Anniversary at the NJCU School of Business.

Furthermore, my works have also been selected in the literary publications of various US universities like Howard University, Columbia University, Temple University, George Mason University, Stanford University, University of Albany, Kent State University, Chicago University, CUNY, and many more. With over 1000 publications across more than 300 journals worldwide, my work has appeared in over 200 reputed anthologies translated into several languages. My poetry has been featured in international publications, including the landmark 100th issue of World Literature Today.

In addition to being a poet and editor, I also serve as an Advocacy Member with various arts and literary organizations such as the United Nations Association, National League of American Pen Women, and ArtPride NJ (which serves as the art service provider for 300+ organizations at the state level). These positions give me a brilliant opportunity to work with our creative community art leaders both at the grassroots and national levels, which further helps me to generate arts support and arts advocacy.

Furthermore, poetry has created opportunities for me to serve as a judge in various esteemed national and international competitions. These include my role as the judge for numerous contests, namely New Jersey Poetry Out Loud (NJPOL), SLAM Poetry Competition at the Indian Institute of Technology–Delhi (IITD), NAMI NJ (National Alliance on Mental Illness), and The Artist Forum, New York.

The journey has been deeply personal and, at times, emotionally and logistically demanding. Poetry came to me as a way of navigating angst and helplessness because of the social injustice in the world — affecting me directly and indirectly– has since evolved into a space for resistance, healing, and advocacy. Over time, recognitions like recipient of “Certificate of Excellence” from the Jersey City Mayor, being inducted into the 125-year-old Marquis Who’s Who in America Registry as an Honored Listee to share the space with previous inductees like President Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, Malala Yousafzai, and many more, and to working as literary curator for Stanford University to create a pedagogical archive, “Life in Quarantine,” of 200+ poets across the world strongly resonates with my mission of inclusivity, representation, and diversity in the arts community have validated my mission as a literary activist.

Receiving support from various literary organizations across my writing career, namely Voices of the Nations Foundation, Fine Arts Work Center, Pen Women, Sundress Academy, Dodge Foundation, Kundiman, and Martha’s Vineyard Writing, has further validated my mission and my intent to create something positive using poetry.

Over the past eight years, since I began submitting my work to book awards, contests, and poetry prizes, I have been recognized in nearly 45 different competitions, earning distinctions as a winner, finalist, and honorable mention across various levels. My poetry has also been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net four times, with the honor of being aired twice at the WNYC Studio Morning edition. I was also honored to be one of the few writers nationally writing against the Fall of Freedom, a writing initiative by PEN America.

Through poetry, I have been part of numerous poetry panels, the notable ones include the panel at the AWP22 (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) conference for the event “Creative Activism in Words & Action: Writers & Activists at the United Nations” with fellow panelists Rachel Pittman, Executive Director of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA).

But the path hasn’t been without its hurdles. As a woman of color and an immigrant writer balancing motherhood, a writing career, and editorial commitments, I’ve often had to carve space in an industry that can be exclusionary and saturated with gatekeeping. There’s a constant negotiation between creative work and systemic limitations.

As a writer of color, a woman, and a first-generation immigrant social activist and poet, my goal is to weave the fabric of my unique experiences and perspectives into my creative works and to challenge stereotypes and advocate for gender equality, using poetry as a vehicle for empowerment. In embracing the role of social activist, my writing seeks to inspire change and foster empathy, understanding, and a shared commitment to an inclusive and just world.

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