Smitha Vishwanath's Blog

November ended on a beautiful note as my first attempt at collaborative poetry was published on the 30th. I’ve been following David’s writing since quite some time but haven’t dared to participate in the challenges as I wasn’t sure how to go about them. He writes amazing collaborative poetry alongwith other talented poets, which I’ve […]

The first time we took a walk through the forest was through the Limuru gate. I didn’t think it made a difference where we entered the forest. After all, it was just different gates into the same place. But the Karura forests are sprawled across 2570 acres. It is the second largest urban forest in […]

After my last attempt at a horse, I decided to try painting it again. This time, I did a side profile of the horse’s face instead of the front view and I painted it using acrylics instead of watercolours. This horse looks like it means serious business. In fact, it’s looking at me as I […]

I want to thank Michelle for not only publishing my poem ‘Inheritance’ on her publication, Hotel Masticadores, but also for publishing it on the 26th November which was dad’s fifth death anniversary.I love the image Michelle chose to go with the poem and these four images that she shared on Instagram with lines from each […]

This week, the prompt for Tanka Tuesday coincides with the thought behind Thankful Thursday. Melissa, the host of Tanka Tuesday, this week, asks us to write a double ennead ( 99 syllable poem – 3 stanzas each of 6/5/11/6/5 syllables) on the ‘theme of gratitude. Use this as a challenge to write about people, places, […]

The last time I wrote a ‘Thankful Thursday’ or a ‘Thursday Door’, post was a long time ago (18.09.25 to be precise). I hope to break the spell with this post. Among the many things that I am grateful for – for another day to witness the flowers blooming in my garden, birds feeding on […]

I’m sharing these flowers in memory of Cee Nuener. I got to know only yesterday that Cee passed away in March 2025. To know more, you can read this post. I knew Cee because of the ‘Flower of the Day’ challenge she hosted. She would also share a list of all the other challenges hosted […]

This is my second deity painting. I drew the picture, inked it and then painted it using acrylics. The painting tested my patience as it involved a lot of repetition- the work on the pillars, the cows. I’m used to letting my brushes move freely and this painting felt restrictive. It was out of my […]

This post is a potpourri of things. Colleen is the host of last week’s Tanka Tuesday. She asks us to choose a card (below) from the “Dream Your Joy Oracle Cards” by Judy Mastrangelo. I chose the first one because when I close my eyes to visualize joy, I see green grass, birds pecking on grains, […]

I enjoy reading books about countries and cultures, so, when I saw this book in the book swap group I’m part of, I grabbed it. Although I have read books on Afghanistan by Khaled Hosseini (who is from the country) and by Mary Smith (a foreigner who lived in Afghanistan for a while), it’s still […]