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Nilesh

@nileshb.bsky.social
97 followers 164 following 292 posts

Trying painting, poetry translation. Good at cooking. Love reading. Getting paid for product strategy, leadership coaching. He/him. Mumbai. Have you read @unmana.bsky.social’s Chikkamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd? Bookstores and online links at unmana.com

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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Prepping for tomorrow’s art viewing at home! If you are in #Mumbai and would like to see my paintings, please come (we are in Bandra West, dm for address). #artsky
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Unmana @unmana.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Lovely review yesterday with a couple of quotes from me in the Free Press Journal.
freepressjournal.in
Book Review: 'Chikkamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd' By Unmana Is A Breezy Yet Bold Mystery Ride
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
#booksky #delhi
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The Doctor (Commissions open) @lucidillusions.in · 18/04/2025
to the handful of IndiaSky people on bsky who will see it, if you know of anyone looking for a videographer/editor/photographer - connect them with me. I'm looking for assignments for April-May-June.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Translation: What hope can I keep of getting back the joys of life I couldn’t have, I cannot even ask for the tears that this world robbed me of. - Barkat Virani ‘Befaam’ #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
41/n ગુમાવેલા જીવનનાં હાસ્ય તો પાછાં મળે ક્યાંથી ?
જમાનાએ લૂંટેલા અશ્રુ પણ માગી નથી શકતો. *Gumavela jivan na hasy to pachha male kyanthi? Jamanae lootela ashru pan magi nathi shakto.* - Befaam #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
40/n નયનને બંધ રાખીને મેં જયારે તમને જોયાં છે, તમે છો એના કરતાં પણ વધારે તમને જોયાં છે. *Nayan ne bandh rakhi ne me jyare tamne joya chhe, Tame chho ena karta pan vadhare tamne joya chhe.* When I closed my eyes and saw you, I saw you even more than you are. - Befaam #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Good morning, blue sky!
Ocean and rocks with a faint skyline. Water and sky both are blue.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
This is kind of what I am feeling about BlueSky also :)
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
English translation: I kept reliving that moment I’d left you and gone away, Didn’t find that moment when I came back and met you. - Adi Mirza #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
39/n તમને છોડીને ગયો’તો એ પળો મળતી રહી, તમને આવીને મળ્યો’તો એ ઘડી મળતી નથી. Latin script: *Tamne chhodi ne gayo’to e palo malti rahi, Tamne aavi ne malyo to e ghadi malti nathi.* - Adi Mirza #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
🖤
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Not there. Not yet, at least!
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Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
You can read more about FLN's advocacy for reform and its People's National Library Policy PNLP here: www.fln.org.in/library-reform-demanding-the-peoples-national-library-policy/
fln.org.in
Library Reform: Demanding the People’s National Library Policy
Public libraries matter.  A large majority of Indians are not truly included in the world’s largest democracy. Amid political polarisation, communal divisions and glaring inequality R…
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Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Today & tomorrow, activists of the Free Libraries Network will represent grassroots libraries & their members from across India at the #IndianLibraryCongress in Delhi. They will talk about the power of libraries when they are made free & non-exclusionary for all.
4 children, 2 girls & 2 boys, ages 10-13yrs are huddled over an Alphabet Book. They are seated at a library table and are surrounded by colourful bookshelves. They are deeply engrossed in the book.A girl aged 8 yrs is in a red dress inside a mud hut, she is seated on the bare floor and is reading aloud a book called The New Sweater.A girl in pigtails aged 7-10 yrs is reading an accessible books for visually impaired readers. She is reading by feeling the book with her hands. The book is a large green object, with cut outs of a tree, monkeys, dogs etc. A library facilitator holds up the book to her. A smiling older lady watched the read aloud.A park scene. Children of all ages (6-14 yrs) are in a circle. There are books in the middle of the circle, on the grass. A bespectacled librarian does a read aloud. One of the children is pointing at the book excitedly. The grass is green and the sky is a dull blue. Two women (gardeners of the public park) are outside the circle but listening to the story.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Indian almond Is shedding red leaves — I stare At old green photos
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I would warn you of Spring coming— but I sneeze in All the seasons now
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Too much going on last week or so… haven’t been able to do poetry translation:/ Also have to pack and move at end of the month and then unpacking, setting up things — so don’t know when I’ll get back to it. But hopefully I will! 🤞🏾
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Ughh:/
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Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Sunday L💙VE for Libraries is real! Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL @tashanmehta.bsky.social is making an amazing offer. So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate OR Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
The image is a poster with several elements.
On a blue background, there are several elements of a flyer.
There is a photograph of a person looking at camera.
Below that, the person’s name, and a description:
Tashan Mehta
Author
Next to it is this text:
For a donation of ₹5000 to the Free Libraries Network, I am offering a one-on-one chat with me. We can discuss my work / your work / writing in general – you pick!
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
We can talk about my work and writing practice, or any potential issues you're currently facing in your writing practice, or writing in general – it's up to you. I will not be able to read your work (before or after the session) or give you feedback, but I can chat with you artist to artist. I am best versed with novels.

Tashan Mehta is a novelist whose interest lies in form and the fantastical. Her second novel, Mad Sisters of Esi, won the 2024 AutHer Award for Best Novel as well as the 2024 Subjective Chaos Kind of Award for Best Fantasy, and was on the 2023 Locus Recommended Reading List. Her first novel, The Liar’s Weave, was shortlisted for the Prabha Kaitan’s Woman’s Voice Award. She can be found at tashanmehta.com.

Below that, a QR Code, and these words:
To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/

FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. 
We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system.

Library Love (14–28 February) 
Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN.
Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers.
Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.The image is a poster with several elements.
In large text at centre are these words:
Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded.
FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
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Unmana @unmana.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Listen, I took five years writing and revising my novel before it got accepted. I will share what I learned so you get there faster! Sign up here www.townscript.com/e/library-lo...
townscript.com
Townscript | Online Event Registration and Ticketing Platform
Discover Events in your city and buy tickets online instantly. You can also create your event and start selling tickets online within a minute.
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Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Sunday L💙VE for Libraries is real! Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL @unmana.bsky.social is making an amazing offer. So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate OR Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove
The image is a poster with several elements.
On a blue background, there are several elements of a flyer.
There is a photograph of a person looking at camera.
Below that, the person’s name, and a description:
Unmana
Author
Next to it is this text:
For a donation of INR 3000, you can join an online workshop on finishing your first novel.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
The image is a poster with several elements.
One is a block of text which says:
This is for writers who have started a novel or have an idea, and are feeling stuck. We will discuss structure, characterisation, plot and setting, and how to revise your manuscript till it's compelling.

Tentative date and time: Sunday, 6 April, 2025, 3-5 pm.
Next to it is a bio of the person making the offer:
Unmana’s novel Chikkamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd is a deliciously bookish mystery set in Bengaluru that features India’s first fictional queer detective. 

Zac O’Yeah calls Unmana one of “the pioneers in the genre of Indian bibliomysteries” and “Asia’s own Alexander McCall-Smith”. Unmana’s short stories have been nominated for the Best of the Net and the Deodar Prize. They live in Bombay. 

Below that, a QR Code, and these words:
To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/

FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. 
We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system.
=====
Library Love (14–28 February) 
Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN.
Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers.
Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.
The image is a poster with several elements.
In large text at centre are these words:
=====
Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded.
FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right.
=====

In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
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Reposted by Nilesh
Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Sunday L💙VE for Libraries is real! Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL Jane Borges is making an amazing offer. So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate OR Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove
The image is a poster with several elements.
On a blue background, there are several elements of a flyer.
There is a photograph of a person looking at camera.
Below that, the person’s name, and a description:
Jane Borges
Author, journalist & oral historian
Next to it is this text:
For a donation of INR 2500, I will do a 90-minute talk about my craft and the subjects of my work over Zoom.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
My workshop will be held at the end of April. It will be an hour and a half long and held over a weekend. The session is for people interested in using elements of oral history in their storytelling.
Next to it is a bio of the person making the offer:
Jane Borges is a senior journalist, author and oral historian. In 2022, she won the National RedInk Journalism Award. Her debut novel, Bombay Balchão (2019), was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puruskar and Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize. She has also co-authored the non-fiction Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of Women from the Ganglands (2011) with S. Hussain Zaidi. A chapter from the book was adapted into the Bollywood film Gangubai (2022) by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She lives in Mumbai.

Below that, a QR Code, and these words:
To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. 
We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system.

Library Love (14–28 February) 
Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN.
Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers.
Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.
The image is a poster with several elements.
In large text at centre are these words:
Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded.
FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
A cuter image list of the same on Instagram if you are there: www.instagram.com/p/DGDYgjrMHk... But more importantly so many of these authors are here on BlueSky, so follow them if you aren’t already doing :) @kjcharleswriter.com @oliviawaite.com and others too!
instagram.com
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Valentine’s Day reading list by @unmana.bsky.social in yesterday’s Scroll… Queer romances that make hearts flutter and end on a happy note: Sultry, dizzying, cute romances in historical and contemporary settings by 12 writers around the world. scroll.in/article/1078... #booksky #queerlove
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Sridala @sridala.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
I'm helping raise funds for the Free Libraries Network with the offer below. Please donate so that @freelibsnet.bsky.social can continue to do the amazing work they do!
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Happy Valentine’s Day :) “Love”, Acrylic on 12”x12” stretched canvas, September 2023. #painting #nilpaints #ArtSky @unmana.bsky.social
Photo of a painting on an easel. Painting is that of a selfie of a couple cuddling.
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Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
This is no ordinary L💙VE! Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL @bijal.bsky.social is making an amazing offer. So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate OR Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
The image is a poster with several elements.
On a [final colour] background, there are several elements of a flyer.
There is a photograph of a person looking away from camera.
Below that, the person’s name, and a description:
Bijal Vachharajani
Children's book author and editor
Next to it is this text:
For a donation of INR 5000, I will offer feedback on your picture book manuscript and a 20 minute Zoom call discussion.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
The image is a poster with several elements.
One is a block of text which says:
If you donate Rs 5000, I will offer feedback on your picture book manuscript and a 20 minute Zoom call discussion. 

I will be able to look at picture book manuscripts in English by the end of March and offer a critique and one call about the feedback.
Next to it is a bio of the person making the offer:
When Bijal Vachharajani is not reading a children’s book, she’s writing or editing one. She’s the author of multiple planet-friendly, award-winning books including A Cloud Called Bhura, Savi and the Memory Keeper and When Fairyland Lost Its Magic. One of India’s first climate writers for children, she’s a commissioning editor at Pratham Books where she dreams up diverse, multi-lingual picture books.
Below that, a QR Code, and these words:
To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
A block of text describes the work that the Free Libraries Network does:
FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. 
We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system.

Library Love (14–28 February) 
Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN.
Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers.
Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
The image is a poster with several elements.
In large text at centre are these words:
Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded.
FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right.
In a band across the bottom are two logos.
On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters.
On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
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Reposted by Nilesh
Free Libraries Network - India @freelibsnet.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
It’s the season of love! Revolutionary library love! Share this with your friends & family (in India) and get them to follow us here in large numbers! As for the rest? All will be revealed tomorrow 🥸🩵
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Poetry in Parks @poetryinparks.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
What’s even better than reading #PoetryInParks? Putting books in the hands of all who want them, particularly those from historically disadvantaged communities. That’s what @freelibsnet.bsky.social and their member libraries do. Follow, and reshare their post. Many goodies are coming your way.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
All set for this :) HITCHENS LIVE Literary Salon Readings on Queer Desire with AKHIL KATYAL, ANIRUDDHA MAHALE, SHRIPAD SINNAKAAR, RAHUL RAI, PRAVEEN BASAVIAH, SHALS MAHAJAN, MAHESH DATTANI AND UNMANA 8 pm onwards | 13th Feb @unmana.bsky.social #mumbai #booksky #queersky
Poster of an event at a Bar in Mumbai: HITCHENS LIVE - Literary Salon. Readings on Queer Desire with AKHIL KATYAL, ANIRUDDHA MAHALE, SHRIPAD SINNAKAAR, RAHUL RAI, PRAVEEN BASAVIAH, SHALS MAHAJAN, MAHESH DATTANI AND UNMANA 8 pm onwards | 13th Feb.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
In English there’s chit-chat, flip-flop, willy-nilly… similar, I guess?
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
This is one of my personal favourites — don’t think it works as much for others :) “Fantasy”, Acrylic on 16”x20” mdf board. #BlueSkyArtShow #ArtSky #nilpaints #painting
Painting of a cat profile outline, merging with flowers on the right and a blue butterfly on the left. Painting is inside a digitally added frame. Close up of the butterfly in the painting. Close up of the red and yellow flowers in the painting. Painting of a cat profile outline, merging with flowers on the right and a blue butterfly on the left. Painting is on a wooden easel.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Ohh
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Unmana @unmana.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
I’m in a Hyderabad paper today! #booksky #queerbook
Page 5 of Hans India newspaper. The headlines are Unmana's Bibliomystery Explores Identity, Love. This Valentine’s Day fall in love with your skin. Priyanka Chopra turns bridesmaid for brother’s bride. Unmana's Bibliomystery Explores Identity, Love. 
CHIKKAMMA TOURS (PVT.) LTD. 

Set in Bengaluru's iconic bookstores, the bibliomystery follows Nilima as she navigates love, loss, and an unexpected murder. 
ASKARI JAFFER.
'Chikamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd, emerged from a serendipitous moment in a writing class in Bengaluru, where a single scene laid the foundation for an intricate bibliomystery.
Reflecting on the setting of the novel, Unmana shares, "It might be more accurate to say that Bengaluru chose me. During a ten-week writing course in 2017, I wrote a scene for Zac O'Yeahs class that became the basis for the book. The conversation in that scene was infused with mentions of novels I had read set in Bengaluru, and those books had shaped my perception of the city.
When I returned to Mumbai, I couldn't transplant the story-Bengaluru had become an inseparable part of it."
What began as a short assignment soon took the shape of a murder mystery anchored in the city's iconic bookstores. "Bengaluru's bookstores are legendary: they were a reve-lation to me. I had grown up in Assam and had never seen something like Church Street before-so many bookstores, so many different kinds of books, and an abundance of affordable second-hand books.
This is how I came to write a murder mystery with a book-obsessed
heroine
and a murdered bookstore owner," they say.

Among the ensemble cast, certain characters left a lasting impression on the author.
"Nilima, of course,
is dear to me. Shwetha is the quintessential hero-
ine-feminine and charm-ing-while Poorna serves as Nilimas foil but also her peer.
Maniram's longing
for home, Pallavs desire to be cool, Mehnaz's love of libraries-all of them feel real. But two characters surprised me the most: Inspec-
tor Sharmila Lamani, for her courage and her ability to balance a demanding job with an unwavering, if partially concealed, love for Hafeeza. And Sampath, for his consistent kindness," they share.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Right now, moong dal chila with amaranth flour and flaxseed flour.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
* This is not a comment on Shakespeare’s poetry or power of Hamlet, just an observation on the differences in language.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
As @unmana.bsky.social had pointed out, Shakespeare’s Hamlet had “One may smile, and smile…”. But that reads more literal * — as in it doesn’t mean more than what the words mean (I don’t know if I am making sense), compared to “Smite smite” where the repetition adds something extra.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Seems very difficult to be able to get the same feeling while translating these in English. “With every smile” just doesn’t have the power or pain of “smite smite” :) #poetry #translation
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
“Tipu” means a drop, “tipe tipe” would be “in each drop” or in a different context could mean “one drop at a time”. Not used in this poem but another that comes to mind is “dhime dhime” in Gujarati and Hindi and “ahista ahista” in Urdu — “very slowly” or “over a period of time”.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
This style of using the same word twice to convey a different meaning is quite common in most Indian languages — I don’t think there is a similar thing in English. “Smit” means smile, and “Smite smite” here would mean “in/with every smile”. #poetry #translation
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Adding Latin script version: *koi smite smite salge chhe, koi radine dil bahelave chhe. koi teepe teepe tarse chhe, koi jam nava chhalkave chhe. sanjogona palavma chhe badhu, dariane thapko na aapo; ek tarto manas doobe chhe, ek laash tarine aave chhe.* #gujarati #translation
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Reposted by Nilesh
Scream, Cultura, Scream! @culturalgutter.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
I wrote a thing about The Snoop Sisters years ago if you are interested: culturalgutter.com/2018/04/19/s... #DriveInMob
culturalgutter.com
Snooping Ladies Sensibly Solving Mysteries
We really should have had a mystery series featuring a sensible lesbian couple by now. Something like two Miss Marples sharing a sensible home and sensibly solving extremely–some might even s…
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
# I loved how Mareez conveys the duality of feeling hopeless (no one cares for the art you are creating, or the cause you are working for seems pointless / doomed) and still keeping the conviction/ hope (someday someone will benefit from it / will appreciate it.) #poetry
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
38/n આગામી કોઈ પેઢીને દેતા હશે જીવન, બાકી અમારા શ્વાસ નકામા તો જાય ના. *Agami koi pedhine deta hashe jeevan, Baki amara shwas nakama to jaay na.* Must be giving life to some future generation, I refuse to believe our breaths are going to waste. # - Mareez #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
ગયો ને જાય છે, દુ:ખનો સમય એક જ દિલાસા પર, કે વીતેલો સમય પાછો કદી આવી નથી શકતો. *Gayo ne jaay chhe, dukhno samay ek j dilasa par, Ke vitelo samay paccho kadi aavi nathi shakto.* With this solace, time of misery passes, For the time that's gone cannot return. - Mareez #gujarati #poetry #translation #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
37/n ગઝલમાં સૌ વિચારો મારા દર્શાવી નથી શકતો, ઘણું સમજું છું એવું, જે હું સમજાવી નથી શકતો. *Gazal maan sau vicharo maara darshavi nathi shakto, Ghanu samju chhu evu, je hun samjavi nathi shakto.* I cannot express all my thoughts in ghazals, So much I understand, but cannot explain. #gujarati #poetry #niltranslates
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
😶
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Reposted by Nilesh
Debbie Ridpath Ohi @debbieohi.com · 05/02/2025
Tip for illustrators: On this platform, users can search for a tag WITHIN YOUR FEED in addition to globally. Try clicking on #FoundObjectArt in this post, for example, & you'll see what I mean. This is a GREAT way to provide an easy way of categorizing your art posts, if you use tags thoughtfully.
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Nilesh @nileshb.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Blame it on my inadequate translation skills :)
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