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Australian Chris Mooney-Singh is comfortable in North India, where The Bearded Chameleon is set. This is a colourful life canvas seen through the rare insight of a foreigner who has absorbed the cultural nuances of India over two decades - urban and pastoral, personal and societal. These are not 'travel poems.' Rooted within Punjabi Indian villages and the excitement of big cities like Delhi and Mumbai they reveal a poet sensitive to the sometimes sadly ludicrous nature of the sub-continent's human stories. A convert to Sikhism who has worn a beard and turban since 1989, Mooney-Singh has an ear finely-tuned for Indian speech.
The first part of The Bearded Chameleon opens with personal lyric poems depicting the poet's love for and the death of his Australian wife. "...why have I been detained among / the iron gods? / I drink milk and sorrow / from tumblers of steel..." Part two depicts intimate family portraits, business people, sketches of the rich and the poor and interior monologues of characters such as the tragic Mrs Pritima Devi. [From the publisher]
Notes
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The book is arranged in three numbered sections. The first has the dedication: In memory of Peggy Kaur. The third bears the dedication: For Savinder.
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A photo-montage introduction to the book can be viewed at http://animoto.com/play/22qBhlF31Hqq4P0Uib0m7w
Contents
* Contents derived from the
Fitzroy North,
Fitzroy - Collingwood area,
Melbourne - North,
Melbourne,
Victoria,:
c
Singapore,c
Southeast Asia,
South and East Asia,
Asia,:Black Pepper
,Red Wheelbarrow Books
, 2011 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.- Punjab Pastorali"I cannot hear the mermaid singing here", single work poetry (p. 3-4)
- Casualty (after Federico Garcia Lorca)i"At 8 in the morning,", single work poetry (p. 5-6)
- After the Taxi Haltedi"I was helpless, a passenger", single work poetry (p. 7)
- Steel Kissi"'Stainless steel,' we say, long-lasting", single work poetry (p. 8)
- Pink Silk from Punjabi"I'm still dreaming pink silk from Punjab.", single work poetry (p. 9)
- Gonei"Perhaps I did not listen", single work poetry (p. 10-11)
- Night Owli"The night owl still perches here above", single work poetry (p. 12)
- In Memory of the One Who Can't Be Seeni"Tongue, go enter an ashram, a monastery", single work poetry (p. 13)
- A Punjabi Leda and the Swani"I saw a swan-man holding down a woman,", single work poetry (p. 14-15)
- My Falleni"These last photos I don't have:", single work poetry (p. 16-17)
- Abstract Studies with Monsoon Greeni"The days of humid blindness are upon us,", single work poetry (p. 18-19)
- The Bearded Chameleoni"A sci-fi thing, you shoot a tongue", single work poetry (p. 20-24)
- Aubade with Marshlandi"Ink is light. Remember it.", single work poetry (p. 25)
- A Meditation at Sukhna Lakei"Accept you have no inkling of the power", single work poetry (p. 26)
- Apartment of a Bombay Millionairei"Sir, you have wide windows, facing West", single work poetry (p. 29-30)
- Familiesi"Families of Dravidians inter-married with Aryans,", single work poetry (p. 31-32)
- Another Bhagwanpuri"A country village stuck in the buffalo mud", single work poetry (p. 33)
- To the Dalitsi"Sri Ramaseems quite deaf,", single work poetry (p. 34-37)
- Indian-Made Foreign Liquori"Outside the liquor shop,", single work poetry (p. 38-39)
- Indian Cityi"satellite dishes on a temple sky-line", single work poetry (p. 40)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Beyond 'A Cultural Look and See' : Chris Mooney-Singh's The Bearded Chameleon
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Cha : An Asian Literary Journal , September no. 18 2012;
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Picture-Perfect
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Quarterly Literary Review Singapore , April vol. 11 no. 2 2012;
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Australian Poetry 2011-2012
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 57 no. 1 2012; (p. 30-46)
— Review of Amphora 2011 selected work poetry ; Edge Music 2011 selected work poetry ; Linen Tough as History 2012 selected work poetry ; Error 2011 selected work poetry ; Night Birds 2010 single work poetry ; Vishvarūpa 2011 selected work poetry ; The Brokenness Sonnets I-III and Other Poems 2011 selected work poetry ; Outside 2011 selected work poetry ; The Welfare of My Enemy 2011 single work poetry ; This Woman 2011 selected work poetry ; Electricity For Beginners 2011 selected work poetry ; Interferon Psalms : 33 Psalms on the 99 Names of God 2011 selected work poetry ; Keeping Carter 2012 selected work poetry ; The Keeper of Fish 2011 selected work poetry ; A Sudden Sentence in the Air : Jazz Poems 2011 selected work poetry ; Concrete Tuesday 2011 selected work poetry ; The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry ; Southern Barbarians 2009 selected work poetry ; The Yellow Gum's Conversion 2011 selected work poetry ; Four Refrains 2011 selected work poetry ; Surface to Air 2011 selected work poetry ; Knuckled 2011 selected work poetry -
Philton Reviews The Bearded Chameleon by Chris Mooney-Singh
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , June no. 11 2012;
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Empathy for Other Times
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 January 2012; (p. 26)
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry
-
[Review] Amphora [and] The Bearded Chameleon
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Wet Ink , no. 25 2011; (p. 66)
— Review of Amphora 2011 selected work poetry ; The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Empathy for Other Times
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 January 2012; (p. 26)
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Philton Reviews The Bearded Chameleon by Chris Mooney-Singh
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , June no. 11 2012;
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry -
Australian Poetry 2011-2012
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 57 no. 1 2012; (p. 30-46)
— Review of Amphora 2011 selected work poetry ; Edge Music 2011 selected work poetry ; Linen Tough as History 2012 selected work poetry ; Error 2011 selected work poetry ; Night Birds 2010 single work poetry ; Vishvarūpa 2011 selected work poetry ; The Brokenness Sonnets I-III and Other Poems 2011 selected work poetry ; Outside 2011 selected work poetry ; The Welfare of My Enemy 2011 single work poetry ; This Woman 2011 selected work poetry ; Electricity For Beginners 2011 selected work poetry ; Interferon Psalms : 33 Psalms on the 99 Names of God 2011 selected work poetry ; Keeping Carter 2012 selected work poetry ; The Keeper of Fish 2011 selected work poetry ; A Sudden Sentence in the Air : Jazz Poems 2011 selected work poetry ; Concrete Tuesday 2011 selected work poetry ; The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry ; Southern Barbarians 2009 selected work poetry ; The Yellow Gum's Conversion 2011 selected work poetry ; Four Refrains 2011 selected work poetry ; Surface to Air 2011 selected work poetry ; Knuckled 2011 selected work poetry -
Picture-Perfect
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Quarterly Literary Review Singapore , April vol. 11 no. 2 2012;
— Review of The Bearded Chameleon 2011 selected work poetry
Last amended 12 May 2016 13:02:16
Subjects:
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cIndia,cSouth Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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