Ashok Rajamani
AUTHOR + ESSAYIST + ARTIST
"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man to lunacy."
--The Joker, "Batman: The Killing Joke," 1988 (Alan Moore/Peter Borland) "That I exist is a perpetual surprise which is life." --Rabindranath Tagore, "Stray Birds," 1916 "They...stole your eyes." --Rage Against The Machine, “Guerrilla Radio,” 1999 "Uh-uh, no spooning. Because spooning leads to forking." --Charo, "VH-1's The Surreal Life," 2003 "Damn! Damn! DAMN!" --Florida Evans, "Good Times," 1976 
kiddie karma: me, age 3
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namasteMy name is Ashok Rajamani, and I'm a new kind of Indian American writer and artist. In 2000, at the age of 25, a mighty surprise came my way: due to an undetected birth defect that had been lurking in my brain, I suffered a sudden, near-fatal, massive cerebral hemorrhage. At my brother's wedding. Though surviving, I've been left with permanent, bisected blindness -- and a carved skull courtesy of subsequent brain surgery. The ultimate consequence of my body's very own 9-11? A funny, dark, irreverent, and decidedly unconventional memoir about a day that exploded not only my brain, but the world around me. It's called "BRAIN KARMA." There you have it: my own snapshot introduction! Welcome to my website-in-progress. I'm a member of the Authors Guild, New York Writers Coalition, and South Asian Journalists Association. And, yes, I'm a self-acknowledged Hindu hick, having grown up in a town near a cornfield in Illinois, before fleeing to The Big Apple at the age of 17, where I've lived ever since. I've been published in numerous outlets, including South Asian Review, NAA (Newspaper Association of America) News, Cogitemus Philosophy Journal, Catamaran: the Literary Journal of South Asian Americans, and 3:AM Magazine. My artwork has been submitted to many venues, including Exit Art, a leading New York cultural center. I'm a Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of New York University, where I received my degree in Journalism. I attended Columbia University for advanced cultural studies. My turn-ons include: Kathy Bates in Misery. My turn-offs include: tomato chunks. "BRAIN KARMA" will be published by Algonquin Books in 2011. _______________________________________________ Literary Management & Representation: TRIDENT MEDIA GROUP 41 Madison Ave New York, NY 10010 phone: 212-263-4610 fax: 212-262-4849 www.tridentmediagroup.com Agent: Eileen Cope phone: 212-333-1536 e-mail: ecope@tridentmediagroup.com Co-Agent (motion picture rights): Erica Spellman-Silverman phone: 212-981-0647 e-mail: esilverman@tridentmediagroup.com ______________________________________________ Publisher: ALGONQUIN BOOKS, A DIVISION OF WORKMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 225 Varick Street New York, NY 10014 phone: 212-254-5900 fax: 212-254-8098 www.algonquin.com |
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