WRITING

Dhaya is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America (West), joining after her writing work for Sony Columbia/Montecito Productions. She consulted on “Enough About Me” by MSNBC’s Richard Lui and written for podcasts, universities, and live events.

Can a Team Be Too Winning? Warriors and Indians, Unite!

as published in SF Standard

What an incredible few weeks in sports!

My team, the Indians (not to be confused with the re-named Cleveland baseball organization), took back the crown in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. We lost last year to Ms. Zaila Avant-garde, an American and the first Black girl to win. We’re not sore, really. But perhaps you saw us Indians celebrating this year’s champ, 14-year-old Harini Logan, by spelling our own names to members of the media.

I apologize, as I am just coming up for air on other sports stories. It seems as if the area basketball team, The Warriors, has done something that San Francisco’s elected officials and urban planners haven’t been able to do: Bring together gentrifiers, old hippies, wannabe rappers and B-list celebrities like Owen Wilson and the Selling Sunset twins.

SPECIAL EDITION: DHAYA LAKSHMINARAYANAN ON HER MOST TREASURED BOOK

as published in SF Gate

Birdie Buzzinger wore weird costumes (once a burlap sack, another time a clown outfit) to make the kids in the library laugh. She is also the reason my mother is a U.S. citizen. My parents immigrated to the U.S. from India, and my mother volunteered at the public library in Cleveland, where she met Birdie, a silver-haired senior. Birdie helped my mother apply to be a naturalized citizen. She came to the citizenship interview and vouched that she knew my mother continuously for seven years. At the library, while Birdie coached my mother with the application and questions, I sat immersed in story hour. I was a hyperactive kid who sometimes got into fights, talked too loudly and made a mess. For that one hour, I was still.

“Only three” was the worst phrase the circulation librarian could say, because it meant I could check out only three books at a time. I wanted more. I read quickly, as if the books would be taken from me. Among my most cherished were the Curious George books: a series of illustrated stories about a mischievous monkey and his human adult friend who dressed exactly like a banana. What a perfect match! …