Usha Paul Raj

Mar 12, 2024 | cruelsummerbookclub.substack.com | Irina Aleksander |Usha Paul Raj |Jillian Anthony |Claire Zulkey

On Saturday I hosted a SXSW panel about the future of experiential with XP Land and C2 Montreal! Hereā€™s a ā€˜fit check, and a reminder that I am available for all of your hosting and moderating needs!I donā€™t have an official badge for SXSW this year, but if youā€™re in town and want to hang, let me know! Hereā€™s my write-up about SXSW 2023 if you need some pro tips for navigating this week. ICYMI: Last week, I wrote about bleeding, bloodlines, and showing up for your family and yourself.

Feb 1, 2024 | thesmartset.com | Usha Paul Raj

Years after my mother had died, on a visit to my father in his childhood home in Nagercoil, India, where he had settled after his retirement, he told me he had always wanted to marry a Tamil girl from a prominent Christian family. Someone who had been selected by his beloved mother, someone who would live among his relatives. A traditional arranged marriage. But he had married my mother because they had “fallen in love.” Why was he telling me this?

May 20, 2023 | speakingtree.in | Usha Paul Raj

We read some essential Christian teaching in what is termed as ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ in the Gospel of Matthew, the opening book of the New Testament in the Bible. In the first-ever long sermon that Jesus gives his followers, he speaks of the relationship between God and man. As our Creator, God is our Father and Provider. God gave the first man and woman a good world to live in and rule over. Evil found its way into human hearts and human affairs.

Mar 23, 2023 | thesmartset.com | Usha Paul Raj

One evening when I was seven, my mother showed me and my brothers a large neon sign on the side of a high-rise in the heart of the bustling city of Calcutta. Against the dark outline of the building, a huge ceiling fan whirred, its blades outlined in neon. As I watched, the projection faded, replaced by the outline of a table-top sewing machine with the wheel on one end turning around as the needle bobbed up and down at the other end.