Editorial by Sumita Sheth

A joyous welcome to you who are reading our very first issue of DesiLit Magazine. It has literally been a lot of blood, sweat and tears for our team. With about 30 volunteers involved, it has been an exercise in juggling—varying schedules, changing availability, car accidents, carpal tunnel, diverse editing styles, not to mention the numerous time zones!

DesiLit Magazine provides a professional forum for all literature and art by or about South Asians and the diaspora because we identify with the struggle that artists in general, and those focusing on a certain niche in particular, face while trying to find a viable space to showcase their work. The submissions we received were mostly of a high standard across the board and we have done our best to look at the work in hand rather than the submitter's previous list of publications and affiliations. We have tried to pick works that blend modern notes with older more ethnic ones, that present the yet unheard story along with that which is almost part of South Asian lore. We hope you enjoy what we have provided and come back for more. When? Our next issue will be Winter 2006/2007, with a submission period from September 1st to November 30th, and publication in early 2007. We welcome established as well as novice voices to submit and share your best work with us.

All of the magazine work has been fun. When we started the magazine, and as we started to pull together the submissions in early summer, the question of schedules and time commitments came up. What we wanted this to be was FUN and I hope that on the other side of the whole process, we can look back and say that it was exactly that. Each and every member of the team has been priceless, staying awake at all hours of the night to edit and discuss things, forging ahead despite whatever setbacks due to career, life or family. You know who you are! Please give yourself lots of pats on the back.

At this point I especially want to thank some people. Satya Gummuluri—the magazine owes its aesthetic look and user friendliness to her! Satya made time out of thin air despite her concerts, art, tour and work deadlines to work with everyone. Kaolin Fire has been a genius gem, making coding such a breeze, so that, to use one of his coinages, things worked auto magically. Radha Gummuluri handled some of the most challenging parts of the layout pages. Monisha Singla's help was always timely. Sunanda Mongia worked with all the departments and kept things on track even as we had a lot of re-shuffling in departments. Soumya Sundaresh's efforts got our name out there to the heart of every continent as we asked for submissions, and now as we go LIVE.

And where would all this be without Mary Anne Mohanraj, DesiLit's founder, who has been the light to lead us along the way. Thank you.

It is not often that one gets to write the very first Editorial for the Inaugural issue of a magazine. Therefore I was ambushed by writer's block, not unlike what I experience when trying to work on my fiction. Although that writing is so limited lately that I sometimes wonder whether it itself isn't fictional (ok, so I couldn't resist that one!).

Jokes aside, I hope everyone will find this issue of interest. Please take some time out to tell us what you think via email. We would love to hear from you! Tell us how you heard of us, what you think of the work, write with any suggestions. If you believe you have the time and skills, we would also love to learn how you think you could be a part of the DesiLit Magazine team.

Sumita Sheth