About Me	I was born in India and started writing poetry when I was 22 or so. I had written a bunch of poems (two of them have won awards) and decided to get them published. The result was Exposure in 1992. I tried to write stories but didn't like what I wrote and didn't think I knew how to write them.     I wrote my first story when I joined a writer's group.  The writer's group consisted of (and still does) Leonard Schlenz, Jo Deringer, Cathy Buckles and me.  Every one in the group was writing stories at that point.  I felt that I had no choice but to write a story.  The first story I wrote was The Blacker (Science Fiction) and the second story I wrote was Natasha (Supernatural Horror.)  I felt they were both very strong stories and gave me the impetus to write more.     I also had an idea to write a novel about a man whose life parallels that of Jesus but he is anti-religious and is prosecuted by the Catholic church. I started working on it and had Crucifiction epublished in December 2001.     I started painting around 1977 and have stuck to using oils.  I have several samples here.     I retired in December 2004 and am still writing, painting and having fun.  We (Me and Monika) haven't decided on where to move to live - we are going to look at Bucaramanga, Colombia in 2009 and see if it fills our criteria - temperate climate, not too crowded, reasonable cost of living, access to some if not all conveniences of life.     I am a Liberal and am amazed at the conservatives making it a 'bad' name - I am Liberal and to me it means that I like people and consider everyone equal and hope they have as good a life as mine and would help them if I can (no I am not available for all causes, only those I choose and for the time and effort that I choose.)  I am amazed at the amount of 'greed' that exists here in USA, both corporate greed and individual greed.  To me there comes a point at which one can not use any more money and should be able to move away from self-interest to the interest of the world. Oh yes - I consider the world as one and we should be at Liberty to move and live wherever we choose.        Feel free to drop me a line.  I hope to keep this up for a few years and if I have enough patience.  I have learned a lot about web design doing this and will keep experimenting with different looks and styles etc.  Feedback is welcome.
Copyright © 2004 Raman Jalota. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.