Namaste Friends,

I’ve recently been jumping through numerous hoops to remonetize Berkana. Since June, I’ve been operating without the support of new paid subscribers. While some annual subscribers remain, Stripe has prevented renewals and upgrades for both new and existing subscribers since then, resulting in a significant revenue loss for Berkana. This has caused considerable stress as I seek a sustainable path forward. The issues stem from Stripe’s limited support and the complexities of compliance for businesses and individuals in India, in line with updated RBI guidelines rolled out by mid-2024.

While my Stripe gateway is technically active, payments still face obstacles, including API integrations that require subscriber addresses and names. I find it unethical to share my readers' personal details with third-party vendors outside the Stripe-Substack network. Therefore, I’ve decided to switch to PayPal as my payment gateway.

Substack doesn’t offer PayPal as an integrated option, so I’ve created a manual process to handle and track paid subscriptions. You can now review pricing for each tier and use my PayPal link below to support my work. Upon receiving your subscription, I’ll send you a thank-you email with the details and confirmation of your subscription tier. Though it may seem cumbersome, I believe this personalized approach will build a stronger, more trusting connection between us that often gets lost in automated systems.

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Managing this process feels akin to running an independent website, so please bear with me if there are any delays in response. My subscriber base may be small and global, but I deeply appreciate each one of you.

With a paid subscription, you’ll gain access to Berkana's archive, which holds three year’s worth of essays. Thank you for your patience and steadfast support. Your journey through Berkana’s trove of insights awaits.

Introductions

Long-time friends need no introduction, but since many of you are new, here’s a brief introduction to who I am, the work I do, and the framework of this newsletter.

About Berkana

If you're still feeling overwhelmed, here's a list to help you get started.

The Art of Disappearing Swarnali Mukherjee · October 13, 2023 Read full story

Ode to the Tea Gatherers Swarnali Mukherjee · December 6, 2023 Read full story

Phantom of Fury Swarnali Mukherjee · Mar 12 Read full story

Holy Contraptions - A Reverie for Obsolete Kitchen Tools Swarnali Mukherjee · February 5, 2022 Read full story

An Ode to the Heat Swarnali Mukherjee · May 22, 2022 Read full story

Also, here is my interview with Amanda Hinton, which she featured in her Cave of Heart series.

The Editing Spectrum

Choosing Intuition Over Cynicism

Welcome to Cave of the Heart, an interview series where writers trust-fall into the depths of inner-knowing, creativity, and the craft of writing. Are you ready to get curious about the cultivation of self-trust, give a warm nod to our child selves, and celebrate inspiration in all forms? Come with us into the cave of the heart…

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6 months ago · 60 likes · 35 comments · Amanda B. Hinton

Testimonials

Here’s how some readers received the above essays

Recommendations

Here’s a list of essays I highly recommend from some of my favorite writers on Substack. I’m constantly in awe of their brilliance, making it hard to choose just one piece from each. I feel incredibly fortunate to call these remarkable people my friends. I’ve included snippets of my comments on these essays to give you a sense of why I recommend them.

On the Commons

Un-earthed subversive

Welcome! For those new here, On the Commons explores the ancient roots and ongoing consequences of private property and commodification—from the Doctrine of Discovery to ancient enclosures of the commons, and more—along with love for this world and being human in the middle of systems that often make such “being” difficult…

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5 months ago · 59 likes · 64 comments · Antonia Malchik

The Ariadne Archive

Echoes in both directions

A few years ago my mom gave me a small antique book, art deco styled, with the word Poesie across its cover. It belonged to my great-grandmother, who left Sweden with my grandmother, who was four, her younger sister, and two brothers under ten to sail to New York in 1925. From there, they made their way across the country by train to reunite with her hu…

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7 months ago · 63 likes · 41 comments · Freya Rohn

Mostly Water

The Bomb and I

On a sunny day in August, my wife and I join a few dozen cars' worth of people at a low slung, red-roofed building on the outskirts of Richland, Washington — the B Reactor Branch Headquarters of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Hanford — for a tour of the atomic reactor that made the plutonium that made the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki…

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2 months ago · 22 likes · 16 comments · John Lovie

An Irritable Métis

Mortality is not Kind

This, the eve of another birthday, a phenomena that just keeps coming and coming, faster and faster, year after year, and I don’t feel like writing on any of the various topics that have been rattling around in my head. Do I need to get all worked up over something and then unload it on you, friendly reader? It is a night, tinged with that particular br…

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3 years ago · 61 likes · 100 comments · Chris La Tray

Death & Birds

Love

Hello. This post is about Death & Birds…

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4 months ago · 537 likes · 175 comments · Chloe Hope

15th Century Feminist

The Minimization of the Mother

TW: Racial violence, enslavement, illegal occupation…

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9 months ago · 151 likes · 65 comments · 15thCenturyFeminist

The Practice of Life

The Mathematics of Grief

August 19, 2024 / Full Moon…

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3 months ago · 86 likes · 49 comments · Maia Duerr

Stone, Soil & Soul

Messages from the Bog

This essay has originally been published on my website back in October 2021 when I suddenly woke up one day and, after many years away from writing and journalism, felt an urge to write about my fascination with bogs. I had an idea of dedicating a small corner of my website to a blog and this was supposed to be its very first post. Alas, the blog has be…

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6 months ago · 32 likes · 16 comments · Ramona McCloskey

Three Chairs

sorrowful, yet always rejoicing

June 30th, 2024…

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4 months ago · 23 likes · 22 comments · Michael Rance

navel gazing

Tik Tok Soul Suck

I’ve written a lot about social media. Last year I wrote this piece about permanently saying goodbye to my social media accounts…

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2 months ago · 96 likes · 37 comments · River Selby (they/them)