Hello Readers,
I have started writing on Medium, so you can follow my further posts of prose and poetry there!
The link to my Medium account:
https://medium.com/@joshisaloni312
I have also started a poetry page on Instagram. The link is:
https://instagram.com/telltalesal?igshid=rr0alnis05e2
Happy reading to everyone!
Spidey and the Lady
A poem from a spider’s point of view
Plopped in her chair, with a book in hand
Reading away, in a faraway land,
The creepy crawly spider sleuths its way
Tickling her leg, thinking it’s a play;
Tired from building its shiny, silvery new labyrinth,
Such a pretty home in the corner above the water hyacinth!
Glancing around the lady’s comfy house, it gave a smirk,
So boring, dull, and colorless compared to its own work!
Now dancing merrily, jiggling to the tunes
Life is bliss, why do humans have to be such prunes?
Bickering over matters so stupid and trivial
Never even once relishing the fruity cereal!
Little did it know, that the lady will give a loud shriek,
And try to brush off the eight-legged freak
Two large leaps and it is safe in its strong silvery Haven,
She’s the elephant and I the ant; yet acting like a powerless Kraken!!
Connexions
Bluetooth in my ears, a mop in my hand
Swishing and swashing on the window panes
When the song tuned to our favorite band,
Taking me on a ride down the memory lanes.
The smell of coffee as I pour in my mug
Reminds me of the babbles over our daily evening brews
Fairy lights and hot cheese noodles kept us snug,
Transforming the tough medical school into warm colorful hues.
Lone divergent paths, duties, family, and career;
We split so soon when did the five years fly, I wonder
Left with nostalgia and a yearning to share a beer
Dreams and ambitions making us soar into the wide blue yonder.
Fret not, dear lovelies for deep deep down I know
Our Connexion in the cosmos by no means ephemeral
This is just an interlude, the verse due on the piano;
Who sings of our alliances so melodious and eternal.
My Mind on a Morning Stroll
The internet is full of people going on about what the lockdown has given them- A PAUSE to allow all their subconscious talents to brim up to the surface, now that the external distractions and superfluous things are under a constraint.
In a similar way, it suddenly dawned upon me, that writing could be a good outlet for my ever wandering mind. In Psychiatry, we have a term called ‘flight of ideas’: a rapid shifting of thoughts with superficial associative connections, which is what happens to me in certain situations which I consider as mundane-
One day, on a bright sunny morning I was standing in this never-ending line outside the grocery store, maintaining 3–4 feet distance; everyone covered in face masks or stoles/hankies, not speaking a word to each other and minding their own business. (Which, earlier in times, if it would have been the case, the world would have had a tad bit less of already existing numerous and unrequired opinions)
The road strewn with yellow leaves, was looking fresh and rejuvenated from a good night’s sleep; being able to breathe deeply, thanks to the absence of the vehicles crowding every inch of it.
I saw a policeman in a rickshaw passing by in a deliberately slow pace, giving instructions on a huge loudspeaker making the entire aura eerie, like a WAR zone….. my mind wandered off into the latest war movie I had seen: Jojo Rabbit, a beautiful film about the Nazi era, which portrays how, even the toughest times can ALSO bring out the good that people have in them …. reminding me of how one of my closest friends’, Vipul was volunteering to make masks from a 3D acrylic printer belonging to his architect friends; I then made a mental note to call my friend Shamika who’s in New York, studying Architecture; NYC has always been on my bucket list, I thought with a pang in my chest… my mind drifting to the article I had read on Medium about Vanessa Santiago living in a studio rental in NYC, who was released from prison after 22 years to directly step in this world of a pandemic, with absolutely no idea about bank accounts, key cards, supermarket stores, FB, Instagram, and Twitter… Oh and by the way, today at dawn, I saw FIREFLIES, zooming around the street lights!! It’s extremely rare to see them in Pune city.. bringing me back to the line outside the supermarket store…the man in front had moved up ahead and I stepped up quickly before anyone else could point it out to me, urging me to take out my phone finally and start jotting down my thoughts.
You see that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 15 days. Trying to be more mindful, putting a restraint on my mind who has had the ability to fly on Harry’s Firebolt straight to the top of Hogwarts castle. Or at least give it a proper direction by putting my thoughts on my phone/laptop.. like how Dumbledore siphoned his thoughts in his Pensieve, helping him structure and organize his mind.
Once similarly I was lost in my own world in the vegetable market, and I had swapped 1 kg of peas by mistake by 1 kg of ladyfinger, doubling the quantity of already bought ladyfinger lying in my vegetable bag!
Another time, I rewashed an entire lot of washed and blow-dried clothes in the washing machine, my mind taking a trip to some faraway land.
As soon as a thought knocks on the door of my mind, my mind tends to re-assess, re-think and re-examine it from all angles, thoroughly, making even the CIA seem less intimidating in its interrogations.
So finally I decided to de-clutter my mind. Instead of flying aimlessly, from one stop to another, if I gave it a proper route, maneuvered it, it’s journey would be much more memorable and also ease the life of others around it.
Even though I’m still an amateur, putting out my thoughts, opinions, feelings in the form of stories, articles, creative nonfiction pieces, came in naturally to me (though the confidence to put them out didn’t). A big shout-out to Ruta, for introducing me to Medium, an amazing literary platform.
I have practically grown up with all the innumerable series of Enid Blyton, Harry Potter (the apple of the eye of every bookworm) Agatha Christie, Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown, Khaled Hosseini, the classics of Jane Austen (Mr. Darcy being an absolute favorite character till date)to name a few, giving me the ability to THINK — which can be both, a curse (for overthinkers like me) and a boon- helping me shape my belief systems, thoughts, and giving me the ability to voice and question a few rigid, questionable things which are not questioned by many or are followed blindly.
And now coming back from the slight detour, I think I should concentrate on the task in hand i.e grocery shopping without seeming like some woolly-headed weirdo in La-La land.
The Black Butterfly
As soon as the school bell rang, Ira collected her things, packed her school bag in a jiffy and scooted off as fast she could, red with fury and humiliation; tears welling up in her eyes, trying her best not to burst into tears in front of the whole class.
Her best friend called out to her from behind but in vain.
Ira didn’t stop running till she was out of her school premises. She crossed the busy road, bustling with cars, and went down a quiet lane. Slowing her pace, still putting a lock on her emotions, she walked on till she reached her favorite park, her Haven. Being around lunchtime, thankfully the park was totally empty.
She found her favorite bench, under the shadow of the huge banyan tree, slumped onto it and allowed the welled up stream of tears down her cheeks.
The cool, shadowy garden which she always loved, escaped her attention. She didn’t even notice the pretty yellow butterflies fluttering around her legs, in the grass.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and the entire incident came in a flash, along with all the past incidents kept in the drawer at the back of her mind, one after the other as if all lined up, waiting to be featured on the curtain of her eyes.
She felt a huge tightness in her chest, as her heart drowned in the disarray of poignant and pent up embarrassing memories over the years. Memories of the entire classroom laughing and looking at her, her friends being no exceptions; (barring only a few close ones) cracking up every time the word “bear” cropped up. The mere thought of that word also made her cringe.
How badly she had tried to fit in with the “cool crowd”, who in reality were insensitive, lacking empathy.
A series of ‘Why does this ALWAYS happen to me’ played in her mind..
She checked the reflection of her face on the back of her steel lunch box, finally fixing her gaze on her upper lips. She saw an empty box of a hair removal cream lying on the ground, beside her bench. She looked at it scornfully, scoffed at it, and thrashed it in the penguin dustbin.
Rolling up the sleeves of her uniform, she then scanned her arms and hands, annoyed with her Mom, for not allowing her to visit a beauty parlor.
‘You’re too young; your skin will get spoilt.’
She pulled her socks high up and tried to pull down her sleeves up to her elbows as if attempting to cover up her skin.
A pang of remorse went through her body.. guilty, for not standing up to those bullies. Cursing them under her breath, she thought wearily ‘How I wish I had Harry’s invisibility cloak! Lucky guy!’
Ira sat in silence, sniffing back her tears, staring at the lush green garden strewn with fallen orange leaves and the shadows of the trees dancing as they swirled in the soft breeze. The swarm of pretty yellow butterflies fluttering around the grass finally caught her attention.
Amongst them she noticed a slightly ugly, black one; tiptoed up to it and caught it carefully, between the cups of her hands.
She looked at it closely, its’ wings beating up and down. The wings were a beautiful shiny, velvety black, with abstract lines of fluorescent colors, pink, blue, orange merging into one another, in a symmetrical way, giving it the appearance of a kaleidoscope. It jigged around merrily, oblivious of its black color, on her hand. She smiled at it, blessed it, and set it free. It took flight, into the nearby bush, joining the other butterflies.
And then it dawned upon her, that the rest of yellow-green butterflies were camouflaged with the bushes, but the little black butterfly stood out, resplendent in its uniqueness.
She was reminded of the kids fable “The Ugly Duckling” who eventually found out that it was a beautiful swan.
Wiping her tears, she rolled down her socks, and pulled up her sleeves, feeling a bit confident in her skin.
‘You forgot your bottle!’
Startled, Ira turned around, to see her friend Naina, holding out the bottle, with the usual mischievous grin on her face.
‘How did you find me?!’ exclaimed Ira, to which her friend rolled her eyes, stating the obvious.
Naina, not being much of an emotionally expressive person, just awkwardly offered her friend a cup of ice cream, which she had bought from the vendor in front of the park.
She told her, how she had given the bullies, a piece of her mind, telling them exactly what she felt. As Ira tried to hug her, she patted her arm in a Sheldon Cooperly way.
‘I don’t really need that Cloak,’ thought Ira, chuckling nervously, as she listened to her friend plotting ways to get back at them, licking away her ice cream; stealing glances at the little black butterfly, silently.
FOUR YEARS LATER
The entire auditorium rang with applause, the echoes of their claps reverberating from the walls.
A beaming Ira got up from her seat; her ears still ringing with claps and her heart thumping so loudly that she was sure that her entire row could hear! She had stood second in her 10th grade exams and was the recipient of the “Exemplary Academic Performance” award.
As she made her way to the stage, she glimpsed at the back of the auditorium; the hooligans were still creating a slight ruckus and the bimbos were still giggling sheepishly at their jokes, as usual; least interested in the award ceremony.
The energy-sucking, black holes are inevitably going to persist, with their huge gravitational pulls. But that doesn’t stop the sun from radiating its light and holding its place, does it?!
Ira waved and gave a wide smile to her parents, relatives, and Naina sitting in the front row, as she climbed up the stairs. Her eyes gleamed with pride as she received her award from the Head Mistress. She walked up to the podium to deliver her speech.
Opening the folded piece of paper, she read, “The Black Butterfly”…
A Little Effort
‘Dinner’s ready!’ She announced to the whole house.
-‘Coming mamaaaaa!’
-‘Two minutes, Tanya!’
-‘Let me kill those werewolves, first!’
Tanya sighed, went to her younger son’s room and made him pause his video game, practically dragging him out.
He gave a yell of joy, the wolves completely taking a backseat to the pasta, and scampered out. Tanya looked around; the room was a complete mess, as usual!
‘I’d just cleaned it, a few hours ago,’ she thought indignantly.
‘I’ve made your favourite pasta, it’ll get cold, honey’.
Irritated, she picked up the empty plates, cups, empty packet of chips and headed to her elder daughter’s room.
Nina was immersed in her Pathology Book, and didn’t even notice her mother entering. Tanya stroked her head, a little worried about her daughter. Nina looked up with tired eyes and mumbled ‘just this last topic, Mamma.’
‘You can finish it after dinner, beta. Your brain needs some energy, right? Anddd…there’s no roti-sabzi today, I have a surprise for you!!’ she bribed.
Nina smiled reluctantly and shut her book. Tanya picked up empty cups of coffee from her table and followed her daughter to the dining room.
Kiaan was waiting impatiently at the table.
‘Go, call your Dad.’
He made a face and went upstairs, grudgingly, shouting out ‘Daaaad….’
Meanwhile, Tanya quickly set their huge old mahogany table, lit up pretty candles in the centre, got the steaming hot pot of pasta, her homemade garlic bread and Caesar salad from the kitchen counter, and served out four portions in her special cutlery.
‘Wow, Mamma! What a lovely spread! And scented candles!!‘ exclaimed Nina her eyes twinkling with delight, hugging her mom tightly.
‘Ah candles! Your mom has a hidden romantic side, which only I know!’ Tanya blushed into a shade of beetroot. Nikhil had just arrived with Kiaan.
‘Daaaad!’ giggled Kiaan and Nina.
The whole family sat down for dinner and hungrily dug into their plates.
‘Mamma, there’s less salt in the pasta!’ cribbed Kiaan.
‘And it could have been creamier,’ suggested Nikhil.
‘Hmph. Okay!’ she said, slightly dejected.
Nina, empathizing with her mother, gave a look to her Dad and Kiaan. Quickly adding some salt, she praised her Mum, grated some cheese, and changed the conversation to the latest movie released in the theatres.
They chatted merrily, squabbling over the movie, gossiping over the reality show on TV, contemplating over the newest TV series released on Netflix, and arguing over politics.
The huge pot was wiped clean, as they scraped the remains from the bottom.
Tanya got up, and took out the pudding from the fridge, hoping with all her heart, that they’ll like this new recipe and served out huge portions to everyone.
‘Whoa!’ exclaimed everyone.
‘Masterpiece!’ and busied themselves, concentrating on the pudding, their blissful expressions revealing their food-gasm.
‘Is there more?’ asked Nikhil, bits of whipped cream dangling from his French beard. An apologetic Tanya said no, and gave him her portion of the pudding, despite his resistance.
Satisfied with the sumptuous meal, everyone went to the living room, lying on the couch in front of the TV…all except Nina who retired to her room for studying.
‘Don’t burn yourself out by studying late, dear!’ her mother called after her.
Tanya quickly tidied the table, washed the kitchen counter, stacked the plates neatly into a tub for their maid and prepared for the breakfast next day, as mornings were always a rush.
She went to the living room. Nikhil patted on the sofa next to him, gesturing her to sit. But she declined, making a sad face, saying that she had to complete her presentation for tomorrow morning.
She looked at Kiaan.
‘Don’t be up late, you have school tomorrow! Did you finish your homework? And clean your room, otherwise no werewolves and no video games!’ she warned her son.
‘Yeaaaaaassssssss, stop bugging me yaar!’ he complained.
His father looked at him reproachfully as Tanya left the room and went upstairs, feeling extremely tired and worn out, her feet slightly stiff and sour, but tidying up on her way, picking up things and putting them to where they belonged. Nikhil noticed all this from the corner of his eye.
She looked longingly at the soft bed, but being the CEO, she couldn’t give excuses. Stretching her arms, she opened her laptop, put on her specs and got to her presentation, hoping to win over the big clients coming tomorrow.
The clock ticked away slowly as her eyelids became heavier, drooping with sleep. She slipped into a dreamy land when suddenly she was woken up by the sound of the door behind her, as it shut. Nikhil had come in with two mugs of hot Cocoa, topped with a dollop of cream.
‘Well, I don’t know how to make that lovely pudding of yours, but you’ll go gaga over this.’
He gave her the mug and got some jasmine oil from the bathroom. Tanya stared at him quizzically. He put his arm around her and indicated that she finish her Cocoa.
‘I’ll give you a nice head massage, which will relax your body. You’ll be able to concentrate better,’ he said, blinking one eye.
Tanya gave a hearty chortle and drank up the hot chocolate. She returned to her presentation with a renewed momentum, thinking..’A little concern, a little effort is all it takes..’
Stairway to Heaven
The ghastly rapid, untamed yet clear and sparkling river, flowing beneath the Cafe perched on a hilltop, somehow soothed her nerves. She’d been worrying with all possible ‘what ifs’, chaotic thoughts running a marathon in her mind. The sound of the water crashing against the rocks slowly brought in a sense of tranquility as she slipped in the comfortable soft chair.
The Cafe’s exterior portion was facing towards the beautiful Valley. The enormity of the huge snow capped mountains, glistening like gold in the bright sunlight, had always enthralled her since childhood. She tried to scan the entire range.. each peak becoming lighter and lighter, eventually disappearing amidst the clouds and into the infinite..
It had snowed the day before and you could see the patches of fresh snow which hadn’t melted, amidst the brown vastness.. like vanilla ice cream on a towering chocolate brownie.
The thought of brownie squirmed her insides with hunger. She looked at her husband who was still engrossed in the mind boggling and beautiful sight.
“Let’s order, please” she said, bringing him back to the present.
The huge uphill walk from The Hidimba Devi Temple to The Manu Temple, the highest point in Old Manali and back to this Cafe had digested the parathas they had, had for breakfast… it seemed like an eternity ago. They quickly scanned the menu and ordered some fried chicken skillet and two glasses of wine.
It was a fine, breezy afternoon with the sun just enough to keep you warm.
“You don’t get such afternoons back home”, she thought with a sigh.
She had fallen in love with the old part of the town, which was entirely perched on a single winding road on a mountain… there wasn’t much crowd, which suited them perfectly; the timing being off season.
The food arrived and they devoured their chicken, hungrily.
With tummies now full, they relaxed with their glasses of wine .. absorbing the picturesque scene, in a comfortable silence with each other.
Wine in the mountains …
“Heavenly”, she thought.
The leaves of an overhead tree were softly rustling in the breeze ..the drooping branches adding to the beauty of the quaint, dainty Bohemian styled wooden cafe. With hardly anyone around, except for a foreign couple towards the end, it was quiet and serene, the only noise being the clutter of their forks. She felt as if she was just melting away in the nature, feeling one with the Universe.
On the left side corner, there were carved steps leading upwards to a platform converted into a porch, adorned with more couches and lounge chairs. The walls were covered in exquisite art, adding more charm to the appealing, cosy corner. What caught her attention that on every step, there was a line painted from the famous song “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin.
“And as we wind down the road,
Our shadows taller than our souls,
There walks a Lady we all know,
Who shines white light and wants to show,
How everything still, turns to gold,
And if you listen very hard, the tune to you will come at last..
When all is one and one is all,
To be a rock and not to roll.”
The lyrics resonated strongly with every cell in her body and also with the mountains, rendering equanimity and stability in the uncertain winds.
The solid rocks imperturbable, even as the strong waters crashed against it..
Shouldn’t she be able to calm her jumping and chaotic mind, and embrace the absolute uncertainty of life?!
Didn’t the true beauty of the flowing river, lie in its journey along the rough terrains, rather than where it meets the mighty ocean?!
With this Epiphany, she gave the widest of smiles to her husband, who had been trying to calm her nerves two days before, catching him by surprise. He smiled back and sunk into his chair, feeling even more drowsy and as lazy as the aura of the Cafe “The lazy dog”.
The Girl in White Coat
She was lying on her comfy sofa, with a cup of freshly brewed strong coffee and a novel, “The Nagas” of Shiva Trilogy… relaxing after months of hard work of the NEET PG medical entrance exam; when suddenly the lady next door called out her name. She got up grumpily, not wanting to be disturbed in her solitude, and went up to the door.
The sweet lady and her little 5 year old kid were at the door. The kid was holding a box containing a model of the Human Body skeleton with all the organs.
Feeling mildly surprised, she opened the door. The lady requested her to teach her kid about the human body, as the kid wanted to become a doctor and went on to explain that her Uncle had got her that amazing box of assembled human body parts from the US. It had literally everything.. bones, muscles, internal organs, which were soft, extremely real like! Though miniature in size, all were assembled in the form of a 3D figure. The lady said it was beyond her and that she felt disgusted to even touch those sticky parts of the organs. But the kid was extremely enthusiastic and kept bugging her with endless questions.
She suddenly remembered her own fascination when she had dissected the human heart and the brain, for the first time in their college dissection hall as a part of the 1st year anatomy practical class; posing with those organs as if advertising for Nirma washing powder!
She smiled and agreed to teach her, knowing that she had to simplify it to the level of a five year old.
As she took the 3D figure in her hand, she noticed that all the bones were misplaced by the lady, obviously not knowing which one goes where. She disassembled it again and put the radius, ulna, humerus (hand bones) and femur, tibia-fibula (leg bones) where they belonged..the miniature bones bringing back a pleasant memory from her initial years of MBBS…
…It had been just around 2-3 months since she had joined the 1st year of medical college, and was back home for Diwali; she had brought her real bone set along with her books, since they had a mid term exam post Diwali.
As she got down from the rickshaw, at the mouth of her little lane with a heavy bag and the loose bone set, she realised that she didn’t have enough change to give the rickshawala. She rushed home hurriedly and called out to her Aaji for the change, thrust the bone set in her hands to go back and return the change. By the time she came back, she saw her religiously pious Aaji stunned with the contents. She had taken out that very human skull which was inauspicious and spooky to her!! She masked her surprise (and maybe even disgust and repulsion) and smiled as the first year MBBS girl burst into laughter.
By the 3rd day of her vacation, Aaji’s initial shock turned into amusement, as she saw the bones sometimes sitting at the table, sometimes on the chair, sometimes lazing on the sofa, casually, as her granddaughter switched places to study. She didn’t even comment on the skull which had now turned into a pen stand.
She chatted with Aaji, explaining how all the first years’ acquire the bone sets from their seniors, by simply purchasing at a fixed price. She told her excitedly, that next year, she and her friend, who have bought the set together, will sell it to their juniors by hiking the price and try to earn some profit!
“Though I’ll really miss the set” she expressed with a sigh, catching her Aaji by total surprise.
Now Aaji is no more…but she was ever so proud of her granddaughter for choosing MBBS. Though she herself wasn’t even educated beyond 10th Std, she was extremely intelligent and was aware of her grandchild’s arduous and tough career path.
She used to say to her daughter in law, our girl is doing a “Tapascharya” of medicine, and we must do all that we can, to support her and fulfill her dreams.
The young doctor was brought back from her reverie by the little girl, who asked her what should we start with, excitement and enthusiasm bubbling in her. She swallowed the heaviness she felt in her throat and went on to explain how the Human Body is divided into external body parts and the internal body. And that she will be explaining about the external body first.
The kid never missed a day! With interest and curiosity brimming, her inquisitive mind full of questions, with an ability to conclude and analyse whatever she was being taught.. encouraging the teacher to go on…
*Based on true events*
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
TellTaleSal 