Laughter is the best medicine

Sometimes days simply spreadeagle to nights, like a coiled up python, which has had its fill! And many a time, the night just snores away to glory, only to rub itself awake like a wayward drunkard – fuzzy and frizzed up!  Lying on the cot thus, stifling a mammoth yawn, and gaping at the ceiling fan that was running in full speed, I could hear the clock ticking. For a change, even time seemed to drawl in the rather ‘no-motion’ state of affairs at my end.   No longer tethered to the wheels of time, the deadlines, targets and the speeding tracks to reach goals,  I looked at the patch of blue through  my bedroom window. This little window was like an expanse of limitlessness compared to the confines of the room I had been moored in, for  the past 90 days + x hours. It made me feel like a 90-year-old crone who would rather hobble about the place with a hatchet and go poking her grandchildren in the ribs! Not to mention, that my general appearance had become ...

Was it already dawn? I seemed to have hardly slept a wink that the cooing calls of a koel stirred me awake! Well, looking out the window the sky was still ink-blue, twinkling in its night glory. But the midnight sonata carried on and it was not just one birdie singing in full throated ease. Another had chirped in. The duet signalled the mating season of the Koels and it was less wonder that the pre-dawn hours were abuzz with the birds and bees. I plonked back on the king-sized bed, exclusively “mine”, for the time being, with no ‘room’ for a partner. So, here I was the lone ‘n’ lonely, when the mating season of the koels was in full swing. Brooding over the dismal proposition of a bed rest with a zillion restrictions, what bemused me was abstinence from s*x. I mean, even clinically, the mating game came under the scanner, for reasons whatsoever. Close on the heels of “Avoid alcohol and smoking”, comes the red flag “Avoid s*x”, blurring the line between harmful habits and biologica...

Was I nimble-footed to flow in a melodious rhythm without the fear of crashing on the floor or cracking my bones? Nope, I have never braved it(Had I, it would have been the ‘balance that dainty glass of wine on your head while your body plays up to a cocktail shaker!' challenge). Moreover, I treasured those 206 bones of my body than cherishing a Ballerina’s dream! I was born with two left feet, you see. But that did not stop me from admiring Ballerinas, who appeared like pretty butterflies, literally floating in air! It is just that they remained afloat like a pipe dream, ever! So, from where did the whimsical Ballerina conjure up at the Yoga centre, where I was waiting for my turn with the specialist?  Call it human nature or the quirk of fate, repressed dreams of childhood pop up their heads mockingly, in the most unexpected circumstances. So, the ‘pretty ballerina dream’ was playing truant, where I was sitting tight, trying to wiggle my toes and feet, to overcome the numb...

What agility! I looked at the creature in awe, as it lunged to the nearest sun-shade, while balancing on the railings of the bedroom balcony. That too with a baby tugged to its person! Daredevilry? Witnessing this, I could not have asked for more! A tightrope walker of a circus would bow out in shame, seeing our simian cousin in action! The monkey, that quintessential blueprint of human evolution, never fails to catch the eye. It is as much a crowd-puller as a cine star- the only difference being that the latter has not yet dared to walk the red carpet, threadbare. And of course, the mob maintains a safe distance from monkeys than attempting to surge like a Tsunami wave, as they do so for their heroic idols! You see,  our simian cousins can protract their claws and show off their canines anytime! You get the warning straight! So, it was with extreme caution, I slipped into the balcony, to pick up the laundry from the clothes line. I definitely did not want to part with my pr...

Dear Mr Pain,                       Where do I begin, considering that all these years, I have confronted you with feelings similar to those of Lady Macbeth stricken by a ghost! No, no please don’t mistake me. I am not calling you a ghost, Mr Pain,  though you have spooked me out in the past, a good deal. So vivid in memory are those episodes of life, when you would spring from nowhere and secretly take up residence, only to stir up some sort of rebellion in my body. You and I were ever on battle grounds, disputing your unwelcome entry into my territory. Ah, those elusive ways of presenting yourself! Well, if I were to list out,  the entourage of ailments and disabling conditions, where you chose to be the chief symptom in charge, the list would be endless! But I must confess, that your presence also meant that my central nervous system was in working order and that...