Enthralling Trails

  Go higher and higher, until it becomes impossible to bring you down― Michael Bassey Johnson As the daily news rolled in, I recognized beautiful flying kites, some godly, some beastly, but all filled with life, and it slid me back into my childhood days. It also brought back memories of my golden yellow kite. Those were the good old days when technology hadn’t made an impact. In fact, television was rare then. It was an era when e-commerce didn’t exist, and one had to walk to the market for small and less important items as well. In one such walk with my mother, I stood admiring the bundled flying kites spread out on a white canvas. Although my mother tried to usher me, my attention was drawn to the tiny square kites. The kites were tiny, but I was not older than seven years old. The first kite was white with a blue tail…and the next one was pink…and the third one was golden yellow with a short blue tail. It is unclear when kites were invented. In 200 BC, Chinese General Han Hsin ...

  “If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”― Alfred Tennyson It was a typical year-end evening. A King Cobra snake emerged from behind the hedge and attempted to cross the street. This snake was not fully grown and was short in length.  It would raise its hood and curl its body when it threw itself across the road, it would then fall at a distance, and later it would glide even further. We were transfixed by the raised hood, flickering tongue, and startled eyes. We were also awestruck by its vibrant energy and intelligence. The determination was so strong that it reached the opposite side of the street though the traffic was at its peak and disappeared in the hedges. Along that roadside, there were vegetable vendors selling vegetables from carts. Upon seeing the King Cobra, these carts were left aside, they rushed forward to save themselves, anticipating the climax of seeing the Cobra land on their vegetables. After the sn...

  “Glittering tinsel, lights, glass balls, and candy canes dangle from pine trees.”― Richelle E. Goodrich, My daily walk through the man-made forest is full of mysteries, reminding me of fairy tales and unique secrets. As I was walking through the forest one morning, I picked up a leaf from the Christmas tree. That was not a common Christmas tree, it was a Leyland Cypress plant. There are cypresses throughout the forest, so this was a common plant in the area. As soon as I brought it home, I planted the leaf and its axillary bud in a long flat pot. Then, I watered it thoroughly. It grew in the friendly space of the money plant and hibiscus which were swift in their growth. While the leaf remained green, I did not see much growth. The soft branches of the money plant almost covered the leaf, while the hibiscus plant stood two feet high. Just when I was about to give up, I saw a tiny twig growing from the leaf. The leaf had finally begun growing. After that, it never stopped growing,...

  “It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,”― Amit Ray, It was a festive time in India and every home was well lit with lights. The smell of savouries filled the air. The Pandemic seemed to have been forgotten. Fear, loss, and pain have been laid to rest. The market on the square was filled with groceries and food. The sale was larger than expected. Ayesha began to walk to the grocery store in a haze to buy the normal supplies. There were lots of shops on the pavement. The shops sold candles, Diya, trinkets, savouries, footwear and many others. This place was closest to Ayesha’s tenement. Things were getting back to normal for her despite all she had been through this year. Ayesha hailed from Hyderabad’s old city. The lanes and bylanes that lead to the Charminar, the churi bazaar, and gullies were among her favour...

 “Bite hard, backwards, not on your front teeth, but on your jawline,” she kept saying. I followed the instructions twice, rehearsed but failed to bite. “Start mixing the dental mix once again, and use yellow colour”, she told the assistant. Something is wrong. ‘Please give ma’am the mirror. Look into the mirror and bite on your lower jaw,’ she said After listening to her, I held the mirror in my hand. I felt bad for bothering her. The dental cement was ready once again. Now she repeated the instructions and said, ‘chew hard backwards on your jaw’. I bit into the cement-like I never had before in order to make sure it was just right. The dental assistants looked down at me hopeful. There was a deep silence as they kept waiting for the impression. Finally, she said, ‘Perfect’. I felt blood flow in my body with ease. ‘As your crown is a ceramic one, let us check the colour.’ I kept watching the dentist. There was great zeal and enthusiasm as she worked. It was during the pandemic tha...

  “You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed”-Lucius Annaeus Seneca The evening was filled with colourful hues, but the sky was dark and grey. It was the first festival of the year, a festival everyone looked forward to. Ganesh Chaturthi commemorates the birth of Lord Ganesha. Goddess Parvati creates him from clay after Shiva slews him. As a consequence of the never-ending second wave of Pandemic and anticipation of the third wave, people hid for a moment, but the market was full of festivities nonetheless. We saw a few vagrants moving around with glass bottles that had lights inside a few days before the festival. As soon as the bottles were switched on, they lit up with bright colours. These little boys ran about in the traffic signals and convinced people to buy the brightly lit bottles. People have familiarised themselves with online shopping and there was a hesitatio...

  “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”― Jimi Hendrix Peace is a spiritual goal that can never be achieved without love. A number of courses are available on health, happiness, joy, and mindfulness to create peace and tranquillity. I stumbled across a course on Udemy taught by Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, a world-famous peace activist, poet, and teacher who helps people find happiness and access God’s Kingdom. In the good old days, people did not possess lots of wealth but their peacefulness came through simplicity in life. In modern days, we find that it is easy to be successful and wealthy but it is difficult to be calm, unpretentious and humble. The egos and fits of anger are high and happiness is sought through work, food, alcohol, movies, shopping, money which is temporary. The sufferings, the crimes, and the protests around the world make one wonder how far we have come. Marcus Tullius once said, “Peace is liberty in tranquillity.”...