Mental Excursions

Coat it with sugar! “No wonder you have so few friends,” my friend said in a voice that was amused, annoyed or plain impatient, I could not decide. “What did I say? Is it wrong to say things as they are?” I asked. “No, you speak too bluntly, they do not sound good. You should cover your words in feathers and then throw them. Try using softer words.” That set me thinking. I have always spoken about everything as it is. There have been repercussions, I must admit, but I thought my life was going fine. But maybe it isn’t. Is it time I change my style of speaking? That would mean I have to start using words which convey what I want to say but sound soft or sweet. Instead of calling somebody ‘stupid’, I should say, airhead, dim bulb, lost his/her marbles, a few peas short of a casserole, not the sharpest pencil in the box. We know that these words are called euphemisms in English. Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines ‘euphemism’ as an indirect word or phrase that people often us...

Who is on your friends' list? One morning this week, an email caught me by surprise. It was a Facebook (FB) friend recommendation - Draupadi Murmu’s mugshot stared back at me. Now, we know who she is. I was confused. How on earth would she know who I am. Why would she want to be friends with me? And the next thoughts were- are the FB algorithm developers napping? How silly of someone to open a fake account in the name of the President of India! Welcome to the unregulated, unreal realm of Facebook, where presidents, professionals, promoters, pals, pretenders, pests, anyone can be a friend, or at least send in a friend request. According to dataportal.com, India and United States are the leading Facebook users. I am not surprised. Most of the people I know keep track of others and peer into what is going on in their lives, through Facebook. They claim that it is an important tool to find long-lost friends, old classmates and alumni associations or cousins so distant they can be ...

Magic of Lohri night! A crackling bonfire with the flames dancing high and sparks flying in the air, rustic popcorn, roasted peanuts, rewari (round, sesame covered hard boiled sugar bits) and piles of nut filled, spice-infused gur (jaggery), happy faces, laughter and cheer is what comes to my mind when I think of January 13, or Lohri as we call it. I had thought of writing about it, this blog connects: https://anupamaexcursions.blogspot.com/2024/01/time-to-wash-away-your-sins.html So, here I am looking back into some narrow trails of my memory. There is no guessing game about the date of Lohri. It is celebrated one day before  Maghi or Makar Sankranti by Hindus, Sikhs, and whoever is full of the spirit of celebration because it is a cultural, and not a religious festival. It is celebrated in the whole of northern India i.e. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu, even Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan. Lohri marks the beginning of longer days. One old saying is ...

Hello winter! Those who were grumbling about winter not arriving, have now no reason to find faults with nature. The snowfall in the upper regions of the country and the hills last week, has caused the temperatures to nosedive. Time to embrace the chill and turn your mental computers to winter mode! It is not that we north Indians have tundra-like temperatures of Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavian or arctic regions, but the rollercoaster from 45 degrees Celsius in summer to 6-10 degrees in winter demands a lot of adjustment from the body and make us wonder how our ancestors bore this cold without the modern-day gadgets. Taken out your hot water bottles? Most of you have experienced winter for a few decades and are experts by now, but what is the harm in ticking off this checklist for the next one month? Dress in layers : Gone are the days when one thick overcoat was advocated as ample protection. It is safer to wear lightweight, loose-fitting, warm clothing in lay...

Drama in your sleep ‘Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep,’ so said Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, a scientist and one of everyone’s favourite Presidents of India. By this, he meant dreams which motivate, spur you on, give you a purpose in life. That must apply to good, positive dreams. But have you ever had a bizarre or scary dream that drives you into an agonized search for information if what you saw had a meaning or was a premonition? Sant Tulsidas wrote jyon sapne sir kaate koyi, bin jaage na door dukh hoyi . (If somebody cuts off the head in a dream, the pain does not go away without waking up). That is sound logic, but Tulsidas was a saint who had reached great spiritual heights and probably had God on speed dial. Perhaps he did not give a bad dream much thought unlike us humans who ruin our next day and many days after that worrying over the reason we had that dream. Dreams can be like art films with one story, or Bollywo...