A MONKEY MIND’S LOGS
10.18:
Opened the lexicon,
prodded by a crossword clue
to check
what “pulchritude” meant.
“Beauty of face or form”
the entry read.
Eyes then lingered on
“puisne”,
noted how it was pronounced
and then stopped at
“Pullman”:
amused that it was not the novelist
but a luxurious railway carriage.
Nudged by an unexplained force,
shifted to the left side
of the open pages and
checked out
“pueblo”
“puerperal”
and
“puffball”
when the cellphone pinged
at 10.33
to announce in Gmail
the arrival of
Maria Popova’s latest
Brain Pickings release.
An exciting journey began
by clicking links
from Ursula K Le Guin to
Hannah Arendt,
Adrienne Rich,
JD McClatchy,
Martha Nussbaum,
Richard Feynmann, and
finally,
Das Hammarskjold,
by which time
at 11.27
the sharp voice from
the kitchen
demanded to know:
“Have you paid the power bill?
Today is the last day for the
discounted amount.”
Feet on the ground,
now at 11.30,
the laptop opened,
the mouse on
the bank’s secure link,
when yet again
the cellphone pinged:
This was a TEDtalk link
sent to Whatsapp
by a dear friend
who urged I should no longer miss
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
speaking about
The Danger of a Single Story.
Full eighteen minutes of
undivided attention
by which time lunch was laid out
and the question repeated:
“So you’ve paid the power bill?”
I answered only meekly,
“Let me do it after lunch.”
Had meanwhile made a mental note
to also check the playlist in TED
which had
Amy Cuddy,
Brene Brown and
Sir Ken Robinson.
Lunch, leisurely over at 12.30.
I am particular about
my schedule though:
need to have my siesta
for an hour at least.
Please do spare me from the question
when actually
the power bill was paid.
p30 (c) pradeep gopalan