Elsa's Tiera (Poem)

Elsa’s Tiara

It was the day after
Halloween
On a stroll to nearby
Flatbush Coop or Supermarket 
There on the sidewalk
Lies a worn tiara – 
Elsa’s Tiara
Probably got shipped from China
All the way crossing thousands
Of knots on the oceans
Surya too
Wore the same silvery plastic coronet
With all the bells and whistles
The full-length floor sweeping
Blue dress with beads, stones
We accompanied her
To the neighborhood Halloween party
Walking gently through the soggy
Sod, lawn patches, and the bushes
The front yards with lights, strobes, and music
Grandmas, uncles, aunts chaperoning
The little ones   

Who
Knows how many hours
Mothers and fathers worked
For the cardboard “B” train
For the shiny golden-white long
Braided hairpiece of Elsa’s
For arranging a fancy party, dress,
And evening goings for their little
Children 
They need the show for their pre-K classes
And evening rounds with plastic pumpkins
And then you’ve to gore the fall yellow 
Fruit and make a scary face
With lamp or candle inside
And then mercilessly discard it into trash
The next day

The modern urban setting
Changes everything it touches
Every custom, festival, or community
Activity or display is for a buck
For the promotion of business
Much of the meaning and most of the 
Original story is lost, sadly

But it was not like that
Certainly decades ago
In our modest village
We had many events
With a purpose
Synchronized to the exact
Lunar position (phase) 
As children
We enacted activities
Imbued with singing, colorful dresses
Original costumes
The teacher escorted us 
Through the street
The children entertained
With a song or two
The master got a five or ten
Rupee note
We’re given toffies, puffed rice,
Jaggery, peanuts, or roasted peas
That was for the Dussera festival
Mind such a celebration 
Occurred only in one or two provinces
It did not span the entire
Indian sub-continent
The modern onslaught 
Of world-wide commerce
Did not arrive yet – putting
Thousands of kids into straightjacket
Cultural mannequins 

Later I remember
Another local village observance
It happens around the
Telugu New Year time
We’d pick a little container
Could be a palm-leaf woven pot
Or, made out of coconut leaves
Or, improvised out of a discarded 
Metal bucket
The ubiquitous plastic (PVC) 
Wasn’t there yet
And would fill it with garden soil
Oh, what a fertile soil it was
Right on the banks of Godavari
You got to see it to believe it -
The coastal nature’s fecundity!  
And then gently sprinkle
The nine types of beans
Bought from the local grocer
Just a block away
And then, despite my immeasurable grief
(Due to a
Sudden family catastrophe) 
I watered the little pot
Daily twice, once in the morning
And once in the evening
And watched it sprout and grow
With all my love and care
The sprouts reached about
Knee high or so
And then we had to
Carry it to the local
 Poleramma (Devi) temple
And offer it to the “ad-hoc priest”
The whole temple was filled with
Green color
Decorated with lots of potted
Feet long
Sprouts – both inside and outside
The entire temple looked
Like a nice beautiful green earth
A multilevel hanging garden
The entire village gathered
There 
And that was the only
Custom 
I still think has
Profound meaning
Of devotion, gratitude,
And piety
Without a single 
Chant or mantra –
That act alone saved me
As I wistfully rue now

Copyright 2025 by the author

Breakfast Guest (Short Story)

Breakfast Guest

“Subbulu, they’re all gone. The almost semi-ripe tomatoes, the tender stalks, and some of your wildflower plants. It has torn them all during the early morning. I thought we’ve changed its behavior, dissuaded it from encroaching into our vegetable and flower garden.” I almost felt like shrieking but what’s the point now? 

“What happened dear? Are the rose bushes ok?” 

“Luckily the roses seem alright. We have to put physical barrier for ‘em too. They are full of buds, so better watch out.” If any bark seems ripped from a bush, it is a sign of the deer from the nearby woods and local park (green space). If things close to the ground get munched, then it is due to the chipmunks, squirrels, or cottontails. Fortunately this season there is an abundance of walnuts, acorns, and maple seeds. So most of the squirrels are after chasing the nuts, gnawing at them, leaving half eaten nuts on the ground and playing with their mates. The chipmunks are rather strange – you never what catches their fancy. This year they are after the marigold buds and flowers. After a bit of head scratching, I installed some thorny branches in the marigold pots, just to give them slight discomfort while they are engrossed in their hearty meals of tender flowers. That saved the day and we are fortunate to have plenty of colorful fragrant fresh flowers for our daily puja and for the local Narayana temple. 

After a rather disappointing morning, I flowed through the daily routine and retired. Both of us thought about a permanent solution to the deer menace and the hungry rabbits especially during the spring. It happens in harsh winters too when the entire land is filled with several feet of snow; the hungry cervids nibble the tender rhododendron shoots and dormant flower buds, pull the bark of burning bushes and maple trees. As a rule you are not to go to sleep with a thought on your mind; that means the day’s homework is not completed, the books not properly balanced (closed). Otherwise the mind goes into an overdrive to finish the lingering thoughts and resolve the loose ends. Slowly I dozed off and fell into a trance.

“I see a slight discomposure on your face today. May I help, dear?”

I felt awkward, but the Guru knows everything. Yet he (He) tries to remain beyond the powerful maya. Like a gentle friend he would not intrude into our thoughts or house unnecessarily. 

“It is trifling really, I should’ve understood it, solved it, and done with it immediately”

“Yes, you are capable. You are well read, discriminating, I would even say a jnani.”

“It is just a pesky deer, so I thought in the beginning. But it is more than that as I see it now.”

“Yes, I know it all. Do you remember? Once you so desperately wanted to offer clean home made food to an orthodox Brahmin on a holy day; perhaps to mark your gratitude to the departed parents. But in this day and age, where would you find an observant Brahmin? If it were impossible for Umacharan in the nineteenth century in Kasi, would it be easy today in a remote Finger Lakes corner? I sensed your predicament and kindly watched the events. Some day your wish would be fulfilled promptly, so I thought. But even I got surprised by the turn of events today, that too in the wee hours.”

“To day morning I got a jolt looking at the ravaged hand grown tomato plants. It took a while to sooth my ruffled feelings.”

“Though you know many things, it is often very difficult to let go off the last vestiges of ego. I wouldn’t put it crudely as ego; it is more like this feeling of touch or pulse. Obviously it’s there for a purpose – it is to protect the physical body and mind from injury. But excessively limiting the ‘consciousness’ to the earthly body can work havoc.

So you are not angry for the loss of a few dollars worth of tomatoes. Now during the growing season, you can get them at the farmers market at a fair price. Nor are you upset about someone robbing your fruit without rightfully paying for it. After all, you’ve received countless acts of generosity from many humans, animals, and even plants. Your grandmother healed your childhood fevers with gunta-kalaraku. You must have benefited immensely from the village Ayurvedic doctors, teachers, and well-wishers. After all one cannot say all those do-gooders got compensated fully. So life is like that, you gain some and you give some. On a really philosophical plane, this observation is true: You are here on the earth only as limited rights tenant. You do not own anything, although you may have a bank account and other properties.  The sooner one absorbs this eternal truth, the better life will be. 

But coming to the microscopic issue of tomatoes, the gardener can only take a part of the credit. Credit must also be given to the farmer who gifted you quality cow manure, the bees, the earthworms and microorganisms of the soil, and of course the most important of all – the benevolent Sun who tirelessly insolates this heavenly earth. No we cannot usurp others’ contribution. No, you know very well as a student of science we cannot take credit for our brains or body. They’re just handed down to us by our parents (ancestors). The ancestors tirelessly struggled through thick and thin, through draughts and downpours, and survived and bestowed us almost defect free genes. Who would do that in the modern world? Will any corporation do it for less? Will any test tube company sell you such excellent genes? Or, any government agency? No, period - as they say here.

Now, let us come to the finer points, the subtle lessons here. What’s the use of reading tomes of scriptural texts? That too, the reading gets muddied through and gets diluted and distorted through umpteen unfaithful translations from the (Sanskrit) originals. It is akin to wallowing in the murky muddy waters without ever smelling the nearby superbly fragrant lotus. People keep on talking endlessly about Vedas, Upanishads, and Jnana Yoga, etc. But practicing one single precept is enough: Speak truth – truth as enunciated in the original scriptures or elaborated by any guru like Sankara. Never hurt any being, tree, or part of nature. Always support and help life on the earth."

“Yes, Sir. You are so right. I never thought my Guru would come down to this level to instruct me so gently and so lovingly. I feel so lucky to deserve your benediction and protection. Now you’ve explained the gist of Isopanishad so succinctly. I simply bow in reverence and pay my gratitude in silence.” Copyright 2025 by the author

  

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles - II

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles (Contd.)

In the early stage, that is when the boil is small and slightly red we can try putting hot pack on the site. Some times the boil will become soft and slowly it will disappear within a day or two. Normally it is not advisable to do pin pricking at home because it can lead to serious infection. It may unnecessarily lead to complications. A number of home remedies can be applied with good results; they avoid direct puncturing of the boil. Here are several inexpensive tricks: 1. Mix freshly cooked white rice with a bit of castor oil and apply to the boil. Cover the paste (poultice) with a plant leaf and apply a tight (but not too tight) bandage to the site. Leave the bandage intact for ten or twelve hours. Hibiscus, castor tree, banana, Four O’clock, gongura – these leaves will work wonders. 2. Instead of rice one can also use a wheat flour paste. 3. Sandalwood paste, particularly freshly ground wet paste also is very effective for boils. It cools the skin (boil) locally and helps in healing fast. 

Traditional (herbal or Ayurvedic) healers use castor, mustard, or neem oil for topical applications. Such oils make the skin soft and prevent additional infections.I should mention here a few (celebrity) cases to highlight the severity of skin diseases. Many people particularly those with brown or dark skin develop pigment (dark) patches due to excessive exposure to sun. One should be careful with sun’s radiation. It can lead to skin cancer – it happened to Sri Ramana, President Jimmy Carter, and senator John McCain. Carl Marx suffered life long with skin problems, particularly boils. 

If a boil, blister, or skin wound happens on outer accessible regions of body, then it is easy to apply bandage or antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin, Boroline, Soframycin). However, some times boils can pop up at very inconvenient places (under arm, inner thighs, etc.) and they can create unbearable pain leading to severe impairment or restricted body movement. If they show up on face – they create embarrassing situations. Often this often happens with facial acne during adolescent growth stage with active hormones. 

Now, internally what to drink or eat? We should try to keep the body in a cool state, in its own natural equilibrium. That means taking good (freshly prepared) food, fresh fruits, juice, yogurt, and buttermilk. Periodically it is advisable to give the skin an oil massage. Often boils happen near the roots of hair; oily skin massage keeps the skin clean, soft, and it helps to retain natural moisture. Avoid as much as possible dry itchy skin situations – this happens in extreme dry hot climate or in cold indoors during winter. 

So, basically we have two or three methods of handling stubborn boils: 1. Take immediate action as soon as it appears. Apply hot pack and massage gently with one of the oils mentioned above. Usually the boil should start improving in appearance. That is, it becomes less red in color and feels a bit soft to the touch. Normally within a few days the skin should return to its normal feel and color. 2. In acute cases we have to resort to minor but very careful local surgery. At this stage one can consult a physician if one can avail easily (within the bounds of cost, accessibility, etc.). Thoroughly clean tools must be used to pin prick the boil. After gentle draining of blood and pus, we have to cover the wound with gauge and keep it dry. In the last stage one can use antibiotic ointment to help in the process of healing. Even a small drop of turmeric mixed mustard oil can seal and heal the broken boil. 3. Applying a poultice is an alternative method to deliberate surgical puncturing. Here we take a warm paste (freshly cooked white rice, wheat flour mixed with castor seed oil) and apply directly to the boil. The poultice is securely fastened to the site with clean leaf (betel leaf, hibiscus, castor seed, banana, etc.) and clean cloth. Usually just one application is enough. Or, one can remove the old bandage and apply a fresh paste after ten or twenty hours.    

According to the Indian Materia Medica  the following help in the management of boils (healing, pressing down, or cracking open): Fig fruit, (country) kanda (Elephant’s Foot Yam, Zamin Kanda/Suran), boiled rice, castor seed, moon plant, fenugreek, thorny amaranthus, onion, tamarind, cilantro (coriander), cumin, clay, gongura, dhaniya, tobacco, sour poyi (Basella alba), drumstick leaves, neem oil, garlic, custard apple, lime, alum, and turmeric. “A stitch in time saves nine” – that proverb holds lot of truth in skin care. Proper nutrition (fruits, buttermilk, vitamin supplements) and a little hygiene do wonders for the skin. Otherwise even a tiny boil can make life unbearable and miserable. This article is no substitute for a doctor’s visit. No AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools were used in writing this article. Copyright 2025 by the author 

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles

Boils, Carbuncles, and Furuncles - I

In several previous articles I emphasized the importance of bodily health. Health, as the Telugu adage goes is the “greatest wealth”. Without it a human being is at the mercy of doctors, nurses, family members, and even moneylenders. With good health one can accomplish a lot; more over health is one of the prerequisites for undertaking the arduous spiritual journey or any other serious mundane pursuit. We’ll be able to control and guide gently the mind to pursue any field of enquiry with good physical health. Be it art, singing, science, or advanced technology – we cannot attempt and complete any decent task without a sound body and its close companion “the sharp agile mind”. 

In this post we turn our attention to the skin, the major organ. Like indoor plants the skin needs proper moisture and moderate exposure to sunlight (vitamin D). Indoors, moisture can be controlled with open windows during spring and summer times. Moisture can also be supplemented with room or house (large) humidifiers during the prolonged dry winter months. The elasticity of skin (suppleness) can be maintained with a simple weekly oil bath. Our mothers and grandmothers used to give children oil bath every Sunday. It also included shampooing of hair with soapnut or shika-kayi (Senegalia rugata) powder. In northern India I witnessed oil bath with mustard oil during winters; at the roadside municipal water taps truck drivers used to vigorously rub mustard oil all over the body and stand in the winter sun. Then an invigorating quick cold-water bath would follow. Though a bit irritating to the eyes mustard oil makes skin very smooth. For some reason such oil baths protect the skin from minor cuts, excessive dryness, and even boils. Our skin gets a bit of oily layer due to the hair (follicles) – this happens naturally during sweating. Excessive soap usage disturbs the skin’s natural defenses.

There is quite a bit of rudimentary knowledge about these skin afflictions (boils, carbuncles, and furuncles, సెగగడ్డ, फोड़ा) on the Internet. They talk about injury to the skin, bacterial (Staph) infection, and the formation of subcutaneous boils, etc. But for the afflicted person (the patient), cure and proper management is paramount. And the remedies must be accessible and affordable to all. So, here I review some of the time tested home remedies. In the early stages when the boil is red, pressing the area with a simple hot pack helps a lot. Warm corn (salt, rice) filled cloth bags or microwave heated wet towels can work as efficient hot packs.

Often skin troubles are ignored, mishandled, or over medicated. Ignoring a boil will not help solve the problem. It can grow in size and become painful. Later the subcutaneous infection will collect pus and slowly becomes unbearable and irritating to the touch. In some instances a simple piercing with clean sterilized tool (scalpel, pin) can help to drain the fluid. Rubbing the piercing tool with (isopropyl) alcohol-dipped swab is sufficient; or, the scalpel can be gently heated in a flame to make it sterile. It is advisable to leave the wound open for natural drainage and let the skin heal naturally. Eventually the ruptured local skin will heal fully and the opening gets closed without any bump, discoloration, or scar. Occasionally some boils may leave a darker patch, a little disconcerting cosmetically but harmless. In complicated situations the uninitiated patient may seek the help of a qualified nurse or physician; skin wounds even small ones can sometimes (though rare) lead to major autoimmune disorders – therefore, one should be very careful in dealing with skin.

First let us look at the remedies, i.e., home remedies that have been thoroughly time (hundreds of years in Ayurvedic and herbal medicine) tested. One need not go into the exact scientific mechanism underlying such methods. For the individual all that matters is efficient, cost effective cure. In the Ayurvedic system boils are often associated with “hotness of the body” or some imbalance. Children develop such skin troubles in the tropics during the sweltering hot high humid climate (i.e., summer) months. This imbalance in the body can be corrected with plenty of nutritious fluids like buttermilk, lemon juice, grape juice, or orange juice. Sherbets, particularly with basil seeds also aid in cooling the body. Adults with blood glucose issues have to be careful with store bought juices – it’s because most commercial juices contain excessive sweeteners (ex: corn syrup, sugar, etc.). Better to stick with home made juice, sherbet, or diluted buttermilk. A simple freshly made lemonade from lime (or lemon) juice with a bit of salt and a pinch of sugar is very helpful in controlling summer thirst. Or, coconut water without all the added ingredients like bisulfite is also a nourishing drink with minerals. We can also prepare a very inexpensive mango drink at home; we used to gently burn raw mango over stove (hot coals) and squeeze the pulp into a glass. Diluted with sufficient chilled water it yields a tasty tangy mango drink for summer time. There was a time in India when many grandmothers, aunts, or maidservants used to be repositories of vast herbal and Ayurvedic remedies (medical knowledge). Once our maid suggested a simple trick for the skin problems: Prepare a soup with small red onions (shallots), a bit of jaggery, and a piece of green pepper. The onion soup can work wonders – it will soothe the body, lessen the imbalance, and cool the body. Even raw onion pieces taken with cooked rice or wheat roti have a beneficial effect on the body. Onions, cucumbers, radish, and fresh tomatoes are used as “salad” in North India; particularly chilled freshly cut salads are a routine during summer months in Delhi. Even in the coastal Andhra some wise people used to grow cucumbers (the vine that grows on pergola or on flat horizontal woven nets or trellis) for a respite during the hot summer months. In fact I tasted the English cucumber first in our rich landlord’s garden. We would enjoy freshly plucked cucumbers with salt and red pepper powder, sitting in the cool shade of a gazebo. Nothing like an organically grown cucumber or a vine ripened tomato!

Often skin care is neglected either due to lack of resources or lack of rudimentary knowledge. Simple things like coconut oil, sesame seed oil, olive oil, mustard oil, or ghee (even butter) do wonders for human skin. At least once a week it is worthwhile to massage the whole body with oil and wash it with besan (the soft Bengal gram dal powder). 

 

(To be Continued) Copyright 2025 by the author

Disorder (Poem)

Dis(order)

Everywhere
I 
Go or drive
Everywhere I 
Wearily walk
Or
Leisurely stroll
Immersed in endless thoughts
Or
Silent quietude 
Trying to watch
A flycatcher here
A bumblebee there
Or, a winter black butterfly
Feasting 
On Arka (Calotropis) flowers
Then
I am shocked with
The spectacle of outrageous
Dirt, debris, irritating air
Pollution (AQI*) all around following me
It’s there in many Indian cities
At all places without exception
Even the
The outlaying village suburbs
Suffer too; they
Are not spared either.
Yet -
I did not notice
This much of manmade disorder
In my youth
Nor the menacing troupes
Of 
Mosquitoes with bloody thirst
In the hot tropical southern states

 
When I return
To the cold Northern Latitudes
The air is clean
The skies – with an eye piercing bluish dome
Here too
During my walks 
I
Am pained by the careless
Wayside trash on the roadside
Empty
Marlborough packets, Red Bull cans,
Cigarette butts, Fiji water bottles,
Tiny bottles of spirit

Soon spring will 
Bring a plethora
Of 
Roadside cleaners,
Rotary Club volunteers
Or
Local school children
Meticulously collecting the 
Wayside trash.
My eyes do not perceive
Disorder
In nature, in the interior woods
Or
On the banks of desolate streams,
Waterfalls, or the meandering creeks
Of the now abandoned Erie Canal

The backyard is strewn 
With fallen stumps
Decaying tree branches
Heaps of last season’s autumn
Foliage with pinecones, hawthorn berries
They’ll soon become nutritious
Compost for future ground cover
Or, silky moss
Bringing out wild geraniums, trout lilies,
And bloodroot blooms
…
After decades of 
Hard working 
Environmentally conscious citizens’
Contributions
Now
The communities 
Try to bequeath
Clean water, pure oxygen-rich air,
And 
Fecund fertile topsoil filled ground
To
The innocent, yet to be born
Future generations.

What an invaluable treasure
This healthy ambience
Of
Verdant gorgeous nature?
Not everything in the world
Need be touched by modern man
Nor it needs to be accounted
By penny pinching bean counters 

Copyright 2025 by the author

*Air Quality Index

Pious Prayers (Poem)

Pious Prayers

Aren’t these pious prayers?
Not earnest enough?
The little sparrow
Had to crawl underneath the car
For a lick of freshly made cool water
Below the a/c compressor

Yesterday early morning
A thirsty crow was
Tapping the skylights,
The translucent convex domes
For cool condensed mist drops
A tiny few at most!

In desperation the neighborhood crows

Are nibbling the Staghorn sumac cone

Fruit drupes even in the summer -

Normally reserved for the hard winters

The stream, near the cataract
That too has dried up
Hardly there is a trickle

You see flow only after persistent drizzles
In the lean summer months
Now you see no current –
And
I miss the music of our
Backyard falls, its meditative murmurings
A soothing
Hushed lovers’ conversation in the night

My great grand father would
Have performed yagnas – on command he could 
Call the benevolent Indra – Prajnanya
My maternal grand father too 
Was a simple, self effacing reader of the
Vedas – that perennial fountain of dharma (धर्म)
No, not the misinterpreted phrase “dhamma/damma”
Found in modern dictionaries or eastern religious treatises 
Outlined in a foreign European tongue - English

Dharma as instructed in the three Vedas
The original mode of human conduct -
It is meant to uplift one and all beings (souls)
And gently guide them towards
Real enlightenment; that was
Way before the modern Maslow!

Now, with a few Sanskrit phrases
I can utter, say a bit haltingly
Prayers to the thirty three crores (of) gods
For a simple cool summer shower
I need them for my Gardenia flowers,
Lawn, sacred Basil (Tulasi),
And Okras

The local farmers too need them
For sweet corn and vegetable crops
The deer, birds, and playful squirrels
Rabbits too need them
A respite from the hot dry wind
Won’t you bless us with
A silky carpet of Jasmines and Dianthus
Govinda?
Your name itself is – Narayana
You seem to float on
A veritable ocean of fresh water

(Dedicated to all the weary drought stricken people walking miles for a pitcher of fresh water across continents. This poem was originally penned in northeast US during a long dry spell in summer. It resonates and finds relevance in the very dry arid regions of Rajasthan, south India, and even the coastal Andhra. And many other dry regions all over the world.) Copyright 2025 by the author

Winter Vacation (Poem)

Winter Vacation

Upon our return from
India
We discovered

Not three inches
Not six inches
Not one or two feet
No, it was four and (a) half feet
Yea, it had to be several feet
Of hard crusty snow -
A mix of freezing rain
And frigid snow
Like multilayered chocolate cake
With interspersed frostings
Hard unbreakable icy frostings
But all white in color;
Crystals of pure water

What is the point of 
Studying hydrogen bond 
In a dry lecture hall?
You learn it 
It gets into your bones
Into the sinews
When the age worn
Hands struggle to break
With steel garden pointed shovel
The ice boulders
And wearily lift the heavy
Loads of Crusty Snow

Lord Siva must have smiled
On this devotee
I have to seek pardon
From Ganga mai
For hitting Her hard
With cruel metallic blows

But what could I do
I had to make way
At least for the minivan
Everything got stuck -
No groceries, no milk
No doctor’s visit
Everything frozen, totally standstill
Surrounded by icy walls

In that little space
Call it driveway
Or car park
We’re trapped for almost
Three full days

Yet
I have no hard feelings 
About the celestial downpour
Of pure white angel dust
It is really white pure snow
No acid rain here
Just pure yech-two-o

You can drink it directly
And you can use it
For indoor plants, for misting
Or in the steam iron

In between shoveling
I stood silently
Wondering 
Will this mountain of snow
Ever be finished?
That’s like asking the philosophical 
Question: “Will this mound of 
Accumulated karma ever dissolve away?”

Copyright by the author 2025