turn that frown upside down

I wrote this for someone’s upliftment, trying to answer what ‘uplifts’ me in challenging times..

I think conversations do, over anything at all, with a friend or a stranger. Also, unexpected rains on a dry summer day. Free food, filter kaapi. And a good story, real or imagined. A long walk to the beach where I sit and listen to the sea and, if it is a good day, I might even see a brilliant moon rising over the horizon as night descends upon us all; sometimes I walk overnight with a few “turtle walkers”, especially during December-March, for that is when the Olive Ridleys nest by the coast and their hatchlings, when released, are the most beautiful little things I have seen, rushing straight to the sea after they hatch, no parents obsessing over whether they are ready to do that. Kids, their bright eyes, and unnecessary questions. Older people, who usually have stories to tell, of when they were young and the world was different. And walks in the crowded streets of south India, usually in and around temples, the colours and the sounds and the smells, a rich spectrum that’s almost an assault on one’s senses, and cats selling coconuts.

Postscript: This was adapted into what I called ‘Turn that frown upside down’ in response to Madhu’s disappointment at my lack of contribution to the beautiful little magazine they call aainanagar (the city of mirrors).