Random Thoughts – Page 19

June 23rd, 2006

Posted on Mar 11, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

This is worth a read!

The following was transcribed from an audio file discovered by the Tucumcari Highway Patrol on June 23^rd, 2006.

Unknown Speaker, female (US):

It’s a long drive back, so I thought I’d get this down while it’s still fresh in my mind. Honestly, it was a huge waste of time. What is it with whackos and trailer parks?

[sighs]

Alright, I’ll try to keep this official for the archives. The date is, uh, June 16^th, 2003. We received a call three days ago on the hotline about some unusual activity in New Mexico. The caller wouldn’t go into specifics, one of those “won’t talk on the phone, you never know who might be listening” types. So, I drove down from Chicago.

Turns out the town was a dustbowl: trailer park, convenience store with a fifty-year-old gas pump, and one stop sign which was apparently optional.

I met…

View original post 788 more words

Random Thoughts

Job Hazard

Posted on Mar 9, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

Of course, I’m in a high-stress job, Doctor!

…

…..

I’m a mother.

Fiction, Random Thoughts

One-on-One

Posted on Mar 9, 2021Mar 9, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

“Samantha, your Dad and I need to speak to you about the company you are keeping.”

“What are you talking about? Dan and I are just friends!”

“I know, Dan is a friend. I’m talking about Liz.”

“Liz is fine. I know she is a little short-temprered…”

“That’s exactly the point! She is short tempered and tomboyish. She plays football–Men play football. Women are cheerleaders. And the way she looks at girls…something is not quite right about her.”

“She can look at whoever she wants the ways she wants. And she can play football if she wants too. Our country has a women’s football team, for God’s sake!”

“All I’m saying is that you are not safe around her. I think she’s gay!”

“I don’t know what she is but she is my best friend and she won’t hurt a fly.”

(A few minutes later)

“Is that Liz you are texting? I forbid you.”

“No, I’m Googling ‘how to ensure your parents are just insane and not sexist’.”

Random Thoughts

Touch the Moon

Posted on Mar 4, 2021Mar 4, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

Rising on my toes,

I yearned to touch the moon

and kept falling back

in the ocean all night.

But I managed to make waves,

didn’t I?

Free image by Navi Photography on Unsplash

Random Thoughts

Different lights

Posted on Feb 23, 2021Feb 23, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

Today, I woke up to a beautiful sunny day and decided to spend a bit of time lying down in the sun. As a result, I got to see a lot of flying bird underbellies. The Indian crows look Majestic from below, considering their underbelly is all black as compared to their grey upper body. The green pigeon’s green is even more evident from below. A pied myna’s all-white belly takes away all the resemblance from its family.

It also reminded me of perspectives and how things change from the way we look at them. The same person is different in different settings–a corporate stiff-board, a vicious manager, a caring colleague, cheerful friend, a loving parent, a happy neighbour, a demanding spouse, a playful sibling and a loyal child…the same person, looked at from different angles. How many lives do we live in a day?

Does that make us Chameleons?

What do you think?

What is the light you wish to be seen in?

Random Thoughts

Funny Weather

Posted on Feb 20, 2021Feb 20, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

We are experiencing the weirdest February weather ever. Usually February are sunny and warm enough to chuck the sweater and go around in plain clothes.

But this year, we have the kind of fog that puts early January to shame. In the morning till 11 am, I can’t see the trees across the road. I wash clothes shivering in my double layer of sweaters praying for the sun. Water drips from the wet clothes in the process of hanging them on the roof. I, too, am wet. There is no hope for me getting dry here, so I walk down two floors, head hung in dejection.

Then the Sun shines and hides, shines and hides, and shines and hides. And then, once it is out at 1 pm, the roof is hot enough to turn egg into an omelette. I have to chuck all sweaters and run in the shade downstairs to avoid a heatstroke!

Not sure whether the weather is doing it on purpose. All I can say is, “Haha! Very funny!”

Random Thoughts

Where Do Babies Come From?

Posted on Feb 12, 2021Feb 12, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

The question is a parent’s nightmare. Most of us avoid it as long as we can and try alternate theories, like pollination by bees. 🐝

One such theory is stork bringing babies home. 🐣 I have used it successfully for the past couple of years, thanks to the inspiration and visual support by Disney cartoons. (Dumbo really nailed it.) But now, as my daughter nears her fourth birthday, the questions about logistics are becoming increasingly difficult.

How does the crane travel through a storm? 🌧
How does he track moms at hospital? 🏥
How does he deliver bird eggs without breaking them? 🐣
Why some eggs that he delivers do not have babies and are okay to eat? 🥚
How does he carry elephant babies who are too heavy for him? 🐘
How does he drop lice eggs in people’s hair without anyone seeing him? 🐜
Why we can never see the baby pouch it is holding. 👶
How does he open locked windows? 💥💫

And last week, a relative’s daughter found out about babies in mama’s stomach. I am afraid she will drop the bomb soon and I will have to deal with the corresponding questions. 🙈🙉🙊I am wondering which tactic to try if it comes to that. The simple XX Chromosome meets XY theory leads to too many uncomfortable questions about the logistics. 😰

Feign Ignorance 🤔: She would wonder if I am a competent mother. She has higher expectations.
Deny everything 🤓: It is only a matter of time until she will ask someone who confirms the theory. She is persistent.
Admit Lying 🤥: She would wonder why I lied, leading to more probing questions. Her questions can put Socrates to shame.

So, I am feeling completely clueless and incompetent as to how to deal with the impending onslaught. 😵

Too much to consider.

Any suggestions?

Random Thoughts

My art work near you

Posted on Feb 4, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

Hi All, M, my bestie, is running digital art business. If you or your contacts wish to get soft copy or print of your favourite picture with digital effects, check this post.

Random Thoughts

Unintended Consequences

Posted on Feb 4, 2021 by Shaily Agrawal

Payback time…

Tiny Tales

I took my morning coffee to the balcony and looked out over the swaying trees as I sat and sipped. Living in the forest was as pleasant as I had always thought it would be. Peaceful. Calming. Once you got past the fact that just last week my apartment had been in the center of an urban tangle of cement and metal.

A shiver ran through the red leaves. It wasn’t autumn. They were just angry. A lamppost on the street corner sparked and collapsed with a creak of rending metal.

The best and the brightest had put their heads together, deciding that what we needed in the age of deforestation and ozone-shrinkage was the fastest-growing, strongest, tallest, most oxygen-rich tree ever, and they were going to make it. They’d succeeded.

Sentience had been an unintended side effect.

It had been on the news as the greatest discovery of our…

View original post 233 more words

Random Thoughts