It is believed that Sushruta, the ancient Indian physician, first used spherical balls of sesame seeds as an antiseptic to treat his patients. From there, laddoos gradually began taking shape as the sweet we’ve come to know and love today.
Besides being dragged into comparison with apples to point out glaring incongruencies, oranges can have other uses too— like Vitamin C, like juice at breakfast, like the piquant taste of something nostalgic, like a prop to show how a champion bowler spins a cricket ball to extract bounce from the wicket. There’s no end to the alternative uses of things, if you just give them a chance. But when responsibility implores you with droopy eyes, there’s a chance you make a face to say Ugh. Then you doze off. There’s no one around to complain about your loud snoring. On waking up, you eat leftover mashed potato, bacon strips and baked beans from the English breakfast you parked aside in the fridge because the cab came early and you just didn’t have time to eat in peace. Your tongue acknowledges the charm of cold things in the company of burning hot coffee while you begin binge-watching a season of Breaking Bad. As the plot intensifies, so does your migraine. The neighbor knocks on the door to ask you to lower the volume of your woofers. His son is studying for exams and is unable to concentrate. You almost make a face at his droopy eyes but refrain because he has brought for you a tiffin full of motichoor laddoos. Is the blow softened by sweetness, transformed even? Now you got to think of something nice to return the tiffin with. Perhaps a brownie or some cookies. You don’t have to but a mildly irritating voice is goading you— hey, here’s an opportunity to work on your generosity.
Satya Dash is a recipient of the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize and is a finalist for the Broken River Prize. His poems appear in Ninth Letter, Denver Quarterly, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Cincinnati Review, and Diagram, among others. Apart from having a degree in electronics from BITS Pilani-Goa, he has been a cricket commentator. He has been nominated previously for Pushcart, Nina Riggs Poetry Award, Orison Anthology and Best New Poets. He grew up in Cuttack and now lives in Bangalore, India. He tweets at @satya043.
Featured Artwork:
The Key to My Square
Susan L. Lin is a Taiwanese American storyteller who hails from southeast Texas. She has an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. Her novella GOODBYE TO THE OCEAN won the 2022 Etchings Press novella prize, and her short prose and poetry have appeared in over fifty different publications. Find more on her website.