Passion…unbridled

A lot of chatter recently I had heard

About engagement in arts and aging, and as a nerd

I felt compelled to read the original article to find

How art affects epigenetic clocks besides influencing our minds

And found that aging is slowed down by a year or so

If you engage with arts weekly, I am glad to know

That I am doing something good to slow the inevitable decline

In methylation of my DNA, which biological aging defines

*

So far the buzz had been centered around

Physical activity and aging, but now thar scientists have found

A link between aging and the arts

A second renaissance I hope would start

With people trying to explore

Their creative sides some more

*

I applaud the researchers for conducting this study unique

This is the kind of scientific evidence I seek

Where what we humans have instinctively known

Has now through rigorous studies been shown

I just found out that reading books, especially fiction can help you regulate

Your nervous system, move from a fight-or-flight to a rest-and-digest state

I thank my stars that I am in the habit of reading every day

How overstimulated my nervous system would be if it did not have a way

To reap the benefits of complete immersion

In a deeply satisfying work of fiction..

*

While working, in sympathetic overdrive I stay

To unwind, my body has to find a way

For my parasympathetic system to gain ground

Reading helps me achieve that more than any other method around

My shoulders relax, my heart rate and breathing get slow

Often reading helps me achieve a state of flow

The tension in my muscles slowly eases too

Reading a book does for me what yoga can do

*

After reading about this, I cannot wait

To read an engrossing book, and my nervous system regulate

From time immemorial people have memorized

Bits and pieces of knowledge, sharp memories have been prized

Being able to commit facts to memory has been considered a sign

Of superior intelligence, our hippocampi are designed

To consolidate and retrieve information at the time of need

We learn, we remember, we recall pertinent facts indeed

*

In the current era, the millennia-old need

To remember data has dramatically decreased

With devices in our pockets we have instant access

To unlimited knowledge, we can address

Any question within minutes, therefore memorization

Is turning into a relic of the past, with limited application

We still need to understand concepts, still need to apply

Whatever we learn, but without semantic memory we can get by

*

I wonder how this would impact the memory structures in our brains

Would some areas shrink, would the neural networks of memorization intact remain

This along with an increasing reliance

On the constantly improving artificial intelligence

Would render us rather dull, I fear

Would our highest faculties begin to disappear?

*

Ah, I catch myself going down a rabbit hole

Conjuring up doomsday scenarios unlikely to unfold…

Then I see my high schooler still trying to memorize

Spanish language grammar rules for a test, and I realize

That the need to memorize certain facts would remain

As a species, we shall continue to form new networks in our brains

You’ve come to my clinic, which is state of the art

Equipped with latest technology to treat diseases of the heart

An AI-enabled bot has taken your detailed history for me

It has scanned your face, analyzed your gait and generated differentials already

Your vitals are checked without manual intervention, so is your weight on the scale

Your ECG is performed and analyzed in mind-boggling detail

An echocardiogram is done next, the scan taking minutes at best

Machine learning has enabled a report in seconds, highlighted points of interest

Using these data points, a large language model has summarized your case

Come up with plausible diagnoses and next best steps, before I see you face to face

*

By the time I meet you, AI has helped formulate

A comprehensive, evidence-based template

I have to simply agree with the script, and I do not see

Any scientific or evidence-based reason to disagree

The pattern recognition is on point, the diagnosis accurate

The treatment plan is one that most guidelines corroborate

*

I walk into the room, introducing myself with a smile

I ask you some questions and in a short while

I have realized the comprehensive treatment plan I (and AI) had in mind

Would not work- because the treatment is not aligned

With your personal goals, your values, your worldview

I cannot prescribe you treatment without understanding you

To try to understand you, I have had to read between the lines

If I simply give you recommendations, it is likely they would be declined

*

I know the treatment would work, so my powers of persuasion I use

Eventually, you meet me halfway, you choose

Some of the steps in the treatment plan previously outlined

Some others in strong conflict with your beliefs you find

We end by bonding over parenting woes

The highs of raising children, and the lows

*

At the next visit, my AI-assistant tells me your health parameters are better than before

But I am skeptical until I walk in the door

You greet me enthusiastically, saying you’re better by a hundred percent

(AI told me there was a twenty percent improvement)

The previously declined steps in your proposed treatment

You are now more than ready to implement

*

I leave the room with a smile-while AI had helped me devise

A flawless treatment plan, it would not have been realized

If your trust as your physician I had been unable to gain

The art of practicing medicine lies squarely in the human domain

A plan to cool our rapidly warming planet has been designed

This idea of dispersing sand to block sun’s rays blows my mind

And brings up questions simultaneously

What would the ill-effects on human beings be..

*

Submicroscopic amorphous silica (sand) particles would be suspended

Eleven miles above the ground, these particles are intended

To reflect sunlight and prevent heat absorption

I wonder how widespread would be the adoption

Of this technology that revolutionary appears

And to my medically trained mind, brings up the fears

Of a widespread lung disease, insidious in onset

Creating a new problem in place of one we are trying to offset

*

Each time we try to interfere

With the workings of Nature, I fear

We are treading on dangerous ground

That can lead to consequences profound

I hope before this idea is into reality transformed

Rigorous safety assessments have been performed..

*

It is heartening to see innovative solutions emerge

To a largely human-intensified problem, the best minds must converge

To cool down our warming planet somehow

And the time to do this is right now..

Generally I do not think I am a particularly nosy person

But there is indeed one exception-

Incredibly nosy (or curious) I can be

If in your possession a book I see

*

If you’re reading a book, I want to know

Its title, its genre, whether the plot is fast-paced or slow

I have an urge to search for the same book right away

If the description appeals to me, I try to procure the same day

If you give me glowing reviews, I might be inclined

To immediately order an electronic version online

*

I am not very good at making small talk, I confess

Yet making conversation with a fellow reader seems effortless

I believe all readers share a similar vibe

Reading is my passion, and readers my tribe

All these years, I have been trying to climb

The pyramid of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, only to find

That self-actualization is not the highest rung

In the hierarchical pyramid the hero unsung

Is self-transcendence- where you transcend your ego

To connect with something beyond yourself- you go

Past self-centered focus towards collective well-being

Where the interests of the community and not just your own you are seeing..

*

This has given me a loftier goal to pursue

I was aiming for self-actualization but I must go above and beyond too

I have been stuck at trying to fulfill

My deeply cherished personal goals still

Maybe I should just skip this level and aim for self-transcendence

Currently my focus on self is too intense

If I were to broaden my efforts towards realization

Of the greater good, I might also achieve self-actualization

*

To serve the world in the way I was meant to do

Would be the ultimate goal I wish to pursue

I’ve always wondered how writers of thrillers can write

A single sentence with words positioned just right

To send a shiver down your spine

Chilling you to the bone such that you find

Yourself riveted to their writing, hungering for more

The book in front of you seems better than anything you’ve read before

*

A cliffhanger of a sentence that unsettles you

Words that describe something too sinister to be true

A curveball that takes you by vehement surprise

In such a way that you feel the adrenaline rise

A sentence that sends your sympathetic system into overdrive

To finish the entire book in one session you strive

*

A sentence, that can the entire book define

Books with clever sentences I am trying to find

When I was younger, my patient notes I would write

In passive voice, imposter syndrome I was still trying to fight

Even when I had made a decision I was afraid to say it was me

Most of the time I felt was treading on ground shaky

If I used the active voice, instead of “I” I wrote “we”

To suggest that it was the team’s decision, not mine individually

Wha a coward I was, the thought makes me cringe

On others’ opinion I wanted my decisions to hinge

*

It is only in recent years that I feel confident enough

To use active voice in my notes, it was tough

To break out from the safety of the crowd

And take ownership of my decisions, stand alone and proud

To assert with an “I” and not hide behind a vague “we”

To stand by my decisions unwaveringly

Credit or criticism, both I am willing to own

When the responsibility is mine alone

I just learnt that there is a Japanese word for what I often do-

I buy books but do not read them- it is called “Tsundoku”

Books that I have bought languish in my bookcase

I leave them for a time when I might have to face

The inability to borrow books from the library

(During the early days of the pandemic, it happened already)

When there is no other book left to read

To read a book from my own bookcase is what I need

*

Being in possession of books makes me feel good

My optimism bias tells me that I would

Read all of them, one by one

In reality that is easier said than done

*

On the other hand the books I borrow from the library

Have a return deadline, I have to be wary

Of piling up fines if I do not return books timely

That fear increases my reading efficiency

*

I keep buying books and they pile up inevitably

Maybe I should exchange them at the Little Free Library..

Mother’s day rolls around and I dread

My child bringing me breakfast in bed

It is a sweet gesture and I should be thrilled

But the actual execution leaves me filled

With anxiety at the messiness that comes with it

Clearly in the traditional mold I do not fit

*

First of all, I have to keep up the pretense

Of being asleep when I am awake, of my child’s presence

In the kitchen I am acutely aware

I wonder what he is trying to prepare

And whether he is safe while doing so

Exactly how he is doing it I want to know

*

He brings the breakfast tray, and shouts excitedly

To wake me up and smile beatifically at me

(That is the best part, and that is why

The ritual continues, I cannot lie)

Now comes the part where I have to eat

Breakfast in bed without brushing my teeth

This is something I otherwise never do

Breakfast in bed seems unappealing because of this too

*

My son has really tried his best to prepare

What, according to him, is delectable breakfast fare

But my middle-aged body groans at the thought

Of eating the carbohydrate-laden breakfast that he has brought

He would be offended if I did not finish it all

But compared to a growing boy, my appetite is rather small..

*

I finish and make my bed, making sure there are no food crumbs in sight

Then I proceed to the kitchen where I find, to my surprise and delight

That my son has left it in a condition pristine

Turns out, I had underestimated his ability to keep things clean

Then again, the last time he did this was a year ago

He has had all of twelve months to mature and grow…

*

My heart fills with love, and I realize that this tradition

May soon be over for me and my son

What was I thinking when I said

That I did not want breakfast in bed??

As an avid reader, the length of a book rarely intimidates me

But there is one thing I do not like to see

And that is a lengthy preface, especially one that is not

Included in the total page count, if there is a lot

That the writer wants to say, in my opinion it should not be

The preface, but a full chapter introductory..

A long preface my patience severely tests

Often I want to put the book to rest

Rather than waiting for the “real” chapters to be revealed

Therefore to all writers and editors I appeal

To keep the preface short and succinct

So that running away from the book is not the reader’s first instinct