Monkeys in the Mindland

Science has not been able to physically mark where the mind is situated in the human body although it places a lot of importance to the mind and calls it as the central seat that guides all our actions, beliefs and thoughts. There is a lot of research on the human brain but the mind remains an area only discussed by spiritual leaders.
Just like the monkeys in the wild forest jumping from one branch to another and often from one tree to another our mind also keeps wandering. It traverses time from past present and future in nanoseconds and geographical distances in a butt of an eye lid. One moment I am reminded of the snow capped Himalayan mountains which were breathtaking view from the Kumaon in Uttarakhand next moment I feel the wet sands below my feet at the Pondicherry beach. The fragrance of Jasmine in the plaits of women in the buses in south India gush in and the next moment I am transposed to the manikarnika ghat at Banaras where I can smell the burning dead human flesh.
The chirruping of the maina on my terrace, the rustling water against the pebbles in the stream ring in my ears as I close my eyes, the sound of the dhol during the durga pooja opens my eye wide. As I savour the kapoor mixed laddos of tamilnadu, the taste of the chicken momos I ate on my way up to Gangtok from Jalpaigudi fill in my mouth.
Pictures of my maternal grandfather and me in my childhood days at his farmhouse on the bullock cart are vivid in my mind and is flipped just like an old album by my nephew's photo I just saw on the facebook yesterday .
The train pulls to a halt at the station, my husband asks "where were you lost, what have you been thinking looking out of the window all the while?"
"Monkeys in Mindland" I tell him unsure he smiles at me and leads me out of the compartment.