Shail pays a tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack; she explores the
patriarchal perspective of practicing magic and talks about the canine gender’s
contribution in preserving nature exclusively for Different Truths.
Valley of Shepherds bloodied
The frozen snow,
the majestic mountain peaks beside the lake,
the Betaab valley- picturesque, heaven on earth.
All that I wished to see I am experiencing now.
What more could I ask with friends and family around,
with the presence of the Almighty’s grace
there is no other place I want to be now
or ever. Shilpa looks just like she did when she stepped
into our home as my wife, (I am exaggerating maybe), it is the magic of the place,
it wraps you in its fold transforming you into what you were actually destined to be.
Too many thoughts running in my head.
Too many happy reflections, almost cinematic like the films shot here.
Let me put it all on hold for now varna khud ki nazar lag jaayegi.
But, what is this I hear?
Gun shots?
Nah.
Must be someone celebrating.
I have always loved the white virgin snow
imagining I am throwing it at Shilpa like in the movies.
Who threw a snowball at me? So heavy it pushed me down.
But, why is it not white, why is it red?
Why is it paining? Snow ball shots cause pain?
Shilpa?
Why is Syed lying on the ground with his horse?
Why?
How?
What?
‘Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast,
hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.’
Magic knows no gender
Magic belongs to all,
classless,
no gender too.
And yet, like all things in existence,
even magic started off as a power statement
of the male gender
until a woman magician sneaked into
The Magic Circle
pretending to be male,
and with her magic, bodysuit, gloves
and cheek plumpers
she did not fail.
For her, the cause of magic
was higher than her identity
so she transformed from Sophie Lloyd
to Raymond Lloyd
until in 1991 a law was passed to admit
women in the magic circle to which she admitted
her fraud carried out for her passion.
Ousted she was for this deliberate ‘heist.’
Three decades later she has been accepted back.
She is a real magician doctor now,
Not a dumb quack.
Catching the poachers
In residential colonies,
the strays are tormented,
starved even though food is wasted.
In places like Zimbabwe, others in South Africa
they are trained to cease poaching,
to protect wildlife,
to catch murderers.
Dogs4Wildlife they are called
trained by professional dog trainers,
Priddle and Law who turned to
preservation of wildlife
taking the help of Dutch shepherds,
Belgian malinois, Labradors and spaniels.
Sight, sound and smell aid them
to be aware of what they need to protect.
If only we humans could follow suit.
References:
https://apnews.com/article/kashmir-tourist-attack-dc7067a18899d9e7ff7726d4e05982c3
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/25/uk/sophie-lloyd-magic-circle-scli-intl/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/world/africa/dog-training-poaching-africa-wales-spc/index.html
Shail Raghuvanshi is a poet, freelance journalist, copyeditor, voice actor, and artist with 30 years of experience in various media. She has worked as the Cultural Correspondent for India’s first integrated media company, PLUS Channel, and has written course material for Madurai Kamaraj University’s Post Graduate Programme in Advertising and Public Relations. She has also been a coach of Communicative English. She has published poems, short stories, and articles in leading magazines and anthologies.
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