I had often heard about séances in my childhood and something equally dreadful called planchette. And then a playmate of mine from the neighbourhood brightly informed me that his cousin was a medium. At planchette, he added darkly. My curiosity piqued, it was shortly thereafter that a small group of us gathered conspiratorially around a carom board on which the cousin had chalked in some mysterious symbols.

She tossed her pigtails as she placed a coin on the board which had been liberally dusted with talc. Then the medium called out to the ghosts of our ancestors. We all took turns calling out to them but not a squeak out of a spectre. Since the four of us had our index fingers on the coin it moved in every conceivable direction with every conceivable result. Finally, having shouted ourselves hoarse for an hour, we despaired and gave up.

in low spirits
…….I pour myself
a large vodka

Gautam Nadkarni