Skip to main content

Who's the NEW girl!

I've blogged and gloated about the new entry in my life for almost a year now. New entries have that effect on you I guess. But, 10 years back there was another new entry in my life: don't be scandalised- it was no baby- just a lady. Ok again, don't raise your eyebrows, I'm just referring to the time when most TamBrahms would have labeled me the "kodumakaara Naathanaar" or as you would call it in English "the Sister-in-law".Men are from Mars and women from Venus? More like she was from Mercury and me from Pluto. What could we have agreed on? Not much....

1. She said "Hugs are beautiful." I said "Uhm... I can't hug."
2. She said "Let's party till 4 AM." I was always indoors before dinner time.
3. She said "Let's practice that step again." I wondered "WHY????" and still do!
4. "Here's your gift for Pongal." she said. And suddenly I realised how my brother had cheated me of all my Pongal gifts ALL these years!
5. She was the "good" girl, me- the absent-minded member of the house.
6. "I like peach." "I prefer dark blue."
7. Over our middle-of-the-night gossip sessions: She'd say "She is a nice person. Had a good chat with her." And I'd say "Nice person, but I kinda switched off after 5 minutes- she was ranting too much no?!"
8. "Coffee and ice-cream? bluahhh No Way!" "Coffee, ice-cream, chips... whatta meal! Yummmm"
9. "I hate Bangalore" "I love Bangalore"
10. "Sahana is creating a mess with those paints" "Wow. Look she draws so well..."
11. "Chennai Super Kings it is!" "Go man- Royal Challenger Bangalore any day!"

We haven't and won't ever agree on most things in life but Dear Poornima Sankar, over the years I have seen things differently cos of something you said or did. I've learnt to be extravagant with love, words and gifts. If I have stamina to perform at a recital, it's because you made me practice over and over again. We've gossiped over tea, continued until dinner and kicked your husband outta the room to continue the session until 5 AM. When I've been down, you were probably the only person who knew. You were also probably the only person who knew when I got a new haircut ;) In the weirdest of ways, you remain my anchor when you say "That's life. Don't bother- just play along."

There's one we agree on though.....Uhm.....Uhm....Nope- can't think of one! ;) Cheers you guys- Happy 10 years!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Secularism, Chauvinism, but Objective Hindu-ism?

In recent times I have realised that several people feel obliged to apologise; apologise for being Hindu, apologise for a ‘Hindu’ party winning the elections, updating status messages on facebook or tweeting that while they may be called Hindu, they should not be mistaken to be fundamentalists. ‘I am not a religious Hindu. I am secular!’ I was raised in a Tamil Brahmin household. I remember spending my afternoons hearing tales from the Siva Puranam, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha from my grandmother. I remember learning to draw a 18-pulli Kolam , making strings of mango leaves for festivals, learning Carnatic music and bharathanatyam, making a compulsory visit to the puja room after a bath every morning. As a young child, the stories of Parvati or Rama were fascinating, festivals were a lot of fun, rituals were intriguing and practices were just that- a way of living. In my growing up years I asked a lot of questions- why do we do this? How will it matter if I don’t do thi...

MY ALONE

A few days ago, my daughter walked off to a birthday party saying "I will go my alone." MY ALONE was her new English phrase for the week meaning 'all by myself'. Not just 'myself', "ALL BY MYSELF"! And as I watched her walk down the hallway to the neighbour's house, I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my tummy. Of all the funny-feelings-in-tummy motherhood brings you, this one was new. WAS MY BABY GROWING UP? You see, mothers are usually programmed to be blind to any of these so-called hints of growing up. So obviously it surprised me that I was thinking this at all! Growing up in Mommy language usually refers to other things like: 1. Baby Being toilet trained after months of cleaning up and mopping up and coercing and making sssss sounds while the bored baby sits on the Potty. 2. Baby Being able to chew food -accompanied by a lot of "CHEW CHEW CHEW" and nudging the food stuck in the cheek. 3. Baby Giving up the feeding bott...

Grateful and Complaining?!

Daddy J recently commented, "I wish I was ambidextrous." "Why", I asked, bewildered. "With one good hand, it's almost impossible to change her diaper without messing up the place. Plus it would be easier to get that rice into her. I wonder how you hold her in one hand and stuff that food in with the other." "So how did you manage when I went out for 3 hours?" "I gave her milk."- with a triumphant smile!!!! Everyone warned me that crawling days and walking days would bring along new and challenging exercise routines. And thanks to it, the old pair of jeans seem to fit again- yipie! And compare notes, we must! With new mommies: -My son won't sit in one place for more than 10 seconds. Half the time, I am just hunting for him under tables and chairs. -Mine broke a vase the other day and had the most 'paavam' look on her face. I didn't know whether to cry or scold her! -He wants to pull everything- including peopl...