(This will be a series of disjointed thoughts from a recent trip. Enjoy reading)
Day 1: This was lucky, maybe there’ll be more…The heat is incredible, just unbelievable! And I had forgotten what it feels like to spend the day in the kitchen – where the ceiling fan can’t be turned on. Only a few palm fronds are missing when I look out and then I will be convinced I am in the middle of the desert itself. There is no need for work-outs; this should be the easy alternative to lose more weight…
I must have phased out at some point ‘coz now the heat feels like the warm embrace of a summer’s day, cozy and comforting. So wake me up and bring me back someday!!!
Day 2:Trying to play the typical Indian housewife is tough, not my cup of tea and I barely manage to pass. Funny remembering those early days after marriage when I had no idea how to cook , and so Daddy (father-in-law) finally taught me how to make Roti (Indian flat bread). Nowadays, I have Google. LOL.
Every day is a new experience, yet another one in life’s motley of colors. This too shall come to pass…
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Mummy (mother-in-law) got me a new wardrobe for the wedding: very bright, very colorful all in all, as can be expected. But literally very heavy, esp. the outfit I am going to wear on the wedding day, which typically weigh anywhere from 7 to 15 lbs, in this hot and humid climate.
Hubby says to me: Good Luck carrying that weight around and feeling uncomfortable all dressed up from head to toe and with all the jewelry/accessories at 45 degrees… ‘coz I was the one who asked for it in the first place !
Mentally berating myself for not remembering how cumbersome this kind of stuff can get, for forgetting how Indian summers are like and for only thinking all-that-glitters and none of the useful, golden thinking. LOL
Day 3: Lessons Learned: Day 0 to Day 2
1. Never fly in a plane chock-full of Indians, wearing a short summer dress. And if you do, the first thing to do is cover yourself up with the blanket. Else the moron sitting next to you will keep gawking and keep moving and try to encroach your sitting space completely. And you might have to elbow the s*** out of him when you reach your own boiling point.
2. Learn to say a big NO (small ones don’t work) to mother-in-law, else she’ll feed you everything under the sun in one day!
3. Deliberately forget to bring the gold jewelry. Even if you didn’t forget and carried them out of respect, learn to hide the truth. Otherwise you’ll be wearing them day-in and day-out, even when doing the dishes and while sleeping!
4. In keeping with regular trend-line, do not watch your favorite team’s soccer game, if you want them to win.
5. Do not envy the teenage niece roaming around in shorts and a t-shirt. A million prayers will still not grant you that state of (garb) freedom and liberate you from head-to-toe clothing!
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“How can you enjoy a very hot beverage in this very hot weather?” It baffles me (and I will sometimes ask the question, with answers varying from: just-like-that to you-know-why to laughter all around) every time there is a visitor in the house and Mummy goes, “Child, let’s have Chai (Indian tea latte)” and I will think to myself: Again?
This is the nation of tea-drinkers. I used to think I am a tea-not-coffee-person; only now I am beginning to realize I am nowhere close to being that, since green and herbal teas don’t count over here!
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Yesterday we, a group of ladies including the next door neighbor, Bhabhi, were wrapping-up gift items for the to-be-bride. Over another round of afternoon tea and snacks, Bhabhi reminded us of how her 5-year-old-son was looking for me (the old-yet-new visiting aunt in town) all over the house the day we arrived. I had gone to see the kid while he was having lunch. He kept smiling at me but not a word was said. At length, I said: “What’s wrong, Son? Do you not remember me from the last time I was here?” He replied,” Your face is all changed and different.” We all burst out laughing- maybe my husband is bringing home a new wife every time he visits!
It seems once I was out of sight, he asked Bhabhi: ” Mom, why is she fairer than most? Is she come from Hollywood? ” LOL
I have a theory of my own to respond to him next time I see him, “Son, I don’t drink enough tea. And I haven’t been out of the house and into the sun ever since I landed!”
I used to complain in the old days, for being kept under house-arrest anytime we visit. Hubby would say he’s helpless as there is no place he can take me to and no one else’s wife would tag-along when the guys went out, in this remote township. Nowadays, I don’t mind and I hardly notice it. Maybe WFH (working-from-home) has cured me of that old instinct to flee from the house!
Day 4: Count your blessings… and stop counting down the days until the week long Euro trip on the return journey…
1. Internet and Wi-Fi at home. Just AWESOME to be sending random thoughts when I was least expecting any of it
2. The new wardrobe for the wedding, no matter all that glitter and weight-lifting expected!
3. Yet another surprise new wardrobe from Hubby for the Euro trip
4. Learning new recipes from Mummy, not from Google! LOL
5. Long live the maid whom Mummy managed to hire recently and who cleans and mops the house each morning in under 10 mins. Otherwise it could have been me taking up her job for the time being, rather inefficiently by taking an hour or more
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What kind of jet-lag is this where I don’t sleep during the day and then sleep for only a couple of hours during the night?
On the positive side, Hubby took me out for an early morning ride on the motorbike – so refreshing, enjoying the cool morning breeze and the calmness of the place before any of the day’s activities commence…
Life is beautiful indeed, only you have to know what to look for and where …
Day 5: According to weather reports everywhere… Summer is officially here, finally! O Lord, let everyone partake in the favorably high temperatures and not just me melting away in the sweltering day (and I should have asked for something more, had I known my prayer was going to be answered this fast…LOL)
Summer Solstice – I am up a little after 1 am and keep tossing and turning in bed, waiting for day-break. No doubt, I have the longest day in the year than everyone else on earth!!!
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According to me, my chignon (or whatever messed up and unruly variation it is) rocks , even though it gives me a headache by the end of each day … Anything to keep the hair from irritating me to hell in this crazy heat.
Come to think of it, I would not mind a military crew cut or even clean shaven head at this point, if it were to be allowed. Many would have a heart-failure on seeing me, maybe including myself! I would definitely be kicked out of the house and my own parents will disown me then and there…
I always had waist-length hair, while growing up. And many people who see me now after ages will be like: “OMG! What happened to all that hair, Girl? What a loss! ”
The truth? I had them chopped off, once before heading off to university and once again right after marriage. What’s the need for it, when I already have entangled the one I needed to … As for the losing part, Mama (my mother) had some turned into hair extensions and still has them! So where’s the loss?
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I hate power-cuts, esp. those that lasts from 11 o’ clock till 4 pm. And all that I do is look at the clock and tell myself: Is it 4 o’clock yet?
Day 6: Do you hear the silence? The sky has been unusually quiet for this time of the year. Are those storm clouds over the horizon or is it just a figment of my imagination? Isn’t it supposed to be monsoon yet? I am beginning to wonder if it is overcast, why wouldn’t it rain?
Would I miss the chance to see and feel the first shower of the season? The smell of raindrops kissing the parched earth… Like long lost lovers reunited. ..Like a weary traveler coming home and quenching his thirst…
I just love getting soaked in the rain. Splish-splash and frolic and jump all around, with not a care in the world. ..That feeling of being transported back in childhood days…Going home all drenched and dripping wet; getting a good scolding but still feeling happy inside and out!
Dear Lord, if my wishes are being heard, do let a few drops of rain pitter, patter. And I will know that all’s well in your heaven and all will be well on earth, here and there.
Day 7: On umpteen mornings, I wake up with an ear-worm. Annoying at times and funny most of the time when I try to uncover the song itself or where and how did I pick it up.
Like the one from this morning which goes:
“Guncha koi mere naam kar diya (Someone has put a flower bud in my name) Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya (The wine-bearer has yet again filled my glass)…” yes, quite understandable, the craving from this ongoing string of dry days…
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I listen to songs a LOT – will even put the music on, all throughout the night while I am sleeping!
And I hum, whistle and sing a lot, mostly in my mind that is. Or whistle/ sing (doesn’t matter off-key or not, I am doing it for myself) when I am cooking, cleaning the house, gardening or while in the shower! That may be one reason for the ear-worms …that even in sleep my mind is still singing!
I remember this one time when Baba (my father) and I were put up in a guest-house, attending yet another wedding of course (what would we do without Indian weddings) I went to get drinking water and came whistling back as loud as I could. Baba came out of his room, looked around, saw nobody else, then with a look of utter bewilderment said: “What the hell! You were the one whistling just now!!!” Priceless look and precious moment …
Hubby was also shocked the first time he heard me doing so; you see, girls are NOT supposed to be whistling in our culture!
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I am fluent in three languages (and therefore speak in all 3 with an accent – even in my own native language, so says my siblings…LOL) but I can sing in seven languages or maybe even more – without even understanding one single word of what I am singing. I just need a catchy tune, that’s all. And that may be one more reason, my mind has a big store to pick up songs from and annoy the hell out of me throughout the day – on those days when all that I remember of the ear-worm is just the tune !
I remember yet another hilarious incident from childhood that makes me laugh every time I hear that song. In my usual wandering, singing self, I go about the house in my loudest voice and all of a sudden Mama yells: “Shut up, Girl! Do you even know what you are singing? How improprietous! ”
Shut up, I did and never dared to ask anyone what the song meant, to have brought such an unexpected reaction from Mama. Over the years, I have come to realize what that 10-something-year-old-me was singing that day (a very beautiful song all in all, thought):
Najaane kya hua (I know not what is happening to me)
Jo tune chhoo liye (Now that you’ve caressed me)
Khila gulab ki tarah mera badan (Like a rose, my body has blossomed)
Nikhar nikhar gayi Sawar sawar gayi (I have become beautiful, I have started to glow)
Banake aaina tujhe O Janeman… (For I have made you my mirror, O Beloved…)
HAHAHA!
Day 8: Wishes for a wonderful day Sabbatical Sunday, let somebody else do the Random Thinking for today and I will only copy, paste and edit …
” She’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect. But if she can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if she admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every moment, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you could break. Don’t hurt her, don’t change her and don’t expect her more than she can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect gals don’t exist, but there’s always one that is perfect for you. ”
– With apologies to Bob Marley
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The groom has arrived this morning; soon there will be chaos, I am sure.
I must have lost a considerable amount of epidermal cells with all the chopping, cooking and cleaning dishes, that my hands feel raw and sore today. Now comes the hunt for my savior – cleaning gloves!
There have been some arguments around change of travel plans here and there; hence some long, sullen faces in the house. Not mine, I am way past any of that …
In yoga and meditation, they teach you how to attain a state of spiritual detachment, though it’s hard to master. I could really do with some of that today – not seeing, feeling, thinking, nor hearing anything that my body sends to the mind as stimulus.
Whoever said sabbatical Sunday must be out of her mind. It’s a little after noon as I sit and write this. Electricity will be gone for another one and a half hour. Just finished the morning’s chores and I could really have a break from this vacation. Whew!
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Awkward in-law moments… Because there could not be a worse liar than I am. LOL!
(Couple of days ago) Daddy is browsing through photographs in my iPad and comes across the one, of me bungee-jumping, face not clearly visible.
Daddy to me: “Whose pic is this, stupid enough to jump with a rope tied to the ankle from that height?”
I, looking at Hubby: “Ummmmm. Whose pic is this in my iPad?” (of course, somebody hacked my iPad just to download that pic)
Hubby looks at me, then at Daddy, no answer. Daddy looks at the two of us, then at me, and goes: “It’s you, isn’t it?” (Awkward)
(In-laws visiting us for a while) Few days before they arrive, Hubby hides dozen bottles of liquor in the cabinet just above the refrigerator. Since it’s hard to reach there and nobody opens it.
Two days after they arrive, Mummy is looking in the kitchen for some ingredient for her recipe and Daddy is rummaging through the whole kitchen.
Daddy calls me at work with these opening lines: “Child, why do you have bottles and bottles of alcohol stashed in the kitchen?” And I go: “Uhhh. Daddy. Ummmmmmmm. I don’t know. Maybe Hubby knows. It must be a gift for a friend. Please call him instead.” Yeah, sure a dozen for a friend…LOL
Day 9: Some may call it Karma, the cycle of life, while others call it pay-back time. I am going to call it as being- part- of-the-family and seeing the big picture… Hubby and I have been handed our eviction notice to move out from this room and on to the living room for the last three days of our stay here, once we come back from the wedding!
The wedding party and retinue will be back in full swing and glory; and this house will be overloaded with guests. The groom has no say, when his room has been assigned to the eldest member of the family, the visiting Uncle from the States. So the decision is to allow the newly-weds some privacy by giving up our room.
Pay-back time for all those days my bro-in-law had to sleep in the living room, when it was our wedding all those years ago. LOL
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Today is the official kick-off to the ceremonies, by offering prayers to Ganesha, god of good luck and fortune; most Hindu (aka Hinduism, the predominant religion of the Indian sub-continent) rituals start with this worship which is deemed auspicious. There is a god or goddess for everything under the sun in Hindu religion and thus literally more than a million deities that are worshipped in some way, shape or form. Don’t ask me what, why and how, even I don’t know my own religion that much nor do I believe in the million religious doctrines that are out there.
Tomorrow is going to be another fun day, actually a test for my patience …
All the ladies from the groom’s family, relatives and friends will gather and get their hands and feet henna-tattooed! Considered part of the make-up process overall and I am so not looking forward to it. LOL! Imagine sitting for hours and hours in one place, unable to use your hands and unable to walk because the dye has to dry first; else you are spreading a red-colored mess wherever you go and whatever you touch… I endured it once, for my own wedding and that was enough! I cannot even sit still for few minutes and wait to have my manicure dry, and i quit after few minutes and messy nails. Sheer torture, this is- I will only sacrifice my palm for the henna-tattoo this time, that’s it and nothing more!
The day after tomorrow (Wednesday) we leave for the wedding destination in the wee hours of the morning….
Day 10: Wishes for a fantabulous working week ahead to the friends not on vacation…
Rise and shine, Sunshine!
Another dawn unfolds,
Another great day awaits you.
Ride the day
Alongside the Sun’s chariot,
And you’ll be shown the fabric of life;
Warps of cheer and laughter,
Wefts of happiness with dear ones,
Laid out for you to tread upon.
Each day’s toil is but a gift;
Nothing compares to sleep earned-
With honest sweat and blood.
And when dusk descends
Retire this day, knowing-
Tomorrow is yet another wonder in the making.
When every moment is precious
And every day wonderful
How can the sum total be but a life beautiful!
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Random thoughts would have to take a break, while the wedding party journeys to and from, and steeps into the grandeur of the actual event. Maybe the pictures will tell the stories next…even if they take time to come by, though…
Rest assured, I see the blue sky wherever I go and it stays in my thoughts…random…always…reminding me of a dear friend!!!
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D-Day: If the heat is even more unbearable, if I am sun-burnt, if after being on the road for 11 hrs (traffic and construction delays!) I could sleep only 3 hours, then if I am up since 3 am on D-day, if I am wearing a 10 lb dress in the heat and walked for 1.3 km in high heels and waited for dinner till 1:45 am the next day, if I get 2 hrs of sleep and if I journey back for the next 13 hrs, if I reached here but have to head straight to the kitchen and other chores without a moment’s rest, the tell me: am I still alive or should I be dead by now?
