Sunday, June 30, 2013

Oglers' Point

[At a supermarket in Hyderabad. A man with his trolley was standing with his face turned left towards the fruit stall and scratching his nose]
[She  in a irritated voice] : Why don't you just move here instead of staring at her?
[He taken aback] : Who..who...who...who...

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

... Stereotype

[On board of a bus travelling to Hyderabad from Bengaluru. The person sitting next to me strikes up a conversation.]
:
[He] I don't know why, but so many people have mistaken me for a Brahmin.
[I smile but don't say anything]
[He] It has happened many a time. They say, I look like a Brahmin.
[I just nod my head]
[He] I mean I'm a Hyderabadi Muslim and I wonder how people can take me for a Brahmin.
:

Friday, June 21, 2013

Skin Surface

I suppose as many families in Davidian lands have multi-colour members, an exclusive dark skin identity is difficult to form. In a shallower level, it's also difficult to form a Dravidian sense of beauty. I'm trying to do just that. Of course, it's difficult to form a beauty idea based on the skull shape, so, I'm just listing, what, in my opinion, are dark and good looking from different Indian groups, even though some of them may not be linguistically Dravidian or have Indian nationality. Here comes my list:

Female:
1. Telugu
2. Bengali
Honourable mention : Malayali

Male:
1. Sinhala
2. Tamil

Thursday, June 6, 2013

A Known Unknown

I knew him for over a decade now as we joined the company just few months apart. But apart from occasional smile, reciprocated or otherwise, we hardly communicated.He appeared to be a reticent person and I don't know how I came across. So it was a surprise when he joined me in my customary solitary lunch. Did he discover suddenly something in common as both of us ordered the chicken biryani?

We confirmed our respective departments. We understood our immediate organizational structure. All the while I kept on wondering if there was a reason for him to strike a conversation with me. Then we moved on to the recent organizational changes in my group. Because of it, one of our colleagues, who also joined along with us, was no longer with the company. He asked me whether he was laid off. I didn't have a definite information on that and so I was uncomfortable answering that. I gave some kind of ambiguous answer. Then he talked about our another colleague who I knew no longer with the company. He told he was laid off. I asked him whether he found a new job. He was not sure. Losing the job at this age and that too in our field was tough he said. I agreed. Could be for managers and not for regular employees, I tried to bring some hope. Could be he said but didn't sound convinced.

By this time I had finished eating. He looked at my plate and said apologetically that he was a slow eater. "Take your own time", I said. I hadn't used that familiar line for a long time now. I observed that he had finished off his chicken pieces and having only the rice now. I thought that was a strange way of eating as I would have made sure to finish off the last morsel of the rice and the chicken together. So, I was expecting him to leave some portion of the rice over in the plate but he continued eating and finished it off as well. Then we departed with a not so common "nice talking to you" line. I don't believe it's going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Conscious Eater

I never sought to enjoy my food alone but that's how I eat my lunch at the food court. When I started my career, I too was part of a group. We drew the tables together or adjusted ourselves around a small table. As years passed the married ones started bringing their own lunch boxes. These lunch boxers formed their own group with like minded colleagues. They stopped coming down to the food court and instead started having their lunch in the office cafeteria itself.

As it turned out I prefer to be alone in a group rather than alone by being alone. Maybe I would be alone with strangers around me than with familiar faces. I sit alone at the table with other three chairs getting wasted and eat, trying to avoid any eye contact with the people sitting in groups next to me. Eating alone has made me conscious about the etiquette of it. I would start thinking whether I have closed the mouth or chewing without any sound. Did I keep my left hand on the table? Does it matter? This self-consciousness doesn't stop at eating.

After I finish eating I have to walk all the way across the hall to come out of the building from the hand wash room located at the other corner. Walking along with friends, I was hardly aware of my steps but alone I hardly feel the floor. As a result my walking style in general has become so self-conscious and haphazard that the other day my three and half year old daughter reprimanded me to walk straightly and even demonstrated the right way of doing it. "Mol, let me see, how long you'll be surefooted".

I, of course, don't get my lunch box. I don't see the point of it for two reasons. First, how absurd and unprofessional one looks while walking with the lunch box and eating from it! Second, I assume most people eat home food because they want to be healthy in their old age. Why does one want to live beyond the age of sixty?