tailor made

During the weekend, a friend of mine took me to a tailoring shop. Since I am used to wearing clothes off the rack, my friend had to literally drag me to the tailor. This shop was run by a lady(The Lady). Since the shop was located in an area which had a very high percentage of Malayalee families settled in, I assumed that The Lady was also one. To support my assumption, The Lady spoke Malayalam fluently.

There were 5 people waiting to get their measurements done before me. And, The Lady was taking 20mins per customer. While waiting for my turn, I was awakened from my reverie (aka day dreaming) with the word 'Ceppandi'. I recognized this to be the Telugu for 'tell me'. Now, The Lady had my complete attention.

In the next 30mins, I observed that The Lady was conversing in six different languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English. What amazed me was the ease with which she switched from one language to another AND she was completely at ease with herself while talking in any of these languages. I was simply awestruck and was filled with instant admiration to The Lady. Most of these languages wouldn't even be her native language yet she speaks with such finesse.

When it was my turn to take the measurements, I did the obvious. I asked her, "Which of these is your native language?"
She smiles & says : Marathi

I was floored with this answer. A South Indian, who has command over 1 South Indian language, speaking any other South Indian language can be understood. A Maharashtrian learning the South Indian language????? Its much much more difficult.

Seeing my wide open eyes, she continued, "Most of my customers were Malayalees. So, I learned the language from them. They were kind enough to correct me. Thats how I learned all the languages".

The Lady .... Tussi Great Ho!!

Epilogue :
Adding Marathi to the list, I know that she knows at least 7 languages. Wonder if she knows any more language ... :)

Picture Courtesy : beelegant.com

teens?

During one of our conversations, I was running wild with all my excitement & enthusiasm  on the topic. Thats when He snaps out off his reverie & says ....
"I realized this during the class. I wanted to tell you then, but.... You still haven't taken off from your teens."

This was the third time in a week that the topic of me being/behaving like a teenager is coming up. I am not even sure whether I should be happy that I am still as gay as a teenager. Or be concerned about being stuck somewhere during my teens. Or be worried I am as irresponsible as one.

Another friend asks, 'So, you behave like a teenager. Whats wrong with that?'. Well, a few of the characters of a teenager doesn't go well with the fact that I am a mother & am supposed to be responsible for 24hrs a day, 7days a week, 365 days a year(366 if its a leap year =-O).

Whatever be the cause & effect, all I wish right now is that .... If only my body too complied to this teen concept & got rid off all those pains & aches.

PS.
Fortunately for Him, He is a very good friend of mine. So, he is still in single piece :)

Picture Courtesy : all-famous-quotes.com

imitate that south indian village girl

Recently, I had attended the basic course by Art Of Living (AOL). As part of the course we were asked to do some basic exercise to loosen up our otherwise rusted joints. The instructed came up with an extremely simple solution to this - 'Let us imitate an Indian village girl. Lets follow her & copy what she does'. I think, this was the simplest & easiest warm up I have come across, especially for couch potatoes like me.

If you are wondering, what great deed does an Indian village girl do to make us follow & imitate her? Well, stop wondering & start imitating her ... :) If you are not familiar with her routine, this is what she does ....

* Sweeps the floor - you are to imitate her. So, walk around the room & sweep it clean.
* Mops the floor - you need bend further than sweeping to achieve this. Remember shes a village girl, she doesn't have fancy mops to aid her in this.
* Crouching down she draws kolam in her front yard - alternate your legs.
* Draws water for the day from the well - try doing it in squatting position & alternate your hands to draw that water using the pulley.
* Washes the clothes - again in squatting position. She starts off with lighter clothes which can be handled by each our hands. Then moves on that heavy clothes using both her hands.
* Makes rice flour using the traditional mortar ... hey, keep swinging your arms. Haven't you see how she does it? Start with both hands like auntie demonstrates. Then use single hand, let that pestle move from one arm to the other while grinding that rice.
* Sits down to make dosa batter using ground stone.
* Sitting down, she makes chutney - sitting down & moving forward & back is not as easy as watching someone do it.
* Makes dough for chappathi - just the kneading part with both your hands. Imagine you making 100 chappathis :)
* Puts the baby to sleep - swing those arms nicely.

Sounds simple, eh? Try doing it & let me know.

Picture Courtesy : shreshar.blogspot.in

Khaabon ke parindey

I don't know the reason why, but I had liked the song Khaabon Ke Parindey when I watched the movie. I loved the way they had introduced the character wind. He(wind) is seen dancing either with the scarf or with the hair. I also liked the way the male voice makes its way into this song. I hadn't noticed the female voice at all until ......

Day before, a couple of us from our team went out to have ice-cream. There was this new dessert place which had opened up a few kilometers from our office. It was too far for a walk, but not far enough to go by a car (considering the parking woes). I was with the youngest from the team and she was zipping in & out of the traffic with ease. That was when the cold Bangalore wind started to carve a smile out of my lips. Even before I realized that, I was playing the song Khaabon Ke Parindey and this time, I was stuck with the female part of the song. And, my otherwise stubborn hair joined in to dance with him ... :)


Udein....... khule aasaman mein khwabon ke parindey
Udein...... dil ke jahaan main khaabon ke parinday


Check this page for the lyrics & its meaning ...

Picture Courtesy : lifeasahuman.com