I am back – with new encounters :)
I am an only child to my parents. I grew up with my parents and paternal grandparents. I have a lot of the trappings of an only child!
I am kinda (!!) pampered, not very, but definitely a bit. I am comfortable in my own company, in fact I am my favourite person; I understand myself the most ;) But I am also very social. Hehehehe! And hence, I am also very easily misunderstood :)
I am always looking for new and different ways of keeping myself busy. That means you’ll suddenly find me learning Kathak for a few weeks/ months and then I’ll do some meditation classes and then suddenly I’ll buy an oven and bake and burn a few cakes, only to switch to pottery and make shapeless objects. And then I will do many more of such things. You get the drift!
I am also non-confrontational and I’m used to letting things slide without dealing with it. And so I always cry when I fight or argue because I don’t really know how to fight correctly :) (Much to the delight and dismay of my Husband :) )
I am also literally always on the lookout for making new friends and conversations. I ask as much as I answer. Often, I make very deep connections very quickly (and hastily, might I add). And this, right here is why many times, I end up becoming “Best friends” with people all too quickly and then realize as time passes by, that they, in fact, aren’t my best friends (and vice versa). But I am also foolishly hopeful and optimistic and soooooo interested in talking and people, that I never learn my lesson.
Now all of the above and some more unique qualities put together means that I am slightly weird, eccentric and borderline crazy. You’ve been privy to my unique encounters with weird personalities such as Mr Diaz my electrician, Vandana Maushi my replacement cook (Who by the way I still run into and who continues to torment me with her “nantar boluya’ every time we cross paths) and many others.
I also think that since I am always looking out for conversations with people and give out this “Approachable” aura, I end up having very strange conversations with strangers, who also form a very misunderstood opinion of me !
Let me illustrate :)
Recently, I met yet another Maushi in my building’s lift. She was just plain simple angry looking. She wore a look of utter disgust on her face. She looked at me and suddenly announced that she had no time to work at my house. Why?! I didn’t ask her anything. I didn’t want her to work at my house. I was simply standing in the lift waiting to reach my floor. But she felt the need to explicitly decline an offer I never made, wanted or wished for.
At another time, I was at a parlour a few days ago getting a very well deserved head massage. Ladies at the parlour generally find faults in us. It is just their KRA – find faults, get more business for the parlour. I am used to the regular ones – dark circles, dry skin, terrible hair etc etc. But I wasn’t prepared for “Aapka smile bohot bada hai madam” (Your smile is too big, madam). I had started smiling at this point because I thought this lovely stranger was complimenting me. But when our eyes met, I realized she meant it as a problem – How is that a problem! And why is that a problem? But well, for her, it was a problem.
And then of course the cherry on this weird pie.
I took my little one to our regular dentist’s clinic for a routine check-up. There, an elderly lady was awaiting her turn ahead of us. She indulged in some small talk with me about money plants, Kumbh and Mamta Kulkarni. All this while, my little one was drawing/ writing something. Interested by his writing, she asked me about him – which school, grade etc. Suddenly she asked very directly “ek lakh rupiya lagta hoga na bachche ke peeche har mahine?” (You must be spending a lakh every month behind the kid, isn’t it). I said “Nahi nahi aunty” (No no) and was just about to start giving a more detailed explanation, when she snarled with “Tu jhooth bol rahi hai” and smirked. And then didn’t talk to me at all – well, thankful for that, but what the hell!!
Later, when I went inside the dentist’s chamber, I asked him about her – and he said she is a regular patient and is someone who is very non-trusting of people around her due to certain things she has experienced in life. Somehow that made her actions a bit bearable to me. I wasn’t feeling angry any more.
When we got out after the appointment, she was still sitting in the waiting room. Looking at me, she got up and apologised “sorry haan mein tereko aise boli” (Sorry I said those things to you). I said “Ok aunty, chalo bye”. As I was opening the door and leaving with my little one, I heard her mumble to the nurse “Chaapli hai yeh chhokri”!! (This girl is oversmart!)
:) :)
