Crazy? Quirky?

We all have our own idiosyncrasies, which I believe is great, otherwise we’ll end up being monochrome clones that wasn’t even thought of when the Master Craftsman went about creating us. No two individuals look the same. Oh yes, I do know what’s on your mind – that there are supposed to be seven look-alikes of each one in the world. They might look alike but definitely not the exact photocopy of the other. Ask any mother of identical twins how she knows who is who between the two, and she will tell you that at first glance they might look very similar, but on closer observation, the difference manifests itself (to her, if to nobody else).

   

All my life up until now, I never thought of myself as crazy, weird, eccentric or even quirky. I was your very ordinary girl-next-door who had a magnetic bond with mischief from a very early age. Courting the cane came easy because I was not one of those “once bitten, twice shy” types you see. Three score years later, as I look over my shoulder, it amuses me no end at the path that led me to where I am today. No, not that my silly, funny self is over, just that I have now become pretty quirky! I was always an impeccably dressed (or so I think) teacher in a college, my matching umbrella to top it all! I know, I know. Can read the expression on your face as you read this – my midsummer madness! But what was I supposed to do when the dear sun thought nothing of playing spoil sport. I was advised to block the sun’s harsh rays from getting at me, but quite unlike John Donne, a poet I enjoyed teaching, who could “eclipse and cloud them with a wink” (Sunne Rising), I went all out with my shield, the umbrella which soon became an extension of me! I am an ardent advocate of the adage, “if you can’t beat them, join them” you see and therefore the simple umbrella became my companion constant, my style statement!

Years ago, when on a family tour of Europe, one stop-over was Jungfraujoch, known as the Top of Europe. To reach the summit we had to cross a fairly long ice tunnel. Imagine my shock when, on reaching the tunnel’s end, we were greeted by brilliant, blazing, blistering, blinding sunlight as it hit the powdery snowy white landscape! So, I did the best thing I knew – swished open my ubiquitous umbrella and gingerly stepped onto the snow-capped mountain! Never realized what an eccentric picture I painted: a woman of ‘colour’ her umbrella overhead, strolling along on the snow-clad Top of Europe! Neither my sons’ gasp of horror at their ‘mother’s madness’, not the clicking of cameras by other tourists could undo my queer, quirky resolve to shield myself from further sun damage. My consolation was that meeting up with any of those camera happy folks was at its remotest!

I was sent by the college to the beautiful country of Wales in UK, also known as “God’s Own Country” for a conference. Being my first ever solo trip abroad, Dr.Mary Thorley (Head, Department of Education) and her dear family opened their doors and hearts to me , inviting me to be their house-guest. Sitting down to dinner around the small table were Mary, Dave her dear husband, and John, their little son. The second I started eating with my fingers (a deliberate act), John innocently began, “don’t only uncivi…”, but was cut off mid word by Mary. I knew what he was about to say, so I gently told dear John that just like they use cutlery when they have their meals, on the other side of the globe people use their hands/fingers. The palpable tension instantly dissipated and we enjoyed pulling one another’s legs. On the last day of the conference, they had a beautiful banquet, including an Indian cuisine corner, in my honour. As I approached the counter serving Indian food, one of the girls asked me if I needed chopsticks. Politely I thanked the dear girl and told her that I had my own God-given chopsticks, raising my hand and working my fingers! And the laughter that erupted in that hall that night was something else again! I was happy that I had given them something to laugh heartily about. Crazy? No. Quirky? Yes! This was my way of reiterating to folks that it takes different people to make up our world. 

Didn’t I tell you earlier on that I was a well-dressed person? Well, one day, on entering college, I realized to my chagrin that I had failed to put on my earrings. Going back home just for this was out of the question, but the vanity box that I am, found an almost instant solution when I chanced upon a hedge of globe amaranth- those pretty, round, magenta flowers in their beds of green foliage! I happily plucked a couple of young flowers along with a little part of the stem, and yes, pierced them carefully into my lobes, and voila, I had earring on! My ‘natural earrings’ did become the talk of my department for days to come! Fun times that must be savoured in the moment. 

Have you ever had the experience of having one of the heels under your slippers fall off as you walked? Don’t know why, but I always seem to be the one having these bizarre experiences, and that too when I was attending a Refresher Course at another college. Getting off the bus, my friend and I decided to put a little zest into our walk so as to be in class in time. And just as I was going full throttle into my brisk walk, I found myself suddenly going up and down. Looking down I discovered, to my dismay, that the heel on my right slipper had fallen off. Rather than run back to retrieve the heel and risk being late for the first session, I did the next best thing: took off my slippers, held them in my hands and continued to walk till we reached our room! What laughter echoed down the hallway when the rest of our friends came to see and hear the story from my friend, masala added to spice it up! I seem to never stop living up to people’s expectations of fun and laughter!

My woes of serving up sizzling’ falling-flats’ stem from the silly little filly I was in my tender years. In love with a family of crows that made their nest in our wide-spreading jumblum (jamun) tree, I prided myself in being the crow’s food giver, placing morsels of food on the wall morning, noon, and evening. One evening when I was sitting on the wall with my younger sisters, mummy dear standing nearby, we saw a crow circle over us. Mummy warned us to come down as the bird felt its nest was being threatened by our proximity. But, me being me, laughed it off telling mummy that I was feeding this crow and therefor she would not harm us. The words barely left my mouth when I felt a sudden, sharp, stinging pain on my head. Of the three of us sitting on the wall, the crow chose to give me such a ‘motherless peck’ that I cried out in pain and almost fell off the wall hadn’t my mother dear stepped in to save me from insult and double injury! Am I crazy, or am I quirky? Well, your guess is as good as mine!        

Enjoy your weekend dear reader. Hopefully I’ll have something more amazing for you next week! Till then, let’s “Live and help live” (Ruskin Bond).