All did Harper's Bazaar.

STUPID ME. STUPID STUPID ME!

This moment. I have to record this moment as one of the most awfully embarrassing moments in my life. At the cost of sounding extremely dramatic, I repeat- it was MORTIFYING. I had kept my magazine (one of those glossy fashion ones, you know) on my dinner table before I went out and forgot to get it back!Again: Stupid ME! When I got back, I saw my grandmother (who is willingly orthodox and happily conservative in terms of a typical iyer mami) flipping through the pages of the magazine. It was still fine when she exclaimed with raised eyebrows “3750 chappals-ka?”; “1500 lipstick-ku?” and “enna dress pottundrukka indha ponnu?” But the embarrassment was to its peak when she saw the caption “Dresses to Seduce Your Man”(!) with the elaborate details in pictures and illustrations. I expected her to react with a big scream saying “Krithi! Nee ipdi patta ponnu-nu nan ninakala” or “Enna di aachhu unakku?” and prepared a big speech to justify it in lines of “Illa Ajji, Nan andha pakkam-ellam padikka maaten” or “Ayyo! Andha book ennoda friends-odadhu!”. But much to my tough luck, my grandmom chose the sentimental-attack-path and said “Enna ma, enakku theriyum nee Bangalore-la periya padippu padikara… aana naan idha edhirpakala. Namma tamil kalacharam paarthu nadandhukko. Avalvu dhan solradhukku irukku.” With those words, she walked away to the kitchen with a completely disappointed I-cant-believe-my-krithi-has-turned-into-this-big-city-chick-or-monster look.

And the entire incident had only one effect on me. I ate one dosa less to show my grandmom I really regretted the incident. :( :(

Call for Hygiene

I do remember learning the hygiene chart when in class 2 or so which certainly and importantly included bathing. Bathing once a day, at least. I can’t say if it is because of my hygiene lessons that I bathe everyday but I do. I have to. I can't imagine the stickiness and oiliness associated with not bathing every morning. Even if I wake up at 8:30 (and class is at 8:50), I can never afford to miss my five-minute-bath. And if at all I miss it, I get all sad and irritated by the end of classes; run back to the hostel to have my bath and regain my senses. Bathing, hence, is essential and compulsory. Back home, the process gets further complicated with a typical tam routine. Sunday-na yenna thechu kulikanum (oil bath on Sundays) and thalaikku shikkai thechu kulikanum (where you wash your hair with shikkai). Though mom never enforced these two regularly, bathing still was an indispensable part of the day. Like pati (grand mom) says "saptu kulikriyo, kulichitu sapdriyo...illa sapdama-le kulikriyo, kulikradhu must!" (Whether you eat and bathe or bathe and eat or starve and bathe, bathing is a must). I never thought it was possible to do without it. However it is not that universal as it is made to sound. This is something I see in hostel. I don’t know if I should blame the schedule or the laziness these guys are drowned in. There are categories. Some of them don’t bathe at all; some bathe once a month or on special occasions (such as going out!); some bathe once a week and a very few bathe everyday. This wouldn’t have been my concern if people around don’t stink so much. And I am sure they know they do. Why on earth would anyone want to be stinking? Why? Don’t they have a conscience (Yes, I believe it is almost unethical to not bathe!) that pricks them? I wish they did. I wish things would magically change and people would start bathing everyday (or at least once in two days)...or am I just asking for too much?