Rude memories...

I was catching up with Shankari’s blogs and reading one of her earlier blogs, in which she mentions that as a child she used to collect pieces of all kinds of random things from the neighbourhood; sent me pummeling down memory lane.

I too was fond of collecting little colored stones, tiles, pebbles as a child. And yes, I also loved wearing an assortment of trinkets, those days- I loved glass bangles, paayal/ anklets, pattu paavaadai . Looking back, I guess I must’ve looked quite a sight when I first joined college in Kerala after schooling in the Middle East. In Dubai, I think nobody really noticed how one dressed- at least they never commented, and so there I was totally ignorant of what a picture I must’ve looked then.

I used to wear these frock type midis- with frills and bows, red velvet slippers with embroidery , I had long hair which I plaited on either sides, wore these huge jingly jangly earrings, and a few hair fell in tendrils on either cheeks – a la shobhana from her “kanaamarayathu” days. To add to the effect I wore Kajal on my eyes- trailing like actresses from the 60’s , and not to forget matching glass bangles…I shudder as I type these words and wont be surprised if the reader shudders too as they read these lines. Still, let me venture to say that I did not perhaps look as ghastly as the image that these words tend to evoke in the reader’s mind.

However within a year of my hostel life, my friends succeeded in sobering me down with their affectionate teasing. I stopped lengthening the kajal beyond my eyes, pushed the stray tendrils of hair behind my ears until they grew to the length of the rest of my mane, abandoned my red velvet slippers and stopped wearing glass bangles- I still have my payal tho- but they remain unonbtrusive…