Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ammani's Challenge - 4 - COUGH SYRUP
They had been cranky since morning… While she was packing they kept taking things out driving her up the wall… While she prepared food for the trip - for her husband, parattas and dry aloo subji, for her in laws, Uppuma and Puliyogere, for them, all kind of boiled vegetables and raagi kanji and some curd rice, in case they insisted on ‘thayirmammu’… For her? She’d eat whatever was left over after serving them all… Anyway, she never felt hungry while on a train journey… May be due to the stress of bearing all tantrums of the young and the old… But they were making her go crazy… She had some more washing to do… some more ironing some more packing… some more arrangements with the doodhwallah, the paperwallah and the maid… CRASH! They had broken something…MADE OF GLASS! In a panic, she ran to the hall to see her kids looking guilty and surrounded by hundreds of pieces of her china vase… She hauled them to a safe part of the floor and whacked them both which set them off howling on top of their voices…She lifted the little one onto her waist and dragged the other by hand into her room. She switched on the TV and told them not stir from the bed. Then she opened the cupboard and took out a bottle of Phenargan. Two teaspoons each, she fed them… That’ll keep them quiet for the next two hours, till I finish my work, she thought wearily. With a guilty glance at her kids, she went back to her chores. I must remember to pack the bottle for the journey, she told herself resignedly.
Ammani's Challenge - 3 CREDIT CARDS
What are credit cards made of?
What are credit cards made of?
Compulsive yearning and rashness in spending,
That’s what these cards are made of.
What are credit cards made of?
What are credit cards made of?
Offers and guiles and ‘plasticky’ wiles,
And such are credit cards made of.
What are spouse cards made of?
What are spouse cards made of?
Shopping that rocks and statement that shocks,
And such are credit cards made of!
What are credit cards made of?
Compulsive yearning and rashness in spending,
That’s what these cards are made of.
What are credit cards made of?
What are credit cards made of?
Offers and guiles and ‘plasticky’ wiles,
And such are credit cards made of.
What are spouse cards made of?
What are spouse cards made of?
Shopping that rocks and statement that shocks,
And such are credit cards made of!
Ammani's Challenge - 2 - SOCKS
She hated folding clothes. She hated washing them in the first place. Back home there was a maid to do all that. She had never touched anyone else’s clothing before. Marriage had transformed all that. Now she was expected to collect everyone’s soiled clothes in the morning from their rooms and put them in the washing machine. The maid would dry it and later in the evenings dump them on her bed. It was her duty to fold them all and leave neat bundles of everyone’s undergarments and towels and other clothes back in their rooms. She hated touching others clothes… the worst ordeal was folding the socks… She was expected to lay them flat, one over the other- toes aligned - and roll them up and tuck them into the opening of one so the pairs won’t be lost…the way Manni ( sister- in – law) had shown her…the way Manni had been doing it for years, till there was a younger Maatuponnu( DIL) at home to do it…
Today, in a fit of frustration, she just tied each of the pairs together… Well they won’t be separated…that’s what all these acrobatics were about…wasn’t it?
Today, in a fit of frustration, she just tied each of the pairs together… Well they won’t be separated…that’s what all these acrobatics were about…wasn’t it?
Ammani's Challenge - 1 CURRY
Take 1 – CRISIS
Anita sniffed and banged her fist on the dining table. She stared in anger and frustration at the print outs spread on the table with mounds of vegetables…
It was bad enough that she scarcely knew any cooking. Now she was expected to cook recipes he had downloaded from Google… curries whose names she had not even heard… Now Aakakkrakaya and Sanaga Pappu curry sounded so formidable. So did Bachala Koora, Ala Badun, Gova Mallung and Bonchi… She did not know yet that translated into Indian terms these were but day to day dishes her mother made.
Pity I love him so much that I am ready to traumatize myself… His parents had better approve of me, she thought mutinously… She was not one for currying favours, but he was insistent that they woo his parents, so that their living together could be legalized into holy matrimony… with their blessings!
With a palpitating heart she set about with the curries.
Take 2 - PHONIES
Give one of that, that, that and that! She said pointing to the 1 rupee sachets of detergents… Why don’t you take 4 pieces of one instead of … She shook her head frantically and I shrugged before handing her the 4 different sachets. Customer is the king…or queen… even if she is a chit of a maid servant.
She is a regular at my shop. I know she works for those software couple in that two bedroom apartment in Gangotri Block. She is from their native village and her knowledge of Hindi is minimal. No wonder, for she is not allowed to mingle with people in the apartments, she confided to me. We had developed a rapport since we were from the same state.
She came two days later. She wanted onion and potatoes. As I handed her the covers, I saw it… a purplish brown weal stretching from her elbow to her wrist. What happened? I asked. My mistake, she said woodenly. I spilled curry on Sir’s white T shirt when I was serving them…Madam was very angry…and beat me… Her eyes brimmed over. She wiped off the tears with the back of her hand and sniffed.
You know, she said pointing to the chain of small sachets of detergents. None of these soaps work… They just tell lies on the TV.
Anita sniffed and banged her fist on the dining table. She stared in anger and frustration at the print outs spread on the table with mounds of vegetables…
It was bad enough that she scarcely knew any cooking. Now she was expected to cook recipes he had downloaded from Google… curries whose names she had not even heard… Now Aakakkrakaya and Sanaga Pappu curry sounded so formidable. So did Bachala Koora, Ala Badun, Gova Mallung and Bonchi… She did not know yet that translated into Indian terms these were but day to day dishes her mother made.
Pity I love him so much that I am ready to traumatize myself… His parents had better approve of me, she thought mutinously… She was not one for currying favours, but he was insistent that they woo his parents, so that their living together could be legalized into holy matrimony… with their blessings!
With a palpitating heart she set about with the curries.
Take 2 - PHONIES
Give one of that, that, that and that! She said pointing to the 1 rupee sachets of detergents… Why don’t you take 4 pieces of one instead of … She shook her head frantically and I shrugged before handing her the 4 different sachets. Customer is the king…or queen… even if she is a chit of a maid servant.
She is a regular at my shop. I know she works for those software couple in that two bedroom apartment in Gangotri Block. She is from their native village and her knowledge of Hindi is minimal. No wonder, for she is not allowed to mingle with people in the apartments, she confided to me. We had developed a rapport since we were from the same state.
She came two days later. She wanted onion and potatoes. As I handed her the covers, I saw it… a purplish brown weal stretching from her elbow to her wrist. What happened? I asked. My mistake, she said woodenly. I spilled curry on Sir’s white T shirt when I was serving them…Madam was very angry…and beat me… Her eyes brimmed over. She wiped off the tears with the back of her hand and sniffed.
You know, she said pointing to the chain of small sachets of detergents. None of these soaps work… They just tell lies on the TV.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
