Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Her bangles jangle all the time. Bangle. Jangle. How is it possible that something she once took so much pleasure in has become such a nuisance? They didn’t even match. Oththai padai and rettai padai. ‘You must not remove them until your delivery’ her mother-in-law had said. ‘The sound of the bangles is music to the child in your belly’ another Mami had informed her. A friend tells her otherwise on gchat ‘In the olden days these paati’s made us wear them so when they sat outside the bedroom at night they could tell from the noise the bangles made if husband and wife were up to no good’ Olden days. No good. The very same no good that had brought her to this state. State. Not solid, liquid, or gaseous but strangely amorphous. Neither here nor there. ‘Unless the bangles break themselves don’t take them off. Don’t accept any more bangles from any one after this. Or coconuts’ How odd, she thought, that strangers might come and offer her a combination of bangles and coconuts. ‘Listen to good things. Don’t watch foreign television. No English movies.’ She pictures herself watching Aastha TV with her contraband coconuts. As she waddles to the kitchen she slams her hand against the wall leaving in her trail two red crescents made of glass. Oththai padai and oththai padai.

7 comments:

??! said...

Probably my pick of your writing in the last few months. Very nice.

Anonymous said...

surely an expletive should have slipped out of her mouth...after all this? Ponnu porumayin sigaramo?

Anonymous said...

well written :-) and i can especially relate to it because i had to wear 28 of these bangles myself (on *each* wrist, or should i say, 'hand'!), after my seemantham.

i guess i began to grow to like them at some point...
just one broke, btw.
:-)

Doggeroo said...

I broke lots on purpose. Was VERY annoying. Plus at work, all the ladies would know when I was in the loo because of all the noise they made. Like belling the cat.
But I was a little sad when I took them off.

Anonymous said...

Any child is boundto be musically impaired if exposed to some of the singing on Aastha.

Inba's Corner said...

Do u know how itchy it gets inside those 2-dozen-plus bangles? Eeks!

monu said...

i really liked this one, particularly the last line, Othai Padai and Othai Padai..
you write welll...i am to have my seemantham in the near the future...am so looking forward to othai padai and rettai padai
:)