BEAUTY AND THE BEAST?!

The 3 most commonly asked questions immediately after the baby is born are:

A] Is it a boy or a girl?  

B] Is he/she ‘normal’?

C] Is he/she fair?

The first 2 are easy to answer but I cringe each time I have to reply to the third, often giving a stock answer,

“Looks just like your husband”; hearing which,

 some look happy while the rest appear a mite dejected! Some desperately ask whether the baby’s appearance is likely to change in the next few days!

Jokes apart, this oh-so-Indian obsession with skin colour and good looks is downright annoying. How boring would the world be if all were cast in the same mould of tall, slim and fair or tall, dark and handsome.

To find beauty in the mundane, the trick is to forget all stereotypes and look closely at the whole picture, with one’s heart as well as eyes.

To illustrate, look at these pics of a butterfly perched on my son’s finger and a moth on my living room floor.

Delicate, colourful, shimmering radiance

Versus

Earthy, dramatic, powerful flamboyance

Beauty or Beast??????

You decide. After all, it’s different strokes for different folk!  

LOOK UP! IT'S SHOWTIME, FOLKS

I walked out of the hospital bone tired, only to be greeted with thunder, lightning and gusts of wind. Dark clouds, pregnant with moisture, hung low in the sky. It was unnaturally dark and eerie. I looked at my watch to check the time; just 5-00 p.m.!!! 

The last time I had looked at the sky was at 7.00 a.m. when the day had dawned, bright and sunny. Thereafter, a difficult delivery, an emergency C-Section, a waiting room full of patients, inpatient rounds and a busy afternoon surgical list had kept me indoors for 10 long hours.

As I walked home, the skies opened. Within minutes, the road resembled a river and I was soaked to the bone. My spirits lifted and I had to restrain myself from dancing in the rain, my age and profession playing spoilsport! All around me, I could hear people cursing the vagaries of the Mumbai monsoons. By the time I reached home, it had stopped raining. Twilight had descended, bathing the sky and air with a translucent, pale pink hue. The world shimmered in its radiance.

Slowly the light dimmed and night fell.

I mentally applauded Nature’s theatrics and remembered a poem I had penned almost 30 years ago………

                               

KALEIDOSCOPE

The sky

                Like

A lover

                Shivering

With passion

                 Boiling

With rage

                 Spitting

Fire and hell

Wild, Wanton, Beautiful.

Her fury

                 Soon

All spent

                 She

Weeps softly

                 Tears

Each drop

                 Falls

Jewelled, Bright, Pure.

Through eyes

                 Wet

A smile

                 Peeps

Shyly pleading

                 Reconciliation

Sweet laughter

                 Breaks

Rainbow-hued, Joyous, Gay.

The sky

                 Like

A lover

                 Quivering

With joy

                 Unsurpassed

Of giving

                 Receiving

Hope and Life

Union, Bliss, Fulfillment

     

What a Drama Queen!!!!!

World Theatre at its best!

Of Babies and Baths

It's Baby Bath Time! All the newborn babies in the hospital have been lined up. Baby oil, soap, powder, fresh towels and baby clothes are kept in readiness. As the unsuspecting baby is plunged in the warm bath water, it wails in protest. However, once dried, powdered and warmly wrapped up, peace reigns. For the next two hours at least, the freshly bathed babies will nap, their shining faces scrubbed clean. The comforting smell of baby soap and powder fill the air.

I look out of the window. Today is the first rainy day of the monsoons. Since morning, it has been threatening to pour. A grey light filters through the trees. As the wind blows, it litters the compound with bits of paper, leaves and dust. A light drizzle begins spraying my face with a fine mist. Very soon, the pouring rain works its magic. The building compound is cleared of debris and the trees have been washed clean of their summer dust. The air is filled with the rich fragrance of wet mud. I take deep, rejuvenating breaths and say to myself,"It's Earth Bath Time!"