So we end the series 'The bright and the beautiful amidst COVID times' with a post from the sole male contributor, that should leave you all mouth watering; and proving that 'For a man, stomach rules (always)!'
The last paragraph is lost on me though😋 .
Will be back soon on a different theme! Hang on there !
Upon request from my better and brighter half, here
goes!
To begin, I cannot express my bright moments
these days without confessing to a sense of unspeakable shame and some
responsibility for the plight of those who had to pack up within 4 hours reach
their homes far far away. Many died. I hope it never happens again in my
country.
On that flaky foundation of a lock down I did get
showered with many pleasant turns quite unexpectedly. Some material and some
mental and one most important saved for the end 😊.
My parents who stay nearby, with their own
daily routine, moved in with us for the lock down. That turned out to very
salutary for my tongue as my mother took over the kitchen for meals. I get all
my favourite dishes signed unmistakably by the smell and taste of her cooking. The
combinations of food I loved as a kid – keerai and vatha kozhambhu, or murungakkai
sambar and katrikai curry, and so on and my favorite pickle, thokku
mangai made by her from handpicked farm mangoes of our neighbour!
That extended to music as well. I generally
feed my ears with Hindi Bollywood and English pop-rock of my generation as
staple songs. But I had grown up on Carnatic music, of which MS Subbulakshmi
would constantly hum from our old Vinyl LP. With my parents around my ears were
nursed again with her evergreens like Bhavayami Raghumam, Sri Rangapura
Vihara, Kamakshi Suprabhatam, Kurai Onrum Illai and so on after a good 35
years. That joy which is experienced from listening to MS can only be
experienced. Thank the lock down for that!
Almost all men have their Bala (the
movie) moments, aka Balmukund Shukla, deriving pride from that lock of hair
that parts ways so stylistically when you run your fingers through it. That is,
if he still has it. I know of no man (or boy) who growing up, was not prouder
of what was on his head than inside it. Alas, the ravages of time reverses that
because he loses most of what on top even as he thinks he still has what is
inside. Insidious as is the nature of evolution, what is on top does not
completely go away, as patches stay as painful reminder of what once was. I
always mow it down with meticulous regularity to erase any memory of my curly
hair I so loved. Till the lock down happened and denied me my haircut. So now
those patches have grown wild. Irritation initially gave way to helpless
acceptance, but then as I once ran my finger through those patches (mostly at
the back where the mirror will not show) I could feel my curls again! It took
me back to my teenage days where I would run my fingers through the curl,
uncurling it only to get the curl back. That oomph feeling about myself
revived!
The best part of the lock down is of course
financial. For me, given me, the most repelling part of my living is receiving
that dreaded email that carries the credit card statement. If there is one
place where our family has always exceeded expectations, it is in the expenses.
We find new ways of spending even as we try to cope with existing ones. Never
once has a credit card bill come to my satisfaction, where I open it, and have
a smug smile on my face that says, “I gotcha”. But not this time. Ha ha ha. The
lock down has also locked our expenses. I am today as eagerly waiting for my
credit card bill as that boy who after the family lock down is waiting for his
favourite ice cream. Nothing, absolutely nothing can come in the way of that
joyful moment.
-Kimi
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