Memories are made of funny, droll
moments – and moments were aplenty with Leela stepping into her 80s.
We were all sitting casually in Anu’s tastefully done drawing room – each doing her (there was only one 'his' in the room) thing. Leela was glued to the TV as was her wont, Anu had eyes only for her ipad, Seetha was upping her news quotient and I was twiddling my thumbs. Our protagonist Jay was busy on his smart phone, answering self-scripted queries. Suddenly, in all earnestness, he looked up and asked 'Anu, what is my favorite color?' Did we all enjoy that – and was Jay discomfited. And Anu’s quizzical look 'you should know your favorite color' made the whole episode funnier.
The IPL matches brought out the
athleticism in us. The room itself would turn into an arena of sorts. If Bangalore started the game on the wrong foot, Leela would
sprint to her bedroom and take solace in whatever serial was airing. If Hyderabad
began fumbling and crumbling, I’d just run – any direction
was welcome!
Nikhil, Vidya's Prince of Wales, greeted his grandma first all the way from USA but his face was lost in the
indistinctness of the screen and his voice was lost in an audio glitch. We were
still sympathizing with his 'love's labor lost' when Akshay made up for it by
his studied intonation of Kannada in american accent – he was endearingly
hilarious
'Haider' (based on Hamlet) became a
'To see or not to see' experience. All of us had gathered to watch it for the 1st
or 2nd or 3rd time. But the DVD seemed to have a mind of its own. Everyone
pitched in with instructions, remedial measures and indulged in pressing of knobs
followed by a roomful of sighs. Finally after all the hits, misses, the screen came alive
(or should I say dead because of the Shakespearean bodies strewn all over). We
got involved in the proceedings but the DVD had the last word. It went blank.
We just couldn't see the final scene.
Leela was sifting through the
congratulatory cards when she chanced upon one from her heartthrob Ranveer
Singh. The uncrossed stamp in the envelop should have given the game away –
but Leela was in a trance and Vidya insisted the cover had been 'handed' over
to her by Ranveer's friend. One should have seen Leela blush a delectable pink
as she read his message courtesy our fertile imagination! I guess she knew she'd been had – but I also think that card made her day. Leela has preserved
the card – a keepsake!
The umpteen number of visits to the
vegetable and fruit markets, snack centers, dry cleaners, malls – it was
enjoyable to be part of this 'outgoing' band of women who had ample time on
their hands despite the absence of watches.
Leela felt absolutely embarrassed
to have her feet washed by her lovely daughters – part of the Puja ritual. Her
feeble protest was quickly squashed but she was absolutely awkward when pushed
into the limelight like this, knowing that 1000's of eyes were on her, watching
the washing! After Ranveer's card this was the second occasion when she turned
'pink'.
Calling Senthil - the man friday -
on all days and at any time was also a ritual of sorts. Every time the meter
tipped, our short, shorts clad stocky help would saunter in, pull the ladder, stand
on the top rung, do the needful with the meter, and put things away until the
next call - it seemed as if Senthil said 'let there be
light' and there it was!
At Eagleton (the high end golf
enclave) where we neither teed nor putted, we went visiting a relative's house. The Spanish villa style bungalow enthralled us. We went in, up the stairs, and
wanting to enter the inviting balcony, I walked right into the glass door.
Nose, specs, chin - all went into damage mode. Adding insult to injury, my
slippers decided to fall apart. That really made my/me trip!
Our piercing eyes spotted a small
lizard in one of the 2 lifts. That gave Anu the jitters (not that I wanted to
pet it) so we would always take the other lift where also we felt we saw the
critter. The lizard must have had a rocking time going up and down 6 floors -
we also rocked and swayed but due to an icky feeling.
One evening we
were talking about the sartorial habits of one of our uncles and we were trying
to outdo one another in praising him when a voice piped in. Someone in an 'I
knew him well' tone ventured', 'woh hamesha dhobi ke kapde pehenthe the!' How
we burst into peals of laughter imagining our uncle wearing ‘dhobi ke kapde’
rather than ‘istri ke kapde’. Kumar's guffaw was, of course, heard worldwide.
There would have been more
memorable moments but alas! I had to make my 'movement' back home. However if
you see me smile or see the twinkle in my eye you will know that I am reliving
one of those moments.
Glossary:
Anu - Leela's beautiful daughter - belongs to US!!
Viday - Leela's younger lovely daughter - she also belongs
to US!!
Jay - Anu's husband - loves to live in the US
Seetha - Leela's sister
Leela - The Aries lady of the house in 'Capricorn'
apartments and the birthday baby at 80
Kumar - The chief guest at Leela's wedding. A fun loving
cousin, came all the way from Hyderabad like I did.
I - Leela's sister. Also Seetha's sister.
No comments:
Post a Comment