Short ‘N’ Snappy

– (Wo)MMM

Goodbye, old friends

The Woman from Madras Musings, much like Mary’s little lamb, likes to stick to a habitual route for her daily commute. Chief among the reasons are two sights along the way that she delights in looking upon. One is a graffiti in the environs of Adyar. It adorns the wall of a small, independent house tucked away near a turning, and features a rather impish young man winking at onlookers. It’s a rather clever piece of art, for a leafy plant growing behind the compound wall transforms into the youth’s afro. The chap’s hairdo changes with the seasons – in spring and summer, the fellow sports a shockingly unruly mane of green; he grows cheerfully bald as the rains progress, no doubt confident that he will regain his crown as he does every year. The other sight is that of a small statue of an old monk balanced carefully on an apartment ledge facing a street, somewhere near RA Puram. It is about the size of a hand, but striking nevertheless – the features are so exquisite that (Wo)MMM can almost trick herself into believing that she is looking at a very tiny saint lost in meditation. He is not always found in the same position either – sometimes he faces the street and sometimes, he gazes at a small temple at the corner of the lane. The saint sits there night and day, in rain and sun, absorbed in contemplation. (Wo)MMM has, over the years, grown to consider as friends both the young man and the saint. So she is rather sad to report that she has, in recent times, had to bid them both goodbye.

The saint is now nowhere to be seen, not since the December showers. (Wo)MMM had rather hoped that he had been given shelter from the rain and that he would re-appear on the ledge soon enough; but alas, no such luck so far. As for the young man, (Wo)MMM discovered last week that the leafy plant has been cleared away from behind the compound wall. His beautiful, leafy wig gone, the young man wink doesn’t look quite as impish; he charms no longer. There are some who are happy at this turn of events, though – namely, the fellow passengers who have been attempting to persuade a change of route for quite some time now. (Wo)MMM is now on the lookout for new sights along the new route.

Q & Hey!

The Woman from Madras Musings was rather enjoying an auto ride to the Eternals’ when she realized she was about 10 bucks short of the fare. A phone call was made to the Mater in the hope of acquiring said funds, but (Wo)MMM soon found herself trapped in a numbing interrogation. In hindsight, it was her fault really, to expect unquestioning aid when the Indian spirit is so fond of cross-examination at any given time. (Wo)MMM had hardly greeted the Mater when she was asked why there seemed to be a great deal of wind about her; on learning that she was in an auto, she was asked where the better half was, and besides, what about the pink buses? Had she tried riding the pink buses? (Wo)MMM was forced to admit that she had not, whereupon she was forcibly regaled with the story of an acquaintance who once rode a pink bus and had reported that she’d rather liked it at the time. (Wo)MMM tried, once again, to bring up the topic of her auto fare, but the words were hardly out of her mouth when the topic swung back to the better half. Where was he? Left early for work? How come? And what about (Wo)MMM? Why hadn’t she woken up early? What had she been up to last night? That (Wo)MMM had stayed up late working was met with a snort of incredulity. Why didn’t she have auto fare, anyway? What about Google Pay and the like? Why on earth was she dragging her feet on setting those up in her phone? (Wo)MMM learned that her cousin – younger at that, by a full year – had not only set it up on her phone but had done it for her mother, too. Speaking of which, could she have (Wo)MMM’s old phone if she was not using it? (Wo)MMM asked why, to which the Mater told her not to endlessly question people when they ask for help and rung off.

The auto had reached the Eternals’ by this time. Swinging an arm around his seat, the auto driver turned back to (Wo)MMM, visibly moved by the recent ordeal she had been put through. In a gentlemanly gesture, he insisted on foregoing the ten rupees that (Wo)MMM was in deficit of, and earnestly wished her the best of the day ahead before the auto trundled away.

An apple a day

The Woman from Madras Musings wasn’t always so distrustful, if you can believe it. Once, she listened to her elders believing them to be her betters. A childhood incident – a story for another day – brought the realization that most adults approximate their way through life and that their recommendations aren’t always a sensible course. That it is prudent to seek second opinions or do one’s own research was proven yet again during a recent incident.

Last week, (Wo)MMM and the better half found themselves in need of a medical consultation; there were a few questions that needed addressing, and (Wo)MMM felt it was better to talk to a professional than gather answers from the internet. It so happened that an elderly acquaintance got wind of the situation and enthusiastically recommended a doctor who he assured was the best in the business. In fact, he went ahead and got his secretary to book an appointment for us. And that is how (Wo)MMM and the better half found themselves across the table from a new doctor the very next day. By the end of the fifteen-minute consult, (Wo)MMM – who had simply wanted some sound medical advice – was handed an appallingly long prescription which she was told to hand over to the pharmacy on premises. It included, among other things, a course of antibiotics to ‘flush out’ germs. (Wo)MMM was also strongly encouraged to acquiesce to an invasive surgery (“just outpatient – it will not require staying overnight at the hospital…”) to help rule out a condition that may “complicate matters later”. (Wo)MMM is rather proud to say that she kept a straight face through all of this. She managed to remain quite calm until she spied the exit, whereupon she hightailed it out of the joint, better half in tow.

What about the questions, you ask? (Wo)MMM ended up reaching out to the family doctor. Though not a specialist in the field, he understood where (Wo)MMM was coming from and furnished the sound medical advice she needed – vitamin supplements, increased water consumption and eight hours of sleep. May his tribe increase.

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