Yesterday, once more

It's not every day that I wake up at 4.45 am. Well, today happened to be one of those rare days (rarer than a blue moon, I can assure you). I was required to speak to a whole lot of schoolchildren and that took me back to the time when I was a school girl myself. When I inevitably used to miss my bus as my hair took forever to plait (my parents never let me get it cut. In fact, women at beauty parlours would refuse to touch it saying it was too thick. Alas, now, it is no thicker than a rat's tail). Most days, my mother would be still combing my hair when the bus would start honking. I clearly remember this winter day when I was late again and I just put on my scarf over my hair which had been plaited the previous day. Despite all this, however, school was fun. Loads of fun. In fact, the last couple of years were the best. We had a favourite tree which we used to swing from every day. It was near the Kho Kho ground and soon it became the Kho Kho tree for us. Before our farewell, I climbed pretty high on it and made a fool of myself by posing on the tree and getting photographed. My other favourite corner was the one with the huge old pipe which we used to enter from one end and come out at the other and shout our lungs out while doing that. Then there was Manghi - our school peon - none of us can forget him. We would request him to ring the bell early and he would pretend to oblige. Every time he came in with a notice, our hearts would swell with the anticipation of another surprise holiday. We used to have a picnic each year when we used to head off to the most wonderful places like Panchghat, Triveni, Sico and Horap Forest. In Class X, we headed out of the state and that was some fun. We went to Orissa for four days during which time I spent a princely sum of Rs 25 to buy a huge hat. That's it. That was the only thing I bought from Orissa and yet I was on top of the world for days after that. Things have changed. On an ordinary weekend in Delhi, I spend anything in excess of Rs 500-Rs 1,000 yet I seldom feel happy. I miss my family, the friends I grew up with and the city I was brought up in. And Manghi.

But how can you?

Is it too big a deal if I quit my job without having got another? Frankly, to me, at this age, it isn't. I plan to study some more, get a decent job where I am able to interact with people who have a measuarble IQ and earn some big bucks. Not remain stuck in a place where I have to deal with people who think marital and martial are two words that can be used interchangeably. Or where some sub-editors have been known to ask questions like - what is load-shedding? Ahem, it's what happens to you when you join a weight-loss programme at VLCC. Or better still - It's a pubic disgrace- god, somebody forgot to put in a much-needed 'l'. But in my three-year career, I think this one's the best. There was this guy called M Rama Jois. One fine day in 2003, he was made the governor of Bihar or Jharkhand, don't remember which one. A woman at a newspaper I earlier used to work for changed the copy received from Bihar and referred to the former Supreme Court bigshot as a woman all through the copy. The next day she got a note from the editor which asked a rather simple question. Who's the ignoramus who performed the sex change operation on this man? That had the employees scared for a while till the next blooper of Jackie Chan, the great 'marital' expert came to town. Is it a wonder then that I want to quit this profession, job or no job? I guess not.
But every single person I talk to asks me, "But how can you think of doing that without another job in hand?" Today, I had a major argument with a superior and though usually I am the most calm person around, I really lost it. And screamed at him. Really SCREAMED. And am feeling much better now. But I think this has pretty much made me make up my mind. If I don't get a job within the next couple of weeks, I am going to quit anyway.

Open Wider Please

So I got braces at age 24. Yes, I feel as if my mouth is full of marbles every time I talk. And I do end up creating a lot of artificial rainfall (meaning saliva showers) whenever I open my mouth. I can have only cornflakes for breakfast (that takes me back to horrid school days when I had to have milk and cornflakes at 6 am before running out to catch the bus with only half my hair plaited, but I digress). For lunch and dinner, I can have only have rice with curds. Bad enough I don't have access to anything that requires the least bit of chewing (God, that rules out chocolates, popcorn, chips, biscuits - how am I going to survive?) and my colleagues only make it worse.
I had my superior asking me for an exclusive story - apart from your braces, he said and laughed like a donkey. I had others laugh away at me when my teeth were hurting like hell and my lips had become absolutely sore.
Over the weekend, I felt I was getting used to it and was feeling much better.
And now today, my silly colleagues tell me that my braces have gone yellow. "They (your yellow braces) are a shock," said a colleague helpfully. I said may be, it's the haldi in our food, can't help it. It will colour the plastic. I noticed it too, said anotehr, but I didin't say anything. Great, I said.
So here I am in blogland looking for a shoulder to cry on, to help me through the next 6-12 months that these devices will be in my face.
I suppose I could turn around and tell my colleagues that my braces may look yellow, but your teeth ARE yellow and a very deep shade at that. But that wouldn't be me. So I guess I will just keep shut and wait for the day when they come off. And hopefully then, I will have the last laugh, pun totally intended.