What People Say – The Behenji

Today was a strange one. A girl I’ve never talked to /knew ever existed was forced to share her grammar exercise book (yes, grammar bo-stop laughing) with me today (is her name Esther-I’m not too sure) even though she made a face at first (she grimaced actually). At the end of it all , I could tell that she was surprised at how great my company was.

Let me tell you what she looks like:
She has bland lemon shaped eyes.
A spotless oval face.
She wears her blue black boring hair in a long plait (or does everyone call it a ‘braid’ now?)
Usually, she wraps herself up in a nylon-synthetic salwar kameez (that has aunty prints, you know, the green leafy stuff).
She loves a plain dupatta (or for non-understanders, a scarf) across her neck…Like a throat band.

Tanisha Sharma — This is what I aim to be

She hated the fact that she was asked by the Prof to remove herself from her row of viking-pixie friends and sit next to the loudest mouth in town (c’est moi).What was worse for her, was that her personal belonging-the grammar book, was going to be ‘touched’ by me and therefore soiled forever, bringing down the standards of every item that it came in contact with. The book was shifted away every time I tried to reach for it. Damn.

She grimaced.

What a ‘cartoon’, as they say in the capital. They also say “thappar maaroongi” out of affection. That sounds like a threat as it translates into something like “Ima slap you!”. Oh and “maar hi daalogey” is another one. It’s a compliment. In english, it means “you’re just going to kill me” (with what? Your good looks? Your amazing cooking? The mind boggles). The capital drips with violent love. If we slap you it means we love you, and to kill you-well you’ll just have to be amazing at something.

Soon after this person (whom I’m secretly jealous of, because she’s 10 times more behenji than I am) sits next to me, with her legs hanging over one side of her chair. In my world, you either sit like that when you’re at the table when the food’s a drag, or you’re ready to leave at any given moment.

Now, within seconds after I had apologized and thanked her a million times (the best way to annoy someone), I then concentrated on getting my hands on her book (that’s all I really want). She miraculously realizes that I’m a wonderful person (heh) that she is now friends with (mmm) and decides to make ‘hanging out plans’ with me ( what’s with my english).

What’s the plan?

To join her and her pals (or pal-only the viking one was interested) for an organized picnic for everyone in Arts. Did you just fall off your chair when you read the word ‘picnic’?
If you didn’t, then you’re a convent educated dearie who has ‘sweet sweet’ memories of school outings, where you’d be allowed to share a field with boys from your ‘brother school’. Well, in this case, it’s actually different, okay. There are no males in the scene at all. “If boys are there, then problems are there.” And it’s a little iffy , because the venue is called ‘Worlds of Wonder’. Hey at least it’s not ‘Wet n Wild resort’ (Gurgaon). That would have been horrible. What a horrible name. Shame on those people.

My new best friend (Esther?…Pallavi?….Jane?) told me that I should go and have fun in life, instead of just sitting around and doing nothing……Holy smokes she knows me too well, and how!

If I don’t go, I’m not a ‘fun’ person and definitely repudiate the title and position I have achieved in my life. That of a ‘Behenji’. If I do go, the people who have been forced to be my friends will have a great excuse to run away. That too, with speed.

Anyway, I caught this music video of some band of boys in Iran. It makes me laugh and lets me jive. Please tell me what you think about it, and which of the 4 is the hottest according to you. My pick is the camel.
Oh but it is funny. Good job. Note how the woman’s hand is covered in a glove…Sigh.

I’m currently reading two books at the same time. I’m not sure if it’s a common thing- or normal even, but it sure does make things rather thrilling. Especially when it’s
4am and you’ve got the story lines confused. It just adds a little spice to something that’s already so beautiful…Like some cutting cinnamon with a dash of cardamom to a sweet vanilla cupcake. People have told me that the habit is unhealthy for someone who wants to be a full-time writer. “How can you be a writer if you can’t focus on one story or a book?” They ask without wanting a thoughtful answer. I have also been told that such a thing will only further exacerbate my mild attention deficit disorder.

Sometimes it’s nice to have a double sided approach. By reading two completely different books, won’t I get a more varied perspective on life and the world? I guess it’s” commendable” for a literature student to read a classic and the modern equivalent of it in some graphic novel, since it would heighten his/her understanding of the text and the times, however that person would be slightly overloading his/her brain with the same information in two different forms. It’s like watching these two old movie clips :

These two movies have the same plot, and were made in the same year:

I found something more worthwhile though…When I watched the trailer of this film, it reminded me of another movie with a similar title:

The Funny-Light version:

The Heart Wrenching Depressive one:

So you see two similar types of stories which have been coloured in by totally different shades. I would love to wrap myself in a thin old woolly blanket with chewy chips to watch these two together one day-pausing one movie half way, to do the same with the other and resume back to it again. Yes that would be extremely nerve racking for the person who happens to join me for the session, but I think it’ll be an experiment worth the grouchy company.