UJJWALA MAHARJAN
“Do you have any medical condition (allergies, prescribed medication, dietary or other personal considerations) we should be aware of?” read a question in a form I had filled some months ago. Tricky question, I thought, and duly replied: None. Except, I have orthodontic braces![break]
I am still not sure if having braces is actually a “medical” condition. That term (for me at least) sounds too serious. Especially in regards to my braces which has been a matter of more comical conversations (Read: butt of jokes) than serious ones.
After a year of having them though I now have the wisdom to be the first person to LOL anytime anyone has a new joke on my metallic grin. Can’t deny, there have been some funny ones.
And some of the discoveries I’ve made about braces are how it can startle, surprise and amuse children here and become great conversation starters.
Just a few days ago as I was speed walking to catch a tempo, I slipped and Splatt! Down was I on the floor (happens a lot with me). As I quickly gathered myself trying not to look embarrassed I noticed a school girl giggling at me.
I couldn’t help but smile myself but as soon as I flashed my grin, the girl went – “Abuiii” and scurried off. I was the one unabashedly giggling after that.
On tempos and microbuses too, I have children staring at my mouth. Their curious eyes ask for it so when their parents are not looking I’ll entertain them with an encore of my wide grin.
Some will look away; some will wait for another one. Some brave ones will ask, “Why do you have that in your mouth?” and there- I have a chatting companion throughout the ride.
The most interesting of these experiences was when I was at a children’s hospital. Some children undergoing treatment had to wear painful looking metal contraptions in their legs to cure their bone deformities.
I was curiously staring at the metal poles that dug deep into their skin and bones imagining how painful it must be and feeling sorry for them. As I shifted my gaze to their faces, however, I found them staring at my teeth with equal intrigue and a look that clearly read “Awww, poor girl!”
“How do you eat?” is another frequent question they ask me.
I still haven’t been able to laugh that one off. I seriously miss biting into my food rather than being a weirdo who uses a fork and a knife to have a sandwich.
I Wish I Were Still In Bed
CILLA KHATRY
I am not a morning person. Let me admit this right away. There is something about early mornings that just messes with my system. My mother, on the other hand, wakes up at four to do yoga! Imagine the pressure that puts on me. Well, not really. I still wake up at nine. (My mother will say 10 but for her any time after 9:01 is 10)
I am writing this at 2 in the morning so it’s safe to say that I don’t go to bed till the wee hours. The point I am trying to make is that though I go to bed late and wake up late, I sleep as much as any ‘normal’ person does. But that’s not a healthy habit, they say.
Well, that’s how my system has been functioning for years and I am perfectly healthy.
I am not advising you to do as I do. I am just saying it works for me. I’ve also come to realize that I am more productive during the night than in the mornings.
There is something about the silence at night that calms me down and washes me with an I-can-do-this-no-matter-how-difficult-it-seemed-during-the-day attitude.
Except when occasionally some stray cats make horrifying whiny noises that only cats are capable of making, I am pretty much content and doing my work diligently.
This habit of mine gets me in a lot of trouble when I have to wake up early though. And by early I mean as early as six. Who in the right frame of mind gets up or would want to get up at six? Anyways, sometimes you have to compromise in life. I guess.
Getting up at six feels like I’ve been summoned from hell. The minute I am out of bed till mid-day I’ll just be wishing I were still in bed.
As a result, I am cranky, snap at people for tiniest reasons, get nothing accomplished, people think I am rude and by the end of the day, I feel like I haven’t slept for ages. And some people still tell me to go to bed early and wake up early. Are you listening, some people?
As long as you get your work done and your health does not suffer, I don’t think your sleeping pattern should be guided by the sun, moon or stars.
Nor is it fair that you are (like me) termed ‘spoiled’ based on your timetable. If being an early bird is what you prefer, so be it, but if working until three in the morning and waking up late is what rocks my boat, please let it.
Sense Of Direction
NISTHA RAYAMAJHI
Most of you will agree if I said that it’s really difficult to find a given address in Kathmandu. The urban settlements in the valley have spread in such a haywire manner that you end up wasting a lot of time locating a new destination.
It was not long ago that I had to reach a wedding reception and on top of that I had to make it to the venue during the peak traffic hour of the evening. I hopped on to my cousin’s scooter and we drove off toward New Baneshwar.
On our way, I had to make a number of phone calls to my family to let them guide me to the location. My cousin was losing her patience as she had to hit the brakes and make turns at various points.
My family members handed over the phone to a relative since they could not explain the location. My relative seemed exasperated for failing to define the place to me. She described the place as opposite to the Conference hall. But my point was that there are many sides of the conference hall, so the opposite from exactly which side?
After many failed guesses, the relative asked us to just stay there and came to fetch us. That’s how we finally made it to the wedding. On reaching there, my cousin and I were told that we were not smart enough to find the place.
But, this was just one case. There are many instances, when I have heard that my friends, cousins including me have failed to locate places.
There are cases when people who guide you to a location tell you that it is in a narrow alley right beside the so and so colored house and alongside a number of cold stores.
How on earth, would that make sense? In many countries, the houses and places have a fixed number and the addresses are apt. But here, it is different not the same. Which makes me think -- do we really have a bad sense of direction or can we just blame it on the way our city has been built?
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