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This was a passage I had written back in Mangalore... home-bound thanks to the rains and left with nothing to do but voice my two-bit opinion on anything that caught my fancy.~~~
There has been a steady patter of rain for the past two days, the scenery could put a rain-forest to shame and people and places alike are water-logged.
An ideal romantic setting, except for the teensy-tinsy fact that you need an equally love- struck partner to get the best out of it!! All I get is commiserating smiles from the help and the occasional wide-eyed look from a passer-by (yep, after all these years, a Mumbaiite is still something akin to an exotic iguana in the local zoo!). Adding to my woes are the happily croaking thunder-frogs.....one sits dolefully outside the front porch eyeing me suspiciously. Maybe he’s heard the whole ‘kiss-a-frog and-*KABLOOM*-Knight-in-gleaming-tinfoil' story. That would spice things up a bit but since I am already considered a bit of a nut, I think I shall refrain from scandalising the villagers.
Which got me thinking on a totally different tangent: Fairy-Tales and the unrealistic expectations they fill your head with. My idealistic friends and I have grown up on a steady yet sugary diet of far, far-away tales. A time when chivalrous princes walked the earth, fair maidens (who more often than not, had gotten a raw deal) suddenly found the tides changing and the last chapter/reel almost always ended with the handsome couple waving benevolently at a cheering country crowd, whose highlight of the day was tossing flower petals at the passing procession. Over bowls of buttery popcorn, we ooh-ed and aah-ed and were impatient to be swept off our feet.
Time went by and we encountered more than our fair share of warty-frogs, fire-breathing dragons and the occasional crafty side-kick. The rose-coloured glasses were knocked off (or so we claimed). We decided to tuck our fancy ideals up in the high-tower where they belonged and settle for something lukewarm.
But the problem with an over-fertile imagination and a 'never-say-die' optimism is that the high-tower rarely stays locked for long. A heart-warming book, a classic movie with just-the-right-level of mushiness, a quirky quote that sticks like chewing-gum or a song with all the right words…..anything and everything acts like a trigger. The trumpet sounds and the walls of Jericho are down again. (Thank you, Mr.Gable!!)
And it’s a good thing, mushy and idealistic it may be, but that’s great….fantastic even. It shows that despite the bad twists and the bouts of rotten luck, we can’t let go of our hopes and dreams. We all want a happy ending and are willing to wait. And if we have to meet our fair-share of villains along the way, then so be it. After all, which self-respecting fairy-tale would be complete without the evil cackle of a nasty witch!!!
An ideal romantic setting, except for the teensy-tinsy fact that you need an equally love- struck partner to get the best out of it!! All I get is commiserating smiles from the help and the occasional wide-eyed look from a passer-by (yep, after all these years, a Mumbaiite is still something akin to an exotic iguana in the local zoo!). Adding to my woes are the happily croaking thunder-frogs.....one sits dolefully outside the front porch eyeing me suspiciously. Maybe he’s heard the whole ‘kiss-a-frog and-*KABLOOM*-Knight-in-gleaming-tinfoil' story. That would spice things up a bit but since I am already considered a bit of a nut, I think I shall refrain from scandalising the villagers.
Which got me thinking on a totally different tangent: Fairy-Tales and the unrealistic expectations they fill your head with. My idealistic friends and I have grown up on a steady yet sugary diet of far, far-away tales. A time when chivalrous princes walked the earth, fair maidens (who more often than not, had gotten a raw deal) suddenly found the tides changing and the last chapter/reel almost always ended with the handsome couple waving benevolently at a cheering country crowd, whose highlight of the day was tossing flower petals at the passing procession. Over bowls of buttery popcorn, we ooh-ed and aah-ed and were impatient to be swept off our feet.
Time went by and we encountered more than our fair share of warty-frogs, fire-breathing dragons and the occasional crafty side-kick. The rose-coloured glasses were knocked off (or so we claimed). We decided to tuck our fancy ideals up in the high-tower where they belonged and settle for something lukewarm.
But the problem with an over-fertile imagination and a 'never-say-die' optimism is that the high-tower rarely stays locked for long. A heart-warming book, a classic movie with just-the-right-level of mushiness, a quirky quote that sticks like chewing-gum or a song with all the right words…..anything and everything acts like a trigger. The trumpet sounds and the walls of Jericho are down again. (Thank you, Mr.Gable!!)
And it’s a good thing, mushy and idealistic it may be, but that’s great….fantastic even. It shows that despite the bad twists and the bouts of rotten luck, we can’t let go of our hopes and dreams. We all want a happy ending and are willing to wait. And if we have to meet our fair-share of villains along the way, then so be it. After all, which self-respecting fairy-tale would be complete without the evil cackle of a nasty witch!!!
3 comments:
The true story of our lives! Next time you are at your native place, please catch a few frogs for me too. They say that one must kiss a few frogs to find her prince :)
Cheers!
Sigh! That's us! Dreams of Prince Charming and smooches from Kermit! Must say though, Mangy does u good as a writer.
The mangy-frogs have gotten wise to our wily ways!! :) But thx for the comments, Ladies....may your respective knights be clankin' just around the corner!!
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