Author: N Meera Rao
Publisher: Parity
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 115
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8188888060
Description
Why d’you have to wear that silly thing on your head, aunty? It looks atrocious, she remarked, a frown on her forehead. What’s wrong with my hat? It prevents me from ending up with a headache, which I’m sure to develop if we’re exposed to the scorching sun of Chennai, I said.
The girl was not convinced, and said in the same tone of disapproval, but aunty, how can a saree and a hat go together? It took me some time to understand her objection. Why not? I argued, looking at her. When you can have short hair and wear a salwar-kameez, which is a combination of the west and north India, and you think they’re in sync, what’s wrong with wearing a saree and a hat, a combination of south and west? I tried to reason with her. But I could see that the young lady was not convinced. Aunty, she went on, Why don’t you also wear a salwar-kameez like so many others I see here? I’m sure your hat will go very well with the outfit.
And how proper is it anyway? Because if you believe the old cliché of Madras being conservative, you miss out on all the fun. The city is changing with the times, in ways that can be both amusing and moving. Read this book if want to take a really connecting flight to Chennai, whether it is out of sheer nostalgia or plain curiousity.
Contents
FOREWORD
AUTHOR’S NOTE
1. Ma-in-Law goes Five-Star
2. Personality Training
3. Campus Cues
4. Forbidden Fruit
5. Kitties and cool Cats
6. Through a Girl’s Eyes
7. Middle-Aged Mothers
8. Help!
9. The Singles Club
10. Be my Wedding Guest
11. My Hat!
12. Choosy Beggar
13. All in the Family
14. Eternal Madras
15. Travels with Aunts
16. Working up a Lather
17. Elusive Grooms
18. The One-Gram Craze
19. Popular Culture
20. To Dye or to Live
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS