Skip to main content

First time!

Just on the brink of nineteen, it was her first time. It just had to be special. So she stood grumpy in front of her cupboard flipping random clothes on her bed.

"That's a nice pile of kurtas there," said her mom as she entered the room.

"They are all useless," she lamented.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Something nice... Something right for today... Something that connects me to my culture and country."

"I see... C'mon then... " her mom said.

Her mom opened up her own cupboard wide for her. It was full of sarees, colourful and well organised. She smiled and reached out for one in her favourite Indigo.

"Aah," her mom said. "Perfect that you chose this."

"Why?"

"Because this is an Ajrakh print saree, hand printed on the soils of Kutch, soaked in the waters of the arid lands and covered in patterns with natural dyes. What else will connect you more to your culture and country?"

Happy and satisfied, she left draped in her mother's love after few minutes. The seething heat and long queue didn't deter her and she patiently waited for her turn to get inked. Finally she stood at the booth, having ID verification done and extending the index finger of her left hand.

The guy was over enthusiastic about the job he had just landed. She was his first "customer" you see. He had just replaced a guy who had been on work since the morning.

And then he meticulously started painting her finger with the tiny ink brush and kept progressing down the finger. She wondered what he was up to. He probably would have painted the whole finger had her mom, who was right behind her, not exclaimed "itna?" She watched amused as everyone around her started laughing including the guy and her mother .

All things done, she stood behind the selfie booth, holding the saree pallu. Her mom clicked her pic and smiled and said, "Well, the flip side of this weird inking is that anyone can now make it out from a distance that you have fulfilled your duty to the nation." She beamed as she flashed her overtly inked finger.


© Nishtha Khurana, 2018. All rights reserved. The text as well as the pictures are both subject to copyright and are the property of the author. Please do not copy or reproduce without permission.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Perfect Outfit

Her 4-year old loved imagining stories. His favourites included the ones in the jungle – with tigers and deer and parrots and peacocks. So, when it came to celebrating his birthday, she went looking for the perfect outfit. She looked on all online shops and couldn’t find anything that felt just right. The best she could manage was a leopard print dress. That wouldn’t do. So, she went hopping all the malls and markets, scanning all the shops. There was barely any improvement in the search as the only other option she came across was a zebra print shirt. More searches here and there, and she moved over to bird prints or butterflies. The dresses and shirts, they all looked alike.  What to do? The birthday celebration was just round the corner; and her extensive search yielded no result. Even the husband was fed-up of her obsession to get just the perfect outfit. “Just go for the leopard print – it’s in these days, I hear,” he said as he shook her head. She continued languishing in he
Post a Comment
Read more

The Patachitra

"Her hands have magic", said everyone who saw her wield a brush. She had learnt the art of Patachitra as a kid. It was now paying off as she managed to make some money from it to fund her higher education. Her dad had left for his heavenly abode when she was appearing for her boards. Her mom was able to make only enough money to be able to send her younger siblings, a boy and a girl to school. She started doing odd painting work locally to make money for her college fees. Soon, she managed to find a lady who gave her an order to paint on a sarees. That day she widened her horizon and started taking independent works. Then came that "online" order which broke her back. A lady gave an order to paint a pic of Srinath ji on a silk saree. "Please make my Srinathji blue instead of black." The picture shared was beautiful. And she was confident that she would be able to make it. Moreover, the amount she was offered was good so she accepted. She borrowed money
Post a Comment
Read more

Rakhi Gift!

Kolkata calling! That was 7 years ago when he had just passed college. He had landed a job there. He only came home twice every year after that – Holi and Diwali! Last year he skipped Diwali and spent a good 4 weeks in December and January. After all it was his only sister’s wedding. The Holi then was bland so he skipped Holi too this year. But that day his sister had called and asked him if he could come on Rakhi this time.  He liked the idea and did the needful… Applied for leave, worked extra hours to complete assignments and was almost done when he remembered, “Rakhi ka gift? Gift toh liya hi nahin!” So, he left office early the next day and wandered around in Gariahat Market. He had no idea what he could buy for her, especially now that she was a new bride.  He walked aimlessly looking at all the wares when he almost passed a shop window. He stepped back to have a better look and saw this beautiful Khadi Cotton saree with Kites woven on it. He smiled! Immediately flashes
Post a Comment
Read more