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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Right Angle



There is a baby in the house…… She is adorable.


The second she arrived the timetables of all the inmates in the house have changed drastically. Most of them sleep when she is asleep so that they can play with her when she is up and about. Moreover when she is awake she cries: so there is not even a sliver of a possibility of sleep then.
 We have adopted a new language that involves blabbering downright gibberish.
Old uncles thought to be grave and stern have tossed the tough exterior façade into the bin that came their way first and have taken to baby talk like a fish to water. We sound more like rattles that resemble men and women.

I have become the human version of a bike that goes vrooooooooooom when she wails. She likes it. We plan to ride to countries on entirely separate continents on a bike: just the two of us. I wonder where the money for petrol is going to come from.
I can give all the spies a run for their money because I have mastered the art of tip toeing round the house in the middle of the afternoon and also the gift of opening creaky old steel dressers oiled some two decades ago without eliciting even a squeak from it{three cheers for me!!!}.


The house looks like a live advertisement for baby clothes. We have learnt to watch the television with the volume somewhere in the neighbourhood of mute for the fear of waking up the bawling siren. She sleeps, she eats, and she sleeps more and eats more.
 She yells and we all scurry to attend to her whims and fancies. She expects us to understand whatever it is that she requires by just keenly listening to the change of tone in her high pitched wailing.
I guess we have great sense of pitch because somehow we do the right things and appease the little lady. She throws a tantrum as often as a fisherman throws his net. She loves staying up late in the night and keeping us awake. She hates being fed when she wants to sleep and vice versa and I am sure she thinks of us to be imbeciles because we are too slow to recognize the call for a nappy change.


It’s only been three days since she’s come home and we are already dancing to her tunes with the practised air of a ballerina to Mozart’s symphony.
Everyone has accepted her presence in their respective lives without giving a thought to the matter. It is as if her being there was just one of those many things that are meant to be.   You either adjust to the fact or you keep your complaint to yourself.
We have put on these pair of spectacles through which we view life with her in the picture.


It’s weird then that the same people find it difficult to accept a teenager into their lives without hesitation. Well…. There isn’t a lot of difference is there?
Teenagers speak a different language…. Maybe you could take the effort to understand. You might even end up liking it. Instead of baby clothes they strew their clothes around the house. They like the volume turned down when they are burning the midnight oil for an exam the next day. They eat and sleep a little more than you do and that’s because of hormones…. They are children who are still growing up……. It isn’t difficult to understand what their mood is or what is bothering them. Just pay attention to their grunts, nods and monosyllabic answers: there is a perceivable change in its quality with a change in mood. Babies wail and throw tantrums as a part of growing up. Teenagers throw tantrums and brood and are crabby as a part of growing up. They hate it when you tell them to study when they want to have fun and have fun when they want to work. Babies like deafening rattles teens like music, preferably loud. Teens too like staying up late in the night. Best part is they don’t expect you to keep them company.


They get snappy at you mostly because most of us never understand that behind the ‘I-am-big-enough-to-take-care-of-myself’ pretence all they want is a hug and the reassurance that ‘I’ll be there for you’. They feel lost because the same set of adults understood them and their various needs just a few years back The fact that they don’t anymore is unnerving to a child no longer a kid but not yet an adult.


Maybe teenagers aren’t all that difficult …. After all they are just a bunch of babies trapped in almost adult bodies who really don’t know what’s happening to them whether they are 13 or 19.


Perhaps it will help if we slightly alter the angle of the glasses we wear, to accommodate them somewhere in the picture.
 Maybe then there won’t be questions or any hesitance to accept. Maybe……….




Yours vrooming away to glory,


Falak

21 comments:

  1. Superb write up!!! Falak. You never disappoint your readers. There is always a hidden message in each blog with the subtle humour. It is so true that "teenagers are children still growing" and about the bit wherein you mentioned that it is "their hormones that affect their behaviour". I am as usual touched by your style and the way you force the readers to think.

    God bless you continuously with this skill and may you flourish in whatever you do.

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  2. Lakshmi:- Thank you very much for your continuous support! I was all ways one for the 'blame the hormones' theory;) Makes life so much less complicated right?

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  3. I so agree with aunty....u always get us thinking on things that we would not generally think abt or maybe spare the time...awesome!!!!!..love the style in which u have written this...too good man...as always u rock!!!

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  4. how can you even think so much?????
    being a teenager i completely agree with you!!!!!
    yeah i think you should continue writing this blog or else i'll think there's something missing in my perfect sunday reading list!!!!!!
    yeah you r genius!

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  5. okay ill start off by sayin tht as usual this blog is friggin genious!!! u DO make us think bout stuff we nevr wud hv...atleast i didnt think of some ...the main msg is absltly rite!!! teenagers ARE kids growing up! i LOVE how u made the comparison!!!
    Keep on writing girl!!!
    love this, as usual!! = )

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  6. dis blog post was simply gr8........
    sumthin v all cud connect to if not all but me 4 sure......
    i thot falak had vanished in the sky but gr8 goin u r bak wid a bang....
    luv d way u bring out dese small things into sumthin worthwile reading which v all mostly tend to forget abt....
    i hope u come bak fast.....not lyk dis tym kept us waitin 4 so long......................!

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  7. Really good writing...like everyone I never ever thought of how babies and teenagers are so alike and I also loved the comparison.... it was about time u posted (after nearly a month) and it was fabulous!!!

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  8. Shruti:- Buttering up aunty huh??? Thank you! Yeah there are many things in life we hardly take time to think about...... Maybe if we do give all those little things time life would become even more worthwhile.

    mac satos:- I seriously haven't figured out the "how do I think'part yet myself. heheheheheh
    If 'I' don't continue this blog my sunday, monday, tuesday and all other days would go for a toss.... So I shall continue writing for my own selfish reasons hahahahah.... How dare you only read on sundays????? ;)

    bev:- I love you. Please repeat that part about me being a genius to my bro when you meet him... I'l dedicate a post just to you........

    sparsh:- I wish I could vanish into the sky. But the mumbai skyline is already occupied by smoke and other pollutants.... I was busy waiting to be inspired..... Actually I was busy finding time to juggle studies and playing big sister..... And isn't waiting half the fun??;)Will really make an effort to be regular. Promise!

    Yohanna:- Oh sheesh! Almost a month huh? I didn't realise! I know I need to be atleast somewhat regular....... Thank you!

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  9. I wonder if Falak is a teenager or an adult who understands teenage settling in so well. The thoughts are amazing and descriptive. I was wondering if i could have your permission, Falak, to use these as comprehension passage for my students? Keep writing, keep letting your imagination go wild. We want more of this. Great work.

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  10. Joseph David:- Am I ecstatic to see your comment on this blog or what???? :D. Me??? Ahhhhh...... They tell me I am an old soul.... I wonder if what they are actually trying to say is whether I am smart for my age or that basically I am senile.... Comprehension passage for your students??????
    :-#I really don't know what to say :) {I think my head's a bit swollen now}....... Please go ahead...... Hahahaha I actually kind of like the idea of being the one responsible for torturing students with written material....Hope they don't curse me into oblivion..... Thank you for the constant encouragement....

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  11. gr8 blog..... iv always liked people with beauty and brains...... and i find you really beautiful.......

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  12. Great write up!!! People don't seem to have left anything for me to say!!very introspective i must say.. Falak...talking to you in person and reading your blog is like knowing two different people altogether...
    Great work!!

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  13. Anonymous:- Thank you for visiting the blog!

    Kalyani:- I hope what you mean is knowing two different sides of the same person...:) Thanks!

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  14. hey falak!!!!!!!!!!.........i gues m d last 1 2 read dis supecalifragilsticexpealidocious blog!!!!!!!!!....(i hope i spelt ir rite!!!!!!)....neway hope u get d meaning!!!!!.....u r seriously gonna meke me run 2 a thesaurus 2 look 4 synonyms of gr8, fabuloues, splendid, swell etc. etc....coz i don wanna b repititive!!!!!!......u rock falak!!!!!....i really like d inuendo style of writin!!!!!!!....keep it up gal....v're all der 2 support u!!!!!...luv u loads...mwaaaahhhhhh.....jovi!!!!

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  15. Jovi:- You still haven't figured out how to comment with your name! Thank you! Your support keeps me going!

    Cheryl:- Nice joke! Smart indeed! Now can we have some serious comments from you??? :p

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  16. hey!!......dis is cheryl... Bev's friend... n urs to i hope... was just playing a prank... sorry for scaring you..... c u in clg. tc

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  17. One thing both babies and teenagers have in common is that you usually have to second guess what's wrong with them when they're upset -- they give very little away. And they're a great way to help us become more patient and long suffering!

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  18. I am a fan of your writing Falak.
    Teenager & babies are very alike...I've never thought of it that way before.
    And I love the pun(?) in the name too :D

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  19. Oh & btw, I'm not a new reader, I just didn't have the sense to comment before Beverly pointed it out to me :)
    And I've a bad habit of using smileys to express myself instead of developing words for the reason. So please excuse that :P

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  20. Cheryl:- Hey! I got the joke! it was ingenious....Obviously i consider you a friend so chill relax and have fun reading the blog!

    Mary Witzl:- Hey! You bet! Most parents wait for their kids to grow out of infancy and teenhood so they can figure out what it is that goes in their head.. Then they realise it was just a practice session on how to deal patiently with mule headed adults:)

    Pro:- Thank You! I know your not a new reader. And believe me expressions talk louder and a lot more than words... So I know exactlu just why you like them;)The Pun! Oh YES! glad you noticed it!

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  21. Thank you very much.
    And am I the only who noticed the pun? Really?
    :D
    Best of luck for your exams :)

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