The festival of lights

Its called the festival of lights but most often than not its the festival of sound.At the end of a long day of continuous din of firecrackers,my eardrums are under stress as is my throbbing head not least of all my poor eyes that have been dazzled by the glare of a thousand fireworks that light up the night sky on Diwali.But there is something about this festival (that unlike all other Hindu festivals),transcends religious beliefs and becomes a common festival that everyone can indulge in.Its a time when friends will come home with boxes of sweets (diets are out of the window,all the days of keeping away from the sugars are best forgotten) and dried fruits.Its a time for indulgences and shops full of people.Houses lit up with a thousand lights and everyone rushing to fit in last minute shopping.Living in a mixed religion house we celebrate Diwali and Christmas as the only religious festivals that this house has.It a time when all our friends come over and we manage to have those unplanned festivities that are the best.When the day is over its a sad feeling as the only next big thing is Christmas and already we have friends who are leaving out of town and family with their own agendas so will it be just the husband ,the mother and me around the Christmas tree or will it all turn out fine and the house burst at the seams with guests and the kitchen kept busy with aromas and good food.....i guess I shall wait

The men in the pool

After almost four months since i started swimming I am not about to give up.Its been an uphill task or should I say a watery one,nevertheless I have made great progress in my opinion.I can now do the breadth of the pool from the shallow end and reach the other side without much ado though anyone hearing me heave and pant may just send for an ambulance and no one can blame them for it.Here I am kidding myself that all the yoga and gyming is keeping me fit and full of stamina and one lap in the pool is enough to dispel all such illusions.

But swimming is not the only thing that happens there.It is a known fact that the ratio of men to woman is heavily skewed towards men so one has to be on the look out for compulsive gawkers and the ones who are dying to start a conversation.It will invariable start with some tip on swimming and then move on to ones life history.One man has been looking at us with a great deal of intensity but hadn't plucked up the courage to talk,we knew it was a matter of time before he lost control and sure enough he broke the other day.It always starts with "how long have you been swimming",then moves on to the frequency of swimming,if I inform then that i am not a regular swimmer they need to know why (i still cant understand this great need to figure out what i do with my time).The the next question is to weather i work.I say no with a deadpan expression (no point in telling them that i was a full time working woman till recently,this can only lead to more questions).They then assume I am a housewife (I dont dispel that notion as it gives one a staid image though they do look puzzled,as I don't fit their image of nice housewife).The next question is what really throws the real conservatives.How many children do you have is met with my answer of "no children".This is a huge full stop.Most men in this country don't know how to deal with that,as do most woman (but we are dealing with men at this point).They are not sure what to do after that.Of course i could put them out of their misery by swimming to the other end but considering my privacy has been invaded I have no intentions of making it comfortable for them.Well the next thing one knows,the man is question will swim away and not come my way for a while.....perfect.Ofcourse there are the nosy ones and the one one cant get rid of who carry on the most inane conversation and will not budge until questions have been answered.These I avoid,by now well aware of all types and their swimming schedules,I am out of the pool the moment the creeps get in.Of course there are the nice gentlemen who will watch my progress,give excellent advice and clap or encourage every time i cross a milestone in my swimming progress.These are the ones to keep company with.Should I make the unfortunate mistake of sinking at the deep end these will be the one who will haul me out.In the meanwhile I swim and swim determined to conquer the stamina bit and the deep end.The next time i see water I will want to plunge then my swimming saga will be complete