Twenty- five Seven

Shopping for luggage

October 13, 2022

I am getting old and my parents are getting even older so I thought I should visit them more regularly and more frequently . This time I was planning to stay longer than my usual visit as it was my mum’s birthday. So, I needed to carry some clothes with me. Unfortunately, my overnighter was also travelling at the same time ( with Prima Donna) so I needed another bag for myself. With this in mind, I went down to buy myself a bag or piece of luggage to travel with as all the other luggage was larger than my requirement. Besides, I was travelling by train and needed a bag that could be wheeled across a platform and carried over the rail overhead bridge.

Many years ago, I had bought myself a smart, compact Samsonite wheelie in shocking purple that seemed to smile as it whirled around. I deliberately got this colour which would put off anyone else in my family from taking it on their travels. After all, they were the classic black bag types.

But I was proved wrong when Ms Papaya came into my life four years ago, and appropriated the bag: it was the perfect size for her and she just adored the colour, so before I knew it, the bag was officially hers.

A few months ago, Prima Donna began making frequent work related trips to Gujerat and she found the purple wheelie ideal for her travels. It carried just the right amount of clothes that she required, was smart enough to go by train or plane and fitted well with her corporate image.

So , this arrangement of one bag between three users worked very well till last week when Prima Donna and I discovered that we would both be travelling at exactly the same time. Naturally I needed a new bag.

Solving the problem

Now a few months ago, a huge was parcel delivered to our doorstep from Prima Donna’s company. On opening it, I found it contained a huge good sized American Tourister travel bag. I thought this was a strange ‘gift’ to receive from a company for no reason at all and was convinced it was the company’s annual stock clearance policy rather than employee welfare in play. And sure enough it was : on close inspection, I found that the zips didn’t zip , the roll out handle didn’t roll out and the bag was a bit out of shape being squashed in one position for several years. Yes ! On even closer inspection, I found that the bag was manufactured in 2012 !!!!!!

Now this made me all the more determined to return it to sender but since I couldn’t do that, I did the next best thing – take it to a dealer who could either fix it or exchange it .

Finding an American Tourister dealer on line was pointless because the closest dealer was 100 km away. The ones listed closer to home had phone numbers that didn’t exist any more.

So I went to a general bag dealer down the road who had an exchange offer going on. Predictably, my bag was unmendable so he offered another in exchange and since I didn’t like any of the bags on display I left the shop with a credit note of Rs. 400 that I could use till December on any bag that I liked.

A few weeks later, armed with the credit note, I identified a duffel bag only to find that it was not eligible for a Rs.400 discount. But it seemed to meet my requirements: small, compact, cabin sized with wheels and a strap to haul across a railway overbridge . And , since it was black and from a well known Indian brand, I thought it would find favour with my family who would definitely have more use for it than me.

But as usual I guessed wrongly and the bag was dissed as unsuitable not only for me but for the ENTIRE family. No one in the family would be caught dead using it as it was pronounced appropriate only for country bumpkins who travelled rough or for ardent trekkers.

Since no one at home qualifies for either category of traveller, I had to return it . So the next day I went back to the dealer and exchanged it for smart Victorinox which although was marked down, still cost me twice the amountI had originally paid.

And I still have the credit note in my purse.

Ciao
The night Ravan died

October 5, 2022

In many parts of India, particularly in the North, in the nine days before Dussehra (the Navratri festival) the story of Lord Ram is played out in the rustic folk play of Ram Leela. Held in large open fields, a huge stage with amateur actors puts up this huge prouction filled with lots of action and drama. On the very last day, as the sun goes down, the huge effigy of Ravana goes up in flames.

These days the Little Ones are in school but when they were younger, we used to make our own little Ravan and knock him down on Dussehra day. Over the nine days, the children would draw the Ten faces of Ravan and fix them over a body made with cardboard boxes. One Dussehra, I got the idea of making the Ravan heads with balloons instead. The Little Ones were thrilled with the idea and looked forward to popping their Ravan heads with pellets or with toothpick pricks.

They were excited when they saw the heads nodding away and waited eagerly for the day when they would ‘kill’ their Ravana.

Sadly, two nights before, there were ten loud pops that disturbed our sleep. What could it be, we wondered as we rushed to where the sound came from. Was it a trapped bat trying to find its way home?

And there we saw him: our little Ravan looking foolishly like a plain old box while the burst balloons flopped around him.

Happy Dussehra to all those celebrating.

Ciao
The resilience of the Older person

September 30, 2022
October 1st has been designated as International Day of the Older Person by the UN and this year’s theme encourages countries to draw attention to and challenge negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older persons and ageing, and to enable older persons to realize their potential.

Benjamin Franklin, the second president of the United States famously said that nothing is as certain as death and taxes. Unless it takes us unawares, most of us attain death through ageing. And ageing means growing old. But according to Ms Papaya, my young granddaughter who shares her home with two grandparents 60s and one great-grandmother over 90, one only becomes old when one reaches the ripe old age of her great grandmother. Till then, one is only growing. This is probably her way of assuring herself that the Senior citizens around her ( particularly me), are going to be around for a long time still. At least till she is old enough to fly the nest.

Now that I’m 64, I look back at the Beatle’s song “When I’m 64” which painted a rather grim picture of an older person who questions his relevance at 64 and actually laugh. Yes, when you are young, 64 seems a faraway, miserable and lonely age. A time in your life when you become old, crinkled and withered. But as this poem by Fleur Adcock reproduced below shows us, growing older does have its advantages.
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Mrs Baldwin
By Fleur Adcock

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
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Trite as it sounds, 60 is the new 40. Many people have just about retired or are ready to retire and begin their second innings at a slower less frenetic pace of work.

Speaking for myself , far from being an old person dependent on others, I can proudly say that it is not only Hubby Dear who needs me but almost my entire family looks to me, if not for assistance, at least for a laugh. Yes, older people are today more and more relevant albeit mainly as caregivers and advisers. They also provide many hilarious situations for the younger ones with their ineptitude in tackling the computer and other gadgets, their physical inadequacies like partial deafness, poor vision and agility to respond.

With shrinking populations and expensive child care options, most working parents rely on their parents, or elderly neighbours, to chip in with after-school care. I have not only looked after my grandchildren while they were infants in Pampers but even today regularly stand in for their parents at school events. And I’m thrilled that I can still crawl under the bed to find a toy that’s missing or Google facts that the Little Ones need NOW.

Skills that were once mandatory for earlier generations but are now largely forgotten are handy to repair ripped hems, darn socks, fix bulbs and do other jobs around the house that can be attended to before the ‘specialist’ comes in. The seasoned cook can rescue a flopped soufflé or make a meal out of leftovers while a mature and more experienced eye can help solve a problem that is seen from another angle. They can give advice or counsel with wisdom backing them.

Yes, older people do have less energy than their younger counterparts, they may find it difficult to adapt to changes and technology. They might plod on but they do. Unless they are infirm, they have the surprising ability to carry on regardless.

The resilience of older people was on display during the recent passing away of the Queen of England when the world saw her children marching stoically behind her coffin, attending various funeral ceremonies, publicly meeting people and acknowledging their condolences. And of course, numerous old people were spotted among the crowds that lined up to see the cortège pass by, or wait for the last glimpse of her coffin lying in State. Surely it must have been tough to travel the length and breadth of the country, walk/stand for hours and maintain a stiff upper lip in a situation that must undoubtedly be filled with deep sorrow.

Ciao, I’m off to wear my purple dress and gobble down three sausages!

Have a nice weekend.