Perspective No. 6 - Sketchstory No. 34 - 'Wild and Wise' by Archana Shivmani Rao

I was back in Chennai, my parents’ home for holidays. The brand-new term at the UK university had peeled off my confidence. Was it my accent or the way I dressed? I was awkward there and so, I sulked here full-time. My parents worried having failed to cheer me up.

And now, Amma said that our neighbour Sharada Akka would drop in. Uff! Why? Sharada Akka, with her too-well-oiled, centre-parted hair. Her soft dull cotton sarees pulled around her shoulders. So boring, so ordinary. But Amma’s eyes pleaded. 

After tea, Sharada Akka and I sat in our backyard cement bench. 

“When I moved from my small-town Trichy to Delhi for my M.A., I too felt out of place”

Oh, not her life history now

She continued “It was the 90s. All my new classmates teased me. Madrasi-that’s how I was called. Something came over me and one day I went to a cheap goldsmith. He pierced my ears-three on each lobe. It was the trend those days and I wanted to be like them. I bought 3 pairs of oxidized silver rings and wore them promptly. By the time, I returned to my hostel room, I found pink round swellings below each ring. The pain was unbearable. By late evening, the cute rings were completely buried inside the pus-filled swelling. I fainted calling out to my room-mate.

Did she really do that? My eyes widened.

“I woke up in the nearby clinic. The doctor had to extract the pus, remove the rings and close all the piercings by stitching them up. But I didn’t stop with that…” There was mischief in that tone.

“You went to the goldsmith again?!” I moved closer.

“Yes, I did. But not for my ears. Next weekend, I got my navel pierced”

“Whaaat?” I really fell off the bench. Sharada Akka with a navel ring!

“I was alright this time. When I entered the classroom that Monday, wearing a short top and jeans, I was ready to be awed at. Instead I heard a gang erupt with laughter “miss-goody-shoes-with-a-loony-ring”

“That must have been embarrassing” I cringed.

“Yes, but I joined them in the laughter. Laughed at my silliness. Laughed at how seriously I was taking them”.

“Then what happened?” I was visibly curious.

“Lunch break, the entire class was around me, wanting to know the details. It amused them and touched them too. I had found myself. And a group of best friends who are still present in my life. And I took off the ring, later.” 

“People would like you for what you are… not for what you could be. Just give it sometime.” She said this slowly and smiled.

I hugged the coy-looking Sharda Akka. After she left, I picked up my phone and called,“Brahma Tattoo Studio? Hii, I want to cancel my appointment please…”

                                      

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