'Its a wrap' said Shalini, twisting the cloth expertly in the light.
'How is it different from a stole'?? I asked a tad sulkily, having already been informed condescendingly by the shop girl that I didnt know what I was buying.
'A stole is..its hard to explain, its just different from a wrap..slimmer'.
'You dont know either'! I was triumphant.
'Of course I do..these are wraps and these two are stoles', she pointed.
As this was exactly what the shopgirl had said I had to admit there was something to this wrap instinct.
'Anyway, I like the colour and I'm buying it' I said with finality.
'Yes its neat' agreed the expert.
I bought it,but with a vague feeling of injustice at heart. I could call it whatever I liked couldn't I?? I was determined to regain my self respect. As i walked homewards later, I thought I'd drop by at a neighbour's house and meet my 10 year old friend and her sister. She loved red, to the point that nobody with half an eye could miss her a kilometre off. I pressed the bell in special code style..one short and two long..it was opened carefully. 'Wow didi you got a red wrap'!! I was stunned. 'Its a stole!' I muttered, but my spirit was broken by now. The wrap cum stole was being examined with much care. Thinking I might atleast show off there, I asked where Swati, the three year old, was. 'Oh she s talking on skype' said the girl carelessly, still caught up with the red whatever. Once recovered, I had better sense than to ask if she was typing words or talking..besides I was scared the answer would give me an inferiority complex for life..
I walked toward home idly looking at the stalls. 'GenX says we love scubadiving' screamed a headline at the magazine stall. How many people go scubadiving?? Or maybe they did..I had a sudden vision of hundreds of people all scubadiving in waterproof wraps while skype-chatting.I wondered about the choice of alphabet, GenX and GenY..I could only hope they'd rush by the GenZ and get back to GenA super quick so I could start feeling superior, for a change ('oh, you dont know how a cassette player works? let ME teach you..)
I was home by now and still wearing the red thing. My visiting granduncle looked up, 'Arre nice dupatta, where you got?' I beamed. 'Its not a dupatta', I explained kindly, 'Its a wrap'.
7 comments:
Beautifully written Laasya. I read your article at the right time. I was wondering the whole day how much the kids of this generation know.I still dont know so many things. My nephews and nieces, not more than six or seven are already on facebook networking with others!! The only solace is when my mom asks me what a website is. I can relax for a while to build up the drama and carefully and clearly explain to her the basics of the internet all the while feeling the swelling happiness within me!! :)
Nice one. I guess each Gen has a whole lot of alphabets behind them to feel knowledgeable and a whole lot of alphabets after them to feel dumb. We just got to learn when to show off and when to keep mum :)
Good one though. I completely identify with it
Sometime ago I was reading a campaign from the Pune cycling community who were disappointed that Bangalore had overtaken them recently as cycling enthusiasts. The comparison included a point that Pune had more GenX riders (born before 1976) while Bangalore had a majority of GenY riders which was the prime reason for Bangalore's boom and the campaign continued from that point encouraging GenY denizen to take up cycling.
It felt good to know I'm in GenY. Also naturally I don't understand when GenX complains ;-)
Btw wrap must be a GenZ item, the wrap I know is commonly called dhoti, lungi, mundu (in Malayalam) or even a convertible ;-), it is used to wrap the lower half (not necessarily used only by men). A stole is something a pope wears, it's slim, long and of ornamental value. If it actually protects you from the elements, it's called a shawl (a garment worn in the middle ages).
@abhi- thank you!:)ha ha, i know! happy drama building
@aparna- very well put :) i guess thats true
@sathya-dhotis are quite distinct form wraps, that much i can tell you!!:)ya i know, i was debating between shawl and dupatta at the end ;)
Really well written Laasya!
Apparently the gen gap begins to widen exponentially after you are 30. I turned 30 earlier this year, and decided to visit my cousin after many years. She wished me and matter of factly added, "welcome to the next box - you will begin to feel the generation gap now on!!"
Her 5 year old son asked her a 27 inch flat screen monitor for his birthday gift - apparently he likes the quality.
I believe her now certainly!! I did not know of quality in monitors till last year, when I was actually buying my first very own laptop.
AWESOME Laasya!! :-) Very well written!! Btw, me too am completely confused between a 'wrap' and a 'stole'! For me, only a 'stole' exists! 'Wrap' for me is the american/ mexican food item!
Very well written Laas. I was almost walking along with you in the narrative, discussing what the next (whatever alphabet is suitable) generation was heading to!!!!
The other day, I too came across something really confusing. An article read: Are you in the DTR stage? On reading further, it turned out that DTR stands for Define The Relationship. Apparently, there are terms hanging around like "half boyfriend", "timepass boyfriend", "Serious boyfriend", "it's serious going-around boyfriend"......I felt a generation canyon, not a gap! Even kids (I'm forced to call them that as I already feel SO old in front of them) 4-5 yrs younger have a vocabulary, half of which is alien to me! The definition of 'generation' is shrinking on time scale.........
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