The Single strand of white hair

I have always had that single white strand of hair right in the middle of my head. I have paraded it with pride calling it ‘lady luck’(courtesy: my well informed friends).

Well lately I have this strange anxiety of finding more ‘lady lucks’ on my head… Gosh! I ve approx 20 months left to hit the turbulent 30s which is the strong reason for all my fashion adventures lately.

My mom’s words echo in my head.. This is sort of a normal conversation that used to happen at my home 10 years back:

Mom: “Yet again you are wearing your favorite green cotton churidar!? The cloth has started coming off the way you wash and wear it again and again!”

Me: ”Mom this is what I like.”

Mom: ”why don’t you wear your earrings with danglers?”

Me: “Mom keeping things subtle is in. I like these studs.”

Mom: “I cant even see your bindi. Whats the point in wearing something so tiny?”

Me: …silence….

Mom: “You wear something nice and visible and stop repeating this dress of yours! Am tired of seeing you in this!”

Me: ….silence….

Mom: “ I know you have no intention of listening to your mother…! Wait I will be around when u hit your 30s, I ll show u how you would walk around in skirts, dangling earrings, loud bindis etc.. Mark my word..”

Me: Sighs loud enough to irritate mom more…

Gosh! That was then and now am kind of desperate trying everything new in terms of dress/ earring (believe me its danglers, loud too!)/sandals/ skirts…. Mom you gotta be a super hero to ve told me all those things so long ago!

But as they say its better late than never!

So my dear lucky ‘single strand of white hair’, I choose to age with élan...

Bring it on, I can handle this J

By destiny do we meet…

We might be headed to a local supermarket and just 2 miles before reaching the destination, an afterthought might drive us instead to a small grocery shop nearby; where we might end up smiling at complete strangers or passing complements at a lil baby whose path might or might not cross ours’ later. What I meant is that it is those twists and turns, the last minute deviations that get us to meet people whom we do on the streets/shops/malls etc. etc. Why should we miss a chance to greet and smile at them? Maybe it’s our last chance to catch up with them.

I was thrilled when initially everybody around the streets of NY would shoot the question “How are you doing today?” at me.. Initially I used to stop, turn, answer and even asked the question back only to see that the person has already gone 15 yards away from me or has picked up the cell phone and is chatting away to glory. So now, I just answer ‘Thank you’ and move on and have learned to feel contended with the fact that someone cared to ask!

I just think about it as an opportunity to having been able to strike a brief conversation with a complete stranger whose path crossed mine during that fateful moment; that I call destiny.