Interlocked! : Continued observations in the land I live in

It was at my home some summers ago that my aunt (one of many of the same legion) came up to me, and by way of saying hello, held my hand. And proceeded to keep it held. the hand in question froze, and i fought every impulse to jerk it away. After a very long time, my hand, and the attached arm were freed! One is often at a loss when presented with this alien way of familiarity. A hug is normal, a handshake is acceptable too, but what are we signifying by holding hands like reunited lovers strolling on a beach?

Quite recently, after returning from a tiring wedding, we were simply sitting at the groom's place. Suddenly, a 2 tom weight plops on me. a grand- aunt, using me as a bye-pass to lean over. Acceptable, old age, et cetera. But why must she bloody grip my entire arm while leaning all over me?

I've been brought up in a non touchy way, and the last time i hugged my mother was when i had an amazingly scary bout of fever a year back. And i think with dad, it mustv been atleast 2 years back. and in school too, touching was limited to handshakes, boyfriends, and non european sterile mmwhas.

Thus, the touch culture in Kerala shocks me. By this, i do not condemn the concept of touching. But why are we prolonged-touching people. relative strangers. a pat on the back is a good way to meet a distant neice (me!). Spare me the the weird hand holding ceremony, goes the cry around the inner mind. (must-not-channel-PGW!!)

Another aspect of touching is the public man touching man scene. Befor eyou roll ur eyes and frame me as anti-gay, read on. There are 2 types of touchin in men that i have seen. Public : random ppl you dont know. the kind of person you see when u stare out the bus window. they sit on park benches, stand at bus stops and wear atrociously tight denim in outrageously sickening hues. Oh! and they grow one nail long- this is optional. and did i mention the hair color? In kerala, we get to see a lot of non gay touching. the next section proves it :
These are 2 guys i know to be absolutely straight. why on earth are they holding hands with fingers interlocked?! i just dont get it. no, they dont share an emotional friendship. the tall one barely talks for heavens sake. perhaps the HH was initiated by one party and the other was forced to follow suite. i wouldnt know. these are the kind of people who casually touch other men while seateed i a classroom, cafe, etc. nothing wrog in hugging the guy next to u on the bench. let your fingers caress his plump shoulders. aaaaaaaa.

I am at a loss. i hae not been able to dwelve into the psyche weird-malayali subsect of males and females. what makes them tick. rather Pick (my arm, and other arms in general)??

Flower Power : The importance of flora in marriages




Every self respecting (Malayali Hindu female) person pops off to a marriage with jasmine flowers in her hair. This often leads to many complex situations


flower forage

it isnt technically a forage. the actual foraging is probably done by some poor laborer chappie in Tamil Nadu . But lets not get into that here.

Here, above,you see how the ppl in yellow have flowers already. the other is taking the flowers out from a lotus (?) leaf in a plastic bag. the 4th person in the back is dejected as her mom didnt pack the necessary hair clip for fastening the flowers.




Flower Flower Everywhere

on the stage, in the hair. on lamps.around your neck!!








Female perspective : by now, your necklace hook and flowers have developed and immense passion for each other and are seriously considering a threesome with your hair.














Final phase

the ruddy things all tangled up with the saree,
jewellery and hair. By now, all you want to do is to rip it all off.

(the person in blue is not moving her hands so that her bangles jingle)

Bangles.

the more the merrier seems to be the motto.
Here you see the basic glass variety, flanked by golden ones. This went out of use ages ago, as ppl prefer less destructible material. and more xcope for glitter and gloss




They lead to many useful distractions. like here, where the person in blue moves her arm about for the audiovisual effect of 30+ bangles sayin hello to each other

69

is my waitlist rank at iitK 4 their MBA program.