Silly Me

It so happened that I was sitting on Marine drive. For those socially unaware people, Marine drive is the place seen in most movies shot in Mumbai. One of the very FEW good places in Mumbai to visit. Actually, the ONLY good place to visit in Mumbai.

Coming back to the topic and not wasting another post on how filthy and smutty Mumbai is, I overheard this little girl ask her mom:

“Mom, why is it called Dandi March?”

“Beta, because Gandhiji walked all the miles with a stick in his hand”, her mom replied.

The little girl seemed to buy that answer while I smiled within me wondering how gullible this kid was. Or was it the conviction in her mom’s voice. (Or did her mom really think that ‘Dandi March’ has been named after a stick?)

Maybe, it was the conviction. What was I so amazed about? My mom had managed to pull the wool over my eye for a long time herself.

I remember admiring myself in the mirror as a kid (Yeah! Self obsession started at a very young age), and asking my Mom, “Mom, when did I get glasses?”

“It came free when you were born”, my mom said.
“Wow, God is so generous. He parceled me and my glasses at the same cost, with no extra charges.” I thought to myself.

Another time, when I had just learned the art of lying, I told my mom, “I have completed my home-work for the day. Can I please go and play outside with my friends now?”

“Since when have you started lying to me”, my mom yelled. Her voice loud enough to scare my friends waiting outside.

“How did you know I was lying”, I inquired. I was curious to know as it took a lot of skill for me to come up with that false.

“When you lie to your mom, your ears move”, she said with confidence shimmering in every word.

Hence, next time onwards, I would cover my ears with my palms and lie to her. That made it even easier for her to catch my lie. Bingo! She had managed to fool me yet again.

But I can’t blame her for all my silliness. Some of the instances didn’t involve my mom and yet I was silly. Like, I was in 9th standard when we bought our new computer. It was a huge box with millions of wires attached, an even bulkier CPU, keyboards with jumbled alphabets and a mouse which I wasn’t scared of. I took extra care of our computer and would clean it every day to prevent it from Virus attacks. Until I grew up and learnt that virus attacks are not caused by dust particles.

Also, whenever I read “Use dipper at night”, I thought it to be “Use diaper at night” and would wonder why do drivers need to wear diapers at night. Maybe because night driving is more difficult than day driving and the driver is more likely to get scared and wet his seat, making him even more uncomfortable.

“To Let” sign board, was always a spelling debacle for me. It should have been “Toilet”.

I realize I should end my post here, before I start embarrassing myself.

cya