About wearing it on my sleeve !

I've been trying hard to up the score on my 'wanna-do' list ! I am so conditioned to make Urgent/Important lists at work that I do it for just everything ! My priority workings get the the tattoo on the top primarily because I am convinced that I may just lose the urge if I let more time pass and that would mean I would let go my lifetime opportunity to hypothetically tell my kids in about a decade or so that I used be so 'cool' !

But more importantly and more seriously I do get a nagging feeling that I am actually already too old to be getting my first tattoo and if I delay it any further, embarrassment may get the better of me !

So anyway, I asked around and did some finding out. I got to know that there is a 'Devils Tatoo' right under my nose - a few feet away from office. I spent another couple of days deciding if a religious tattoo will upset my husband's family or if they may interpret it as a mark of my wearing my 'identity' on my sleeve....I wondered if I should discuss the tattoo with my husband and then I realised that he would be absolutely mortified by the idea of the cliched dirty needles and the hypochondriac that he is, he will blame all my future ailments on my precious tattoo. All things considered, I realise that if its Ok for me to get my hair straightened without discussing with him ( hypothetically again!), it should be OK to get the tattoo !!

I called up Devil's Tattoos number in my best voice and an irritated guy's voice snapped back at me. I thought he hadnt heard me right so I repeated sweetly again "Is that Devil's Tattoos?"

Irritated Voice " YES"

Its the tone that most Doctors have if you ever call them on their mobile. Its like, c'mon get it over with fast. I realised that I was actually unsure about what to ask him. I said : Where are you located ?"

Irritaed Voice (IV) : Basant Lok
Me: Errr I know that, any landmark ?
IV after 2 secs of silence, under clenched teeth : Above Hero Honda Showroom..
Me : Oh Ok, so how much do you charge?
IV : Rs 1500 for the first square inch madam..
Me : Ah Ok, so when can I come ?
IV is now losing it completely : NO ! You need an appointment first !
Me : ya, of course so when can I get an appointment ?
IV : Listen Madam, I am working just now, can't you call me later ?
Me : Of I am so sorry, I will call later but what is your name
IV under clenched teeth again : Lokesh

I made a mind picture of a generously tattooed guy with the phone under his ear and hands working the needle on the back of a pretty girl. Obviously he was irritated. I called back in 3 hours. In the interim I had my 'what- if' doubts again. Would I ever regret it ? Why a Khanda ? Is it a subconscious need to reinforce the fact that I am Sikh? What will I tell my children about its meaning and context?

When I called again the tattoo dude seemed relaxed. There was loud music in the background and he said the earliest he could give an appointment was on Friday, the 13th at 2.30 PM.

Finally.

Wannabe !

I am embarrassed to put up my 'Wanna do ' list here ! But I am doing it anyway !

Embarrassed,  firstly because I didn't want to admit that I don't know how to swim and secondly the fact that amongst the top ten things that I want to do ASAP is buy a bag that I don't need since I don't keep the company where my bag really matters. Its so a 'wannabe' thing. 

But I decided long ago to be excruciatingly honest on my blog or to not write at all ! And write this list I must because I can't still believe that I bought my Jeep a month ago ! I've so so much wanted to drive my own jeep for so many years now !

Its one thing off my list and I didn't imagine it would be the very first since it cost more than the bag that I want and the US trip and swimming classes and the tattoo and the hair cut and the potter's wheel and the gym membership put together ! 

So I have hope that I will live (not just buy, rent, pay house loan till in the grave) in that humble house of my dreams !

And I know, that if I write it down here, it won't be easy to forget it in a hurry !

So here goes :

1. Learn to swim

2.Own a Jeep 

3. Live in a house with a just-for-me private bathroom with an ordinary bathtub, a very fancy modern kitchen with all the gizmos in the world, bay windows in the rooms, white curtains and a small terrace balcony from where one can watch the stars at night. No light-bulbs, no TV, no mobile phones. Only internet ! lol

4. Get a potter's wheel & small studio of my own in that patch of land that my husband owns in the wilderness near Delhi

5. Take the Kids to Disneyland before they grow up

6. Learn to play a musical instrument

7. Get a 'khanda' Tattooed on my wrist

8. Teach in a School

9. Buy a LV Bag :(

10. Start Gymning

11. Get Ruhi to dance...
12. A gold chain anklet for one ankle !
13. Start sketching again & start Painting 

14. Buy a Nikon SLR & pursue serious photography

15...

I have edited this list to add more things as I go along ! Its a never ending game isn't it ! 

................................................................................

I have the state of mind to compile the above,  when around me, an earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people in China. A lot of them small Kids. And 9 cycle bombs have killed 63 people closer home in Jaipur. 

Quite out of context, in reference to Michel Houellebecq I told a friend this afternoon that I am an eternal optimist. My friend said I was lucky.

Katrina Kaif Vs Moi !

Rayyan's usual style of entering the house after he has been fetched from school is to shoot inside like a rocket that takes off from our gate. If there is anyone around inside the house, there is mad scramble and great noise about saving him from hitting the dining table glass or crashing into the door. If there is nobody around, he stands near the kitchen and announces in the most musical voice ' Main aa gaya a a a" ( I have arrived !). LOL

So this morning as usual, I was sitting on my corner of the bed, pretending indifference as I heard excited noises of Rayyan coming back from school. I usually wonder if at all he would remember me admist the great fanfare he is received with, by Dada, Dadi Kirti Didi, Nanak Bhaiya, the girls in my husbands small home office !

He usually comes charging up the stairs to my room with great speed, chattering away to himself after his reception committee have done their number. Sometimes he takes more time with his coterie and then my impatience gets the better of my pretended indifference. If he takes more than 10 minutes to come upstairs, I scream ' Raeeeeeeee' - my pet name for him that irritates his urdu-diction -fixated grandmother so much!

Today, he came scurrying up as usual and said " hello mummy" .

Ruhi has always called me Mama or ma and Rayyan also mostly calls me Mama. But sometimes when he feels like it he says the most funny punjabi accented 'mummy' ever !

Me : Hello Raeeeee, come give me a hug please?
Rayyan : Main kattykettle se shaadi karoonga ( I will marry ' kattykettle')
Me : WHATTTT?

Kirti (his maid) promptly explains that he wants to marry Katrina Kaif !

I gape at him with mock shock (inside my head I am making plans to get the cable connection disconnected ASAP...how could he possibly know how hot Kattykettle was without watching an overdose of Zee music ?!)

Me : No Rayyan, 'Kattykettle' will not love you like Mama does. PLEASE marry me?

Rayyan : "No, No, No. 'KattyKettle' se shaadi karoonga".

And then he shoots off like a rocket again in the opposite direction.

I smile in amusement, heave a sigh and start collecting my things to leave for work.

After just a few minutes, he sneaks back to the room carefully making sure no one else is listening.

Comes up and whispers in my ear : "Main aap se shaadi karroonga !" ( I will marry you )

I make the most horrid coochie- coo noises, pick him up and kiss his entire face, squeeze him and tickle him till he is shrieking and kicking to get me off his tiny self !

Move on kattykettle !

LOL