It’s a seedy looking back alley in my neighbourhood. The one right by the cigarette tapri that A and I were at. Waves of raucous laughter and click-lack tapping of glasses wafted out from the distance and I immediately darted my glance away to avoid peeking at something that might attract attention. How quick we are, to assume that we as women are always in a place of being vulnerable to prying eyes. How quick I was, to immediately want to “protect” myself from what I assumed was a den of vice, of course.
But what I was hearing was clinking of chai cups. And mad cheering from teams of people deeply engrossed in and enjoying their daily games of carom. Super involved, but not too busy to stop and smile for me as I took a picture of course.
The chai walla, poured out another round of tea in cutting chai glasses. Another round, this one’s on me I thought.
Just your average R&R at the end of a busy day in Taleigaon.
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On another count, I was talking to a friend who visited some parts of Kerala recently and she said, I was asking for cutting chai. but they always gave me chai in full cups! :)
Ah! What a welcome change from finding that our gut is always right in sensing danger. The joy of being wrong and reinforcing the belief that sometimes we can still be wrongly alarmed :)
They welcomed me to take a picture. I was very kicked!
Now that is exceedingly rare, these days. I’m glad you chose to take a picture :)
We’ve had a lifetime of training to be super sensitive and super defensive about everything- it’s not always useless
Sure, of course. But I was happy this was an instance of my instinct being wrong.
Yeah absolutely!