THE NUTCRACKER

When I was a little girl (that seems like such a long time ago), I was brought up on a steady diet of Russian Children’s Magazines. My favorite pictures were those of the beautiful ballerinas and of Russian dolls, the kind that fit perfectly into each other. They seemed to belong to a completely new world, a world of fantasy where only the very privileged were granted entry.

The next nail in the coffin was when Preity Zinta takes Aamir Khan to the opera in the movie Dil Chahta Hai and I fell, hook, line and sinker. Symphonies, operas and ballet became the stuff of my dreams maybe because I didn’t have a hope of ever going to one.

So when my roommates C and D asked if I wanted to watch the ballet with them, I jumped for joy, notwithstanding the snide comments of two of my friends (male, obviously) who couldn’t understand why I was getting all excited about what they deemed a “perverted show.” It took a couple of minutes before that sank in.

I promptly went out and bought a new dress. I bought it on sale to quench a guilty conscience. It was a black silk chiffon number with a skirt that ended just below the knees and a pretty lacy top interspersed with sequins. I also discovered the joys of a pair of nylons. Whoever discovered nylons has the eternal gratitude of women the world over, specially the ones with less than perfect legs.

Come Saturday, and I got all dressed up in my new dress. The pretty dress just begged for a pretty face, and since I have the kind that can crack a mirror, I decided to try camouflage. I decided to put on makeup!! I assembled all the stuff I owned that fell under the general category of makeup. It consisted of eyeliner, mascara and a lip-gloss. Pathetic.

I discovered another aspect of my personality. I can never put on eyeliner or mascara without smudging it, which results in my looking like a raccoon, and today was no exception. I finally gave up in frustration and decided to wash my face clean.

We went to Anthony’s, a very pretty restaurant by the harbor for dinner. C’s parents took one look at me and said, “You should take a picture and send it back to your husband.” God, had I not succeeded in getting all the stuff off of my face? I did not want poor Deep fainting in shock. We sat down to dinner and as usual I could not decide what I wanted to eat. I usually get someone else to order for me so I could be spared the stress of choosing, but that was hardly the case here. I finally decided to go for a platter, hoping there would be something I could enjoy eating. The platter consisted of five different kinds of lightly battered and fried fish along with a side of salad and rice pilaf. Very very satisfying.

Stomachs sated, we went to the Civic Center in Downtown San Diego to satisfy our souls. The ballet began, and it was everything I had ever dreamed it could be. The live music, the wonderful performances and the beautiful settings. The ballet was performed by the California School of Ballet so the performers ranged both in ages and proficiency. My favorite part of the ballet was the scene in the land of candy, where everything was pastel, the music ethereal and the performers seemed to be floating on thin air.

The last musical note sounded, bows were taken and it was soon time to go home. As I left the theater, I left with a smile in my heart, since I was leaving with the priceless treasure of yet another beautiful memory, the kind that lasts a lifetime.