THE PRICKLY PEAR
The day after Thanksgiving saw the whole family, thirteen of us to be precise, make a beeline to The Prickly Pear. The Prickly Pear, to the uninitiated, (I for one) is an antique store in downtown Yuma, Arizona. We were all to choose our Christmas presents there. Whatever happened to the idea of surprise gifts?
We entered a dimly lit store and I was in Aladdin’s Cave. The store was filled with curios from all around the world. More than the store, it was the store’s owners that caught my interest. Two ladies, who look almost identical. One was garbed in a black velvet dress with chunky blue and turquoise jewellery with spiky hair. The other in similar attire, just that the velvet dress was brown and the jewellery was green. This in the searing heat of Arizona.
I was standing by a stone Nandi and hence was treated to an elaborate spiel about it, complete with the most fascinating hand gestures. I was told that Nandis were found only in Nepal. I shudder to think what all the Nandis in front of the Shiva temples in India would have to say about that. The conversation was brought to a sudden stop when one of C’s aunts introduced me to the lady, stating that I was from India.
C’s aunt wanted my opinion on a rug. It was a beautiful one, in warm earth tones, and I told her so. But I was secretly pleased when they reluctantly decided not to buy it. They felt it would be too slippery for the passage they intended to place it. In case you’re wondering, the rug came from Pakistan.
More wandering around in the store turned up Kashmiri Shawls!! A bittersweet moment, homesickness combined with a sense of pride that India had made her presence felt even in such a rustic place, right in the middle of nowhere.
A discordant note in the store was the presence of steel kitchen appliances. Since when did steel come to be considered as antique?
We entered a dimly lit store and I was in Aladdin’s Cave. The store was filled with curios from all around the world. More than the store, it was the store’s owners that caught my interest. Two ladies, who look almost identical. One was garbed in a black velvet dress with chunky blue and turquoise jewellery with spiky hair. The other in similar attire, just that the velvet dress was brown and the jewellery was green. This in the searing heat of Arizona.
I was standing by a stone Nandi and hence was treated to an elaborate spiel about it, complete with the most fascinating hand gestures. I was told that Nandis were found only in Nepal. I shudder to think what all the Nandis in front of the Shiva temples in India would have to say about that. The conversation was brought to a sudden stop when one of C’s aunts introduced me to the lady, stating that I was from India.
C’s aunt wanted my opinion on a rug. It was a beautiful one, in warm earth tones, and I told her so. But I was secretly pleased when they reluctantly decided not to buy it. They felt it would be too slippery for the passage they intended to place it. In case you’re wondering, the rug came from Pakistan.
More wandering around in the store turned up Kashmiri Shawls!! A bittersweet moment, homesickness combined with a sense of pride that India had made her presence felt even in such a rustic place, right in the middle of nowhere.
A discordant note in the store was the presence of steel kitchen appliances. Since when did steel come to be considered as antique?
posted by newatthis at 4:45 PM
5 Comments:
secretly pleased cuz the rug was from pakistan!!????
gaaattt !!!
is that simple childish delight or some pathological sense of superiority in some way ?:-)
thats left to your imagination!!!
that was a simple question ehehhe
which kinda overrules any presumption or prejudice
no need for imagination here i feel
ye gads, give it up will ya??
ok !! i WILL give it up..
albeit with this 'endnote' (eh eh eh )
"it is, in times like these, that we see and feel how 'womanish' a woman can be'
eheheh
kshemikku kshemikku
forgive forgive ehehhe
but this 'give it up will ya' is a trait i have ONLY .. WONLY seen/heard coming from a WO-MAN
so as a MAN i had to take a dig
understand kunderstand chalakudy bus stand
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