What's the Maximum age for application / learning ?

 Being at a given age or approaching a given age. 

That is now showing. with a little difference in my skin. Fine. a lot of difference in my skin. The awakening that I am the elder one at the table. 

Oh I definitely enjoy the concept of people looking up to you for your guidance. But what if your soul does not want to age ? 

Oh I definitely love to act like the elder at times. It is awesome. Because there is a very definitive different kinda love that people look at you with. It is amazing. It feels good to be loved without the younger ones actually expecting anything from you. If at all it is them taking care of a lot that you would not know how to or actually helping you out. & you get to say no along with a line that its ok, you are independent to do things yourself. Though of course if you are seen as someone younger that pressure is too much since you know you are approaching a number. in age. And you know that it is not merely a number. You know that. internally. Withing you. When you struggle to find the energy to finish all that you needed to finish. 

um. alright. this discussion has not come in to my mind because of the above. 

I looked for a culinary arts program and kinda wanted to understand better about it. Being an online course I thought I may want to do it. A weekend course etc. I got a call - this lovely salesperson happened to tell me a lot about the course. Then continued with the fact that they will help with getting a placement for us. 

This is where my mind shifted to a funnier place. I asked what is the maximum age ? Does'nt being a chef need some more physical fitness ? what is the maximum age of application ? 

& this is when the person went on to asking me what was my age ? which of course I didnt answer.  But of course my tone changed & I happened to laugh. In my defence, it was not a patronising laugh. Genuine one. I enjoy this - both - where in the person in front of me genuinely feels I am younger (only God knows why - my, I enjoy that mis-information) & when someone is just being funny and wanting to call me younger when they actually think I am way older than what I actually am.

It is entering my mind now-a-days, until when can I keep learning. Until when can i start and restart. Is this it ? that fear of not being able to jump around a lot has entered my mind beyond capacity of course. It is just a very uncanny co-incidence that my mother attempted a complete culinary course at a University around the same age I am - she could not complete it, since she got a heart attack therein. She of course survived another 4-5 years after that. 

Sometimes it comes to my mind. Maybe yes this is it. & sometimes I still feel, I have a lot to do. I am the person who would not take a no for an answer, or not say no to anything. A lot that I can do whether my energy will suffice or not. May be. Might be. Who knows. 

kind of confidence men happen to have

 It is not an equal world. 

Not at all. 

Professions, the way we live. the privileges we have. 

But if there is something extremely different is the privilege that men happen to have since birth. 

Imagine a scenario of 2 individuals with the same economic capacity, same intellectual capacity, yet it is easier for one of them. Same intellectual capacity but one of them has to cook, clean and take care of the kids at home with the work they need to do to provide for their own living. 

Both are good looking but one is shamed for every single mis step and imperfection. While the other simply runs free. 

This happened. 

I stepped in the elevator with my kid. Before leaving we had that complete overhauling conversation on what to how to how not dress for going out etc. 

Then, 

in the elevtor. there is this man - going out for work, simply getting ready in the lift. without a thought. right from tucking his shirt in to 

Freedom - female to female - why not ?

Here's what's been happening. 

For a very long time. In fact ever since I have known I will have a girl child, I have been thinking of how would I let her be and yet be able to protect her from all the stupid pressures that the world may levy on her. 

We as females are told by some or the other person. Hey, this part of body is seen. Cover it. We grow up under these inhibitions. We learn we need to cover up. as much as we can. to look as shapeless. as much as we can. & despite all that some person will scan us from head to toe. Then we learn not look at such people. Hunch in a little & then more. Feel bad of our own body. Because the lesser we have, the body can wear lesser clothes and expose more since that looks like the acceptance overall. All this of course comes from the false ideas from Fashion & the media. & Fashion and media gain their insights from real world. 

A real world wherein the elder ladies have a bigger say. The younger ones feel the brunt of it. Just recently an elder lady who comes from one the biggest patriarchal society in India had an encounter with me. We travelled together for a few times. She, was on alcohol all the time because the hotel gave free alcohol. While she wore a silk trouser and shirt (she s from the state where women wear cloth covering their faces and bodies). Went ahead and told me I should not wear sleeveless and dresses because of my age. I asked her why & asked if she also wanted to wear them. to which of course she could not find a befitting reply and went on with how she does not wear them and how it does not suit the customs from India blah blah. But could not answer when i asked if someone allowed her to wear the trousers. (which is a taboo in her customs ). 

Another elderly who is an extreme elite would pass comments on the amount of color that I wear. & she spread the word enough that more than a few elderly people started passing comments on my dressing sense. I made all my efforts to ignore them, to tell them that is my dressing etc. It has stuck into my head forever. 

Running up to the recent incident when my daughter wanted to wear an off shoulder. As of now, i have always resisted and have asked her not wear revealing clothes. & again I am the who gets these clothes for her. To dress up my little baby girl. Now that she is growing up, it was becoming difficult for me to tell her to take care of her dressing without being a hypocrite. Without challenging my own beliefs of freedom. Of letting her know that she should be able to manage the gaze of every individual who looks at women objectively. 

I think this was the choice that I had to make as an elder female. I gave her the confidence and protection to be able to wear she wanted. I wanted to make her feel good of her choices. the freedom that she wanted to experience. The Freedom that is needed by everyone. Just to be able to be. To be able to glide in life as is as one would like to. 

& this realisation literally set me free too. 

the worry for a mother, if her kid is safe, what is happening to her kid etc. All that. I decided. That she will be able to carry herself everywhere. That touchwood she will be safe. 

then we travelled. 

 We met a couple of young girls at an art gallery workshop. They were contemplating what to wear thinking if it is too much. Young in their primary 20s. This was my moment to give. to give as the relatively elder person to those girls. I gave them the confidence that they were right about their own bodies and they could simply accept themselves. Wear what they wanted to. nothing was less and nothing was extra. & I did'nt have to say all these words. All i had to do was give them a nod with a smile & say oh that is absolutely great on you. That's all. 

I saw them walking out being comfortable with what they were wearing. 

& I think I hit another level of peace and happiness in my mind. 

Sometimes it comes to my mind that enablement, confidence, happiness - we should give as much. enjoy our age in helping others being the best versions of themselves. This gives another level of confidence to me too. 

well. that's another phase of life that I am in. 

Lunch - a very very human lunch

 I must say, I got this privilege of being at Lunch with the complete team of the IT folks. All thanks to one non-judgemental female in the group. Very kind. Shivani. 

That whole table was giggling, laughing, there were people who ate quietly. While there were who continuously tagged each other for fun. All jokes seemed to be allowed. There were people who carried eggs from their homeplace in trains, buses and cars some 400 500 km away. young crowd. that again. forgiving. not flexing beyond anything. 

I remember I had these lunches some 10 years ago. yes. that long ago. where i could be my own self, eat, mostly laugh. Live through. Not asking much. having fun once through the day. this little group of ours knew who liked what. everyone cared for each other. we were bound by the happiness of just being together. for a long time. We are still in touch. all of us. we may not meet everyday but alls well. we see each other living lives good enough on the social media. again, no flexing. as much happiness that we share. They were also my people when my lil one was growing up. I could call anyone. They could call me. 

Then I went far away. 

I understand I went far away. the group stayed. I moved out. They literally gave me a send off / a happy good bye party more than a few times. They met me whenever i came back. I met at least a few people in front of the same company whenever i returned. 

While the lunch tht i had when I was away was a vile time always. People talking over each other. Wanting me to shut down or finding some way to bully me. Oh it was bad. at times i was allowed to sit in a different group just to realise that my presence was advantage of. 

I realised I stopped talking during lunch. At times singing within myself, moving through my own thoughts. talking only if asked. Being present. taking in as much information tht was required. sieving through everything else. All the crap. uff. 

It is in fact lonely at the top. Always. 

This. of not telling everyone, where do i sit in the sense of position is refreshing. you are allowed to enter the groups. of ages, of positions. or maybe its a geography thing as well.  

Just was worth a mention. absolutely. 

Maybe clearing my writing block too. 

Where does all that's lost go ?

 I told her, why did'nt you just hug him and ask him to stay ? 

She said, I did. I did hug him. i told him. We will sort everything out. Lets be ok. He left. despite that he left. He wanted to. after a whole 15 years, someone asked me a similar question. why did'nt you try to stay. why did'nt you just bear with it. keep it going ? 

I did'nt feel the need to explain to her. She did'nt even know my life. but she was genuinely concerned, or she looked so. I told her, i could not. I could not have taken what was happening any longer. I tried doing that for the kid. 

He said he loved me. I saw it in his eyes. sometimes. in fact very few times. or maybe i was delusional. or it lasted for a very little time. 

then where did it go ? that was something tht got lost. oh. so many years to it now. 

There is seriously no going back to what it was. never. things did'nt work. yes, i made peace with it. 

World did'nt. anyways. 

Suddenly a new life. for some reason, she looked younger to the new set of people. trust me they did not know her. clearly she was overestimating my popularity ? she did think everyone knew who she was. she wrote so much. or maybe she didnt. she had stopped being on socials. she wanted to keep it low. talking wise she think she had already gone a little too low to not talk to adults / people her age. she spoke to little kids because of her dedication to the lil ones due to the doting parent structure, colleagues. rarely friends. everyone go busy in their lives. actually she stopped yearning for help to anyone. she had stopped connecting too. was gone far-a-way. living for her kid. the teen years. so much go through all alone. she tried. she tried wanting to make friends. no not really reaching there. 

this new life. this one person actually did a couple of truly small gestures - very simple ones. walking her to the office. getting tickets for her for a great show. no one did that ever. May be just a lonely soul. No, she did'nt lead anyone on. it was refreshing to someone actually liking her for no reason at all. she didnt think it was calculated at all. oh and she definitely dint know if that was the current shipping start. some affection she deserved. why not. no answers to that yeah. kucch bhi.  

& unfortunately everything just opened up. nothing was right, it never was. possibly never will be. that little share of affection got lost. the moment everything opened out. there was a huge age gap, social gap & we dont even know what all gaps exist. they will never concede unless the last so many years were just erased and she could simply be someone who existed earlier. to have someone who kinda liked her for no reason at all. life kinda gave a very mini small window for companionship & took it away. The affectionate person felt deceived. not because of her. but because of the reality she was in. 

Lost again. 

Don't know where it went. All the affection. 

Things get lost. We never know. 

anyways. life. 

To feel guilty or not ?

Its been almost 9 to 10 months that I have almost stopped cooking regularly. 

yes, it is something that I started when I was in 6th standard. Thats 11 or 12 years of age maximum. It felt like a burden then. It still feels like a burden. 

Not that I dont like to cook. In fact making good food is pretty much an awesome creative activity that I love to do. It builds in that love for the people that i cook for. With practice maybe I did do good. 

But then the new set of people whom i lived with after my marriage, didnt like it for more reasons than the actual food taste. It was a mix of jealousy and caste-ism. In my earlier days and even today, I love to see people feeling good about the food taste and presentation. People feeling happy of eating together. Until recently i was completely ok talking to my guests and cooking along with the talking, meeting people & being busy in the kitchen to amaze people with my cooking skills. With the aroma that flowed right into the gastric juices of my guests sitting right there being enthralled by my stories. That for the guests. 

But for people at home, the happiness when I made something that they liked. That look into my lil one's eyes. That twinkle. & that ear to ear grin she displays when she gets that wonderfully cooked meal. Of her liking. And actually converting all that's unpalatable to being as delicious as ever. Even the Karla or bitter guard. Let alone the cakes, pastries and delectable dishes. There used be this happiness on her face that converted into happiness in my heart. She made it an activity that was treasured by me due to her reaction. 

Recently this activity simply took a backseat. Rather disappeared. My mind started moving away from the everyday cooking. & it has to be done because it has to be done. not out of love. not out of the happiness. 

There was so much more that was happening. the lil one falling mad ill. taking care of her while the then job being troublesome (bigger level). Me not wanting to be there anymore etc. Job change and everything. looking for a better place to move. Looking for the education of the little one. So much stress. Resulting into a cooking block. along with the writing block and the painting block and the singing block. All my energies were concentrated on survival. Of finding a good job. the quest for better and lesser troubles. 

I did not cook. I did not make. Anything. At all. 

& I felt guilty that i was'nt truly feeding my family as well as i could. As well I wanted to. I didnt meet my own standards. Of working hard to get food made on the table because i wanted to get food on the table. 

My creative reserves died, ok, paused. Blocked. 

We moved. To a new city. Better place. Better and helpful people. (that for another blog). 

& lo n behold. 

I got a maid who cooked !! complete luncheon was made at a very good quality level. way better than me in fact. 

Oh I felt awesome! 

The career woman in me thanked me. as much. 

I got happy with the space, the time that I got for myself. I sang, played sitar, went for a walk. yes. that. 

But that conditioning of being able to cook. of cooking for so long. From a very long time. making awesome food. All that. the conditioning does not go. The compulsion of cooking does not go. That satiation after cooking yourself and then managing to eat some of what you made does not go. 

Anyways. I enjoyed that phase until last. Did i though. 

I am back to cooking, making, doing. thats good too. 

Should I feel guilty for feeling good for not cooking ? for feeling ok with not doing the household chores like a man ? Does a guy feel guilty ? ever  ? For not doing so much. 

What if she was here today ?

I don't know. What would happen. At least I would not have felt lonely enough. Or i would have been able to talk to her. Or I would have fought with her for not being there to take care o my daughter. or she would have fought with me to be with Saee for longer. Or what if she would want to come for all the tours with me. 

What if I could write with her. I know she liked her better but she spent more time with me because I was always available for her. To help her to pick her bags. to help her in general because she needed help. I was there for her. Swelling in pride that I could be there for her. that I m earning some good deed - punya,  the happiness to be around. Rather she only paid attention to me when i was working for her ? was she wanting help and my sister refused by default so she had no option  ?

Where is my share of ok, here s something for you. I have been helped by my parents for child rearing. who will help my daughter to rare her child. Let her do it on her own.