Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Letters to people in the park.

Dear Man in the Red Tracks,
Can't you see that the poor lady is already in tears to see her child crying so much? This is the time to help her, ask her if the child needs to be taken to a doctor. Definitely not the time to give her a lecture on how not to leave her child unattended on the monkey ladder.
Irritatedly,
Me.
P.S. You can pull in your tummy as much as you want to - your paunch is still obvious.



Dear lady in the handloom kurti,
No, it is not funny. Your three-year-old pushing aside my not-yet-2-year-old to get on the slide first is not funny. No, don't give me that indulgent look of, "These kids!" Tell your child not to push. He is old enough to understand. It is never too early to teach them manners, you know.
Angrily,
Me.


Dear lady with the frown,
Bringing along a maid to the park does not automatically absolve you of your duties as a mom. Can't you see that your child needs you to wave at him as he goes down the slide? Can't you see that your child would like you to help him on to the merry-go-round? Oh, and your maid is too old and weak to lift him, so here I am straining my back, lifting the heavy fellow onto the merry-go-round - don't just sit there and frown. It is basic courtesy to come and do it yourself.
All of us have bad days, but everyday cannot possibly be a bad day. Come on, erase that frown. And please, look into your son's eyes. He craves for your attention.
With concern,
Me.


Dear Uncle,
Relax. Just because my daughter can play the slide on her own, and your grandson who is a couple of months older, cannot, you need not worry. Don't push him. He is not ready yet, can't you see? Kids are different, uncle. Didn't you notice how clear your grandson's speech is, and how unintelligible Puttachi's is? They'll learn. Don't worry.
Me.


I did say the last one aloud, in different words, though. Now if only I could say everything out aloud.... and oh yes, I also wonder if someone is writing a letter to me somewhere on their blog.

16 comments:

LAK said...

My sentiments exactly! Esp about the mom and maids in the park. Saw something like that at the doctor's--can check out my post
http://cvlakshmi.blogspot.com/2006/09/tiffin.html

Shammi said...

Probably someone IS writing to you on their blog, Shruthi... but to say something like "Dear pretty mom with the lovely thick hair, I wish other parents could learn to be sensible and fun and interactive with their kids as you." :)

Shruthi said...

LAK, thanks for the link. That is very thought-provoking - and might just be the cause for another post, long due....

Shyam, what will I do without you, my ego-booster, my mood-elevator? *Big hug*

rajk said...

Hi Shruthi,
Love your "Park Updates"! Especially loved the P.S. to the first guy!!
And all of them, very true...

Sachin said...

Superb, I'd say! So apt and so hard hitting! If all of us had the guts to say this out loud then the world might have been a different place!

You're one helluva lady, Shruthi "Intuition" Rao!

Anonymous said...

Shruthi,
You have a very interesting and creative style of writing in English. Your writing brings out the cultural essence of your surroundings. Why don't you collect all your blogs and get it published? Keep the title as 'My blogories'....I am sure people will love to read it. By the way, have you read any work of Anita Rao....If you haven't, read it....she is from Banaglore (Kannada) and if I am not mistaken, she presently lives in Toronto, Canada. Her writing has similar flavor as yours....
Hope to meet you some day in Bangalore or Mysore....I know your folks in Mysore and of course, your Mom (say Hi to Brindakka), your aunts, and uncle....and of course, your grandpa and grandma...

chitra said...

Hi Shruthi,

Linked your post on being thirty on my latest post.

Sandeepa(Bong Mom's CookBook/DesiMomzClub) said...

Congrats on being published and now that you are famous and all can you pretty please write something at DMC

M S Raghunandan said...

nice letters. next time when these things happen, speak aloud and earn some enemies.

Anonymous said...

nice! :) I love all the stories of your little puttachi and the park and all that, you write really well. I try to read you pretty often! :)

Shruthi said...

Rajk, heh heh :)

Sachin, intuition? Why? Didn't quite get that!

Anon, thank you so much! But who are you? :O

Chitra, :)

Sandeepa, will do :)

Raghu mama, why, to compete with dentists? :D

Niveditha, thank you :)

Mama - Mia said...

hehe! you come across all kinds dontcha?

last time we went to park, i was Cubby what colour is something just like that (he has no clue as yet!). another mom close by whose son was about 2 asked OMG, can he recognise colours already. i said ofcos not. she heaved a sigh of relief and said till two they know only red!

so if you knew that, why did you get so worked up! :D

and Cubby is scared of slides as of now! hopefully someday in future he wont be! :D

cheers!

abha

praneshachar said...

wow !!!what a way to express, you have done this because of your keen observations everyone can not do it. kudos to you for the open letters I only wish they read it. you can take a print and silently place a copy relevant to them in their place in park. it may work wonders either way!!!!!!!
keep posting your posts bring life and cheers to many
pranesh

~nm said...

I think we all should know how to say this aloud without sounding rude.

We all must have had such thoughts one time or the other but we kind of kee pit to us.

Anonymous said...

someone recently was eloquently quoting calvin hobbes...

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction
to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.


anyway I can't imagine you shruthi actually saying it out loud ha ha ha...

coooool post!! :)

Indian Bazaars said...

Just loved this post! Those thoughts flooding the mind in a park - strangers doing strange things.

And, the framing of thoughts into letters - the names ...Man in the Red Tracks, Lady in the Handloom Kurti... absolutely delightful to read!

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