Beautiful beings
My mom and I went grocery shopping this evening. It being a weekend, there wasn’t much traffic and the roads seemed awfully tranquil. As we rode by the silent streets of our locality, which on any other day, would have been home to all the clamorous honking and incoherent cacophonies of the street vendors, we decided to stop for some fresh juice to quench our thirsts.
As I was sipping on my lemon-mint cooler, a tall, middle-aged gentleman walked past me to place his order. Guessing by his slang, he must definitely be someone from outside of TN, someone from the North, I would say. He spoke our local language with so much fluency, but most importantly, with so much respect. He addressed the shopkeepers politely, and sported a big, cheerful smile. I was almost about to finish my drink, when he approached me and asked, “Excuse me, ma’am, what’s your height?” with a courteous tone. To give you some context, I’m six feet tall and this is a very common question that people often ask me. I smiled and replied, “I’m six feet tall”. He immediately followed up with “Are you a sportsperson ma’am?” “No, but I do yoga”, I retorted. “She’s got a lovely height, ma’am”, he told my mom, who was standing beside me. “Yes, she takes after her dad”, my mom remarked. He turned to his wife and said the same thing. He exclaimed, “That’s great! Such a lovely height” once again. I was taken aback, in a good way. Once he finished his drink, he said “Bye, see you ma’am” with such ebullience and trailed off.
I was truly elated. The reason is, our so-called “urbanized” and “civil” society looks at tall girls like me, as though we are aliens. I’ve felt this everywhere, all through my life, be it at school, college, workplace, bus-stops, metro-stations or supermarkets. People tend to scan me up and down with their insanely judgmental eyes, as if I had committed some sort of felony. I’ve always felt out of place, despite considering my height as a special something that somehow made me unique. But this uncle whole-heartedly complimented that one thing, which everyone else saw as a flaw. The way he sees the world is pristine. He’s a beautiful human, inside and out. He made my day. This world needs more such benignant people.
