Mornings are exhilarating as well as challenging - Getting
up at 5, making breakfast and lunch, cleaning the house, getting ready, rushing
to catch the bus and then, hopping on a Mumbai local to reach office by 8.30-9.00.
Exhilarating! (ya, I am sort of short of words today.)
If it isn’t obvious, I love my morning routine, to the point of obsession. But if you notice carefully, there is
a crucial element missing here - looking presentable. Everyone who has known me
for a while (or has seen me before 1100 AM) knows that that is not one of my priorities. Woes betide the day the comb
touches my hair before 8 AM in the morning. It’s a miracle that I brush my teeth
or take bath at all.
Yesterday, I decided to change that. I got up slightly early
(04.57), completed the rest of the work and got to work. I combed my hair with
a vengeance, wore earrings, put on some eye liner and stepped into my pointy
heels. As expected, just before leaving, I realised a crucial mistake – the
moisturiser! So, I rushed back in, got one of these fancy bottles my sister had
given me and generously applied it.
Needless to say, I missed the bus. To top
that, some of the said fancy cream had got into my eyes, making the bystanders
wonder why I was crying for missing a 10-minute frequency bus (On an
unrelated note, I have bawled my eyes out on missing a train which had a 5
minute frequency.) I got in the next bus with tears streaming down my cheeks,
got in the train with half-closed eyes ( with a lady gently patting my back in sympathy), and walked to office with heads down
trying hard to not let the pain show. (and before you ask, no, I don’t carry
water, tissue paper, wipes, or other useful things).
Finally, I reached office, rushed to the washroom and cleaned
my eyes. The pain abated almost immediately, but I was furious – at all these
cucumber-green tea containing, sexily-named creams which don’t take sensitive
eyes into consideration. What sadistic, maniacal person would have created such
a monstro………..
As it turned out, the ‘cream’ was actually a shower gel. I
had travelled for 1.5 hours with soap applied on my face, hands and legs.
Suffice to say, the Project: looking presentable has been
indefinitely postponed.
