The Signs!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Yesterday at the Tennis ground, I noticed a new girl of about 23 shadow practicing the actions involved in a forehand stroke. She was practicing at a distance from the court on which the more experienced players like me were playing. Something about her held my attention and I casually told one of my co-players to look at her and then commented – “How lovingly she’s swinging her racket; looks like she’s dancing with it.” At the end of the class, I approached that girl and asked her name. She was busy putting her racket back in its case and my voice made her turn around and look at me. She smiled and told her name. Her eyes, her expressions and her quick smile, all seemed very familiar. I said bye to her and came back home.

The next day, when I reached the ground, she was already there getting ready for practice. I said hello to my co-players and also to her. She smiled again. I asked her, “What do you do?” She replied that she works for Accenture in a nearby office building. We got busy with our practice and at the end of the session, while packing our gears, I asked her if she danced. She looked puzzled for a moment and then nodded in affirmative. As she started to say more, I quickly added, “I meant if you’re trained in a classical dance form.” She smiled. I again said, “Bharatnatyam?” This time, she almost laughed and said that she had indeed cleared all the levels of Bharatnatyam dance form. I was thrilled at my guesswork and boasted ‘ek heere ko johri hi pehchaan sakta hai’. One of my co-players laughed and commented, ‘ise kahte hain apne muh mia mitthu hona’. I then elaborated on my observation about the dancer girl telling that her face and eyes reminded me of a cousin of mine who is also a great Bharatnatyam dancer. My co-player teased me that it was the facial resemblance that made me guess about her being a dancer and not because I was a ‘Parkhi’ of dancers.

I, however, had a similar experience at a beauty salon once. I was getting pedicure treatment there and got into a conversation with a lady. I noticed red and white bangles in her hands and asked her if she was a ‘Punjabi’. She was surprised at my guess but than clarified that though she was a ‘Punjabi’, she married a ‘Bengali’ guy, and her red and white bangles were part of her ‘Bengali’ attire. After having talked with her for some more time, I asked her if she was a lecturer. This time she laughed and asked me back if I was a face-reader. I said that it was her choice of words while conversing with me that made me think of her as a lecturer. She happily agreed that she was a lecturer at ICFA Institute.

I think that our body tells tales about who we are; what we do; we only need to have perceptive eyes and a quiet mind to hear them!