There have been around five hundred women in my life. In case that sounds like a lot, let me also say there will be many more. You might call it an occupational hazard. I am a professor, and in my profession, there are almost as many women students (and colleagues) as there are men. Professional life is also a large (too large?) part of life, you will agree with me. Therefore, this rough estimate of the women in my life, both personal and professional. One wife and two daughters, and a few relatives seem a blip on the radar when compared to the professional side, but in terms of influence, the dice are loaded on the personal side.
However, this is about my learnings- from both sides. I learnt how to cook from some men friends, though there were tips galore from observing women too. So I can’t really attribute this to the women in my life. Cleanliness, I was taught by some rather strict teachers in boarding school, but I may have picked up some good habits from the constant cleaning and washing happening around me in my formative years, in which men played an insignificant role.
How to dress well, I have not yet learnt, though some women (will not blame anyone in particular) tried their best to teach me this art. What I learnt instead was to save time by putting on whatever clothes were available to qualify as being ‘dressed’ and just getting on with it. IIM Lucknow (not a woman) even gave me a jacket (not me alone, they gave it to all faculty) in the vain hope that I would wear it, but being an anti-colonial, I refrained from doing so, except under extreme provocation, like a really formal occasion.
Packing (not parking, please note) is a skill I did learn from them, as only women are genetically wired to do it properly. Any customer-facing activity can be done with a smile and some grace, is what I also learnt by observing women employees and comparing them to the sods (men) who usually put up such a grumpy countenance that a customer would think the end of the world was near. Even if that were true, you can always go out cheerfully, if you ask me.
Making conversation is an art I am still trying to learn. Observe two women talking (earlier, this had to be physical but now, it could be on the cell phone), and you (if you are a man) will wonder at their capacity to take even the most mundane thing in life and turn it into a subject of great interest. Of course, you don’t want to use this learning in some situations when on the phone with a woman who is telling you what you did wrong. In such cases, silence is golden, for, as the cops keep telling arrested people, what you say may be used against you- in future conversations of a similar nature. But when relevant, this communication skill is very useful, and I certainly learnt a bit of it.
One thing you can learn, if you really want to, is how to develop a photographic memory. Things that you would forget in a jiffy (even if you are not an absent-minded professor), women can remember for indefinite periods tending towards infinity. Patience to deal with men and various other intruders into life, only women can have- thank God for that.
However, this is about my learnings- from both sides. I learnt how to cook from some men friends, though there were tips galore from observing women too. So I can’t really attribute this to the women in my life. Cleanliness, I was taught by some rather strict teachers in boarding school, but I may have picked up some good habits from the constant cleaning and washing happening around me in my formative years, in which men played an insignificant role.
How to dress well, I have not yet learnt, though some women (will not blame anyone in particular) tried their best to teach me this art. What I learnt instead was to save time by putting on whatever clothes were available to qualify as being ‘dressed’ and just getting on with it. IIM Lucknow (not a woman) even gave me a jacket (not me alone, they gave it to all faculty) in the vain hope that I would wear it, but being an anti-colonial, I refrained from doing so, except under extreme provocation, like a really formal occasion.
Packing (not parking, please note) is a skill I did learn from them, as only women are genetically wired to do it properly. Any customer-facing activity can be done with a smile and some grace, is what I also learnt by observing women employees and comparing them to the sods (men) who usually put up such a grumpy countenance that a customer would think the end of the world was near. Even if that were true, you can always go out cheerfully, if you ask me.
Making conversation is an art I am still trying to learn. Observe two women talking (earlier, this had to be physical but now, it could be on the cell phone), and you (if you are a man) will wonder at their capacity to take even the most mundane thing in life and turn it into a subject of great interest. Of course, you don’t want to use this learning in some situations when on the phone with a woman who is telling you what you did wrong. In such cases, silence is golden, for, as the cops keep telling arrested people, what you say may be used against you- in future conversations of a similar nature. But when relevant, this communication skill is very useful, and I certainly learnt a bit of it.
One thing you can learn, if you really want to, is how to develop a photographic memory. Things that you would forget in a jiffy (even if you are not an absent-minded professor), women can remember for indefinite periods tending towards infinity. Patience to deal with men and various other intruders into life, only women can have- thank God for that.
3 comments:
Very brave Raja! Only the lion hearted can attempt a blog on such a subject. Hopefully you won't get too many calls from those women who suspect that you may have insinuated certain things about them. And, well, all the best.
Thanks, the next one is going to be even more ambitious.
Some one thought of writing about such simple beings such as women...the womenfolk are thankful to you eternally for this one.
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