Sense and Senselessbility

Stupidity, as it is, runs in her veins. How else would you explain this - when asked by her then co-volunteer a month before her grad school began, whether she brought a notebook; with a puzzled look, she thought for a moment and replied, "no, no notebooks. I brought some text books related to the courses I signed up". The co-volunteer, I bet, still has his parties rolling with that making rounds.

Oh, before I digress, I ought to tell you how she ended up with that volunteer work in the first place. Two free months she had, before her grad school kicked in. And if you thought she opted for volunteering out of humanitarian concern, a sense of supporting her brethren - you are mistaken. Not that she can in any way be deemed otherwise. But truth needs to be told, however unfair it sounds. After just a week of getting up early just to make breakfast for her then new husband, waiting on him to come in the evening and relieve her of her misery and boredom - she realized quickly - way too quickly that - that is not her cup of tea. Kneading Golden Temple atta while humming a song at 4pm daily, didn't quite cut out for her. She dreaded idle time, more than she had ever realized.

With the thrift store brought suit ironed and perfumed, she attended the interview and sent a thank-you note later that evening. JK* replied that he was impressed and his team is positively thinking about the hire and that the decision will be made relatively soon. What? They are not even paying, for Pete's sake! She decided to forward JK's mail to her Aunt (an US resident of three decades), asking her plainly if anything made sense and whether it was actually an American way of rejecting the candidate. Thirty minutes later, she receives a mail from JK: "Dear Ms. Upsi, I assume this was an actual error and you really meant to send this mail to your "Sarasu Mammi". And no, our rejection letters are different. You mentioned your availability as of so-so date; we look forward to having you on our team. Regards, JK".Two days later, the firm got a volunteer who smiled as if she needs to use the loo the next second, every time she met with JK.

Salads were ordered every time she went with her team for a lunch-out. They praised her for such healthy eating habits. The fact that she had tough time synchronising knife and fork remained untold. She gasped, seeing salads also being cut before being stuffed. However hard she tried, knives slipped every time she cut lettuce and baby spinach.

Only when that Korean girl made entry to the team was she relieved. All of sudden, she had an air of superiority. And joined the roaring team when Candice (real name Can Wu-Zu), pronounced J C Penney (the clothing outlet) as Jec Penney (like in Mc Donald).

Then the classes kicked in and the first semester saw her crying and wanting go back and join the Government college for Women in Pathanipura, Kerala. She just couldn't make head or tail of what her professor (particularly that one Prof. with such thick accent ) was lecturing on, forget the jokes that had the whole class rolling and she just sat there smiling, trying to fight back the tears. There were no Indians in her department whom she could confine her woes and bargain sympathy. Plans to befriend fellow Indians that swamped the Computer/IT dept was dropped since the timings and interest levels never matched. So while the class took lecture notes, she nodded and scribbled...something. The hubby, to put an end to her wails, gifted her a tiny weeny recorder. She was too shy to use it at first - turning it on when no one was looking and immediately hiding it in her pencil box (yeah). The class begins informally at times, discussing basket ball and baseball for an hour and she got tensed since the recorder runs out of its 45 minutes life span.

Stupidity never left her. It continues to thrive; all she hopes is a hope of not having passed it onto her little one. God, please let the little one take after his father on just this area. (Lord at Guruvayoor is constantly sought).

Things that her co-workers (all American, no desi) take for granted as part and package of their lives, completely throws her off guard at times, stamping the "stupid" seal over and again.

Her job is to ensure the safety and health of the staff. Her reports often end up with.."your safety and health is our highest priority and we strive to achieve that in every step of the mentioned process". She realizes that a pinch of stupidity will cost a life. She cannot go wrong. Not this time, because there might simply be no next time. And with the best of faith, she takes the step ahead.
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ps: this post is dedicated to the responsibility she was recently bestowed with.
*JK: A very learned professor and ever so humble - I have high regard for him and he helped me much in my job hunt.