I have a pink towel and I guard it with my life. Extreme tactics you think?? Wait till you have to live as the lone Venusian in a house full of Martians!! When you do like I do you’ll know that you simply have to, guard it with your life I mean, if you don’t want the said pink towel to turn into a dirty brown rag in the blink of an eye. So after my bath you’ll find me sneaking upstairs with my pink towel to dry it away from where the Martians’ unclean hands can reach it. When it is dry I spirit it back in and hide it where no Martian eye can ferret it out. Do you think I enjoy this sprinting up and down the stairs at my age with a sciatica ridden leg?? Sigh!! The extremes a woman has to go to keep her pink towel pink!!
I have been living ages and ages with the Martians and have grown old trying to reform them to Venuvian ways. The result?? Zilch! It’s all very well to have three males treating you like a Queen! Ahem….Only the tiara and other trimmings are missing!! Your wish is their command, that’s when the boys are not treating you as the maid cum cook cum odd jobs person. You are the centre of attraction because you are the only one of your species around. So it is easy to have your way especially with a few tears thrown in, some wily wifely charms as also motherly blackmail. But… but, life is so boring!! I am tired of seeing nothing but manly trousers, muddy shoes, rugged shorts, sweaty t-shirts or dirty towels littering the place! I am bored seeing the blue jeans, the black jeans, the grey trousers and the check shirts. No frilly top, a ruffled skirt, a dangling earring or a dainty pink towel anywhere in sight.
Pink towel!!!!! Ahhh how absolutely deliciously girly that sounded!! I shuddered looking at the gray and brown ones littering the place. Gosh, they all looked the same!! I am sure when they started out in life as respectable towels, though not perhaps a pretty pink in color, they hadn’t all looked so drab and so much alike!! The more I looked at them the more visions of being wrapped in a soft and luxurious pink towel, like those gorgeous models from the Bombay Dyeing advertisements, came to my mind. Of course unlike them my intention was not to use the pretty pink towel as party wear. All I wanted was to come out of my bath and be wrapped in a soft pink one, luxuriate in its softness and enjoy being a Venusian. Ahhh! I wanted a pink towel and I wanted it now!!
Off I went the next day on Mission Pink Towel. Why pink you may well ask!! Pink, the wisdom handed down the ages states, is the color for girls, while blue it is for the boys. I had no intention of questioning this age old wisdom for now. So, there I was at Parthas, with the salesman spreading out towels in all the colors of the rainbow and its different shades. I had eyes only for the pink one. Oooooooh. It reminded me oh so much of a lovely scoop of strawberry ice-cream!! Soon I returned home with a smile on my lips, a song in my heart and the pink towel in a carry bag.
After my bath the next day, having luxuriously wrapped myself in its soft fluffy folds and dried myself, I draped the pink towel on the aluminum rack in the balcony to dry. I sighed contentedly, looking at its pinkness. How utterly cheerfully pink it looked, still does for that matter, in the bright sunlight that filtered in through the huge leaves of the breadfruit tree. I felt totally like a girl again. That is when to my dismay I saw it.
One of the young Martians after washing his hands in the corner sink was making straight for my pink towel. The other was close behind.
“Hey you!!” I yelled for all I was worth. They being the younger Martians I was at liberty to indulge in a lot of screaming and yelling and rolling of eyes at them.
“Oh no. NO!!!!!! You don’t touch my pink towel!!” I said with all the possessiveness of a tigress for her cubs, except in this case the cubs were at the receiving end while the pink towel was being aggressively protected.
“What?? Oh ahh uhh!” came the absent minded reply of one Martian.
Horror of horrors he had already wiped his hands on it leaving I am sure all the greasiness from the food he had just had!!
“Can’t you use the hand towel??” I turned on him and in the blink of an eye the other one also had wiped his hands!! Sob sob!! The young Martians now grinned at me and disappeared. They had seen too many of Mom’s tantrums when it came to messiness and untidiness that this rolled off them like water from a duck’s back.
While I was still brooding over this one, in came the Senior Martian and merrily pulled the towel off the aluminum rack. This bit was tricky. I could not Hey you! him nor roll my eyes or yell or scream. I simply had to think on my feet and fast. I smiled sweetly and said,
“Darling, I have kept another towel for you inside!”
“What’s wrong with this??” he looked quizzically at the pink towel.
“Err… ummm… err” I hemmed and hawed.
More quizzical looks came my way.
“Errr… it’s mine you know!”
There I had said it!! Gulp. So far there has been no yours and mine in this our house between the Lord and Master and his Mistress. Everything had been ours. I had sprung something new on him! But then a girl had to have a pink towel!! I giggled nervously searching frantically for my next line.
“Yours??” he asked eyebrows raised.
“Ha! Ha!” I giggled some more.” Of course its mine!! Pink is for girls!!” I put forward my argument, hoping the ‘for girls’ would do the trick.
“Ha! Ha!” he said in reply and made off for his bath with the pink towel leaving me crestfallen, fretting and fuming.
I stopped giggling and changed gears to brooding darkly. I now realized I had to resort to more drastic tactics to keep my pink towel pink and to myself. Nothing but subterfuge was going to work. That is how it happened that…..
I have a pink towel and I guard it with my life.
Reposted from shail-mohan blogs @ sulekha.com
arch said:
This really felt like a dark comedy….funny coz its happening to you and dark coz it just might be my story a little while from now! 😉
PS : I didnt know it could be so much fun to read about a pink towel! 🙂
Ganga said:
nice reading…can very well emphathise with u 🙂
Bubbly said:
haha I have someone who uses more of pink than me in this house of mine. I now have two of them who uses blue and two of us who use pink. So rights are equal. hehe. Wow it feels divine to wrap urself in a pink towel just after you pamper yourself. Doesn’t it? I know how it feels when someone dirities the pink towel especially with their greasy hands. geeeeeeez. Something that I can never tolerate. hehe pappa and bros are very naught :p
Nice write up as always! 😀 (((((hugs)))))
Roopa said:
my pink towel is a brownish white now, but due to overuse. is it just overuse of the fabric or a more unreplenishable use of girlishness? i wonder 😀
as usual, a wonderful read.
Prabod said:
Pink in a house of three males?????? wonder how long it can stay pink…. like we dont ask for directions, we dont tolerate pinks/reds/muave/greens/yellows…. we go for dirty grey/dirty brown/dirty black/ just plain dirty :P:P
Wish ur towel the very best of survival hehehehe
lahari said:
Interesting read
swathi said:
>>>>It’s all very well to have three males treating you like a Queen! Ahem….Only the tiara and other trimmings are missing!! <<<ROTFL… my eyes are watering…u r absltly right…i wonder how u manage to keep ur feminity in a Martian world!!!!
YES… a girl had to have a pink towel!! i VOTE for it!
aunty…****sobbing****after reading it, i realise i have lost my girly side…
in my home..pinks, whites, peaches…never remain so…they turn into brown-something color…and now, i have learned to live with those…
now, u have knocked me back into the world, where i truly belong…
if one Martian changes me like this, i am scared abt the world of urs..
aunty u have SCARED me off, from having a son..afer reading this, i think i will be more comfortable and peaceful to have a daughter….
to be frank…this pink syndrome and brown syndrome had crossed my mind earlier..(i have never seen a male using blue things…when they reach min 3 yrs of age, every blue, their mom bought, might have turned into the “universal” brown)..
but i have seen girls…in all ages keeping pink, “pink”…
hats off girls!!!
Monu said:
Very nice read ! Didn’t know someone could write so well about just a towel…that too a pink one…
2 years ago I bought a light pink shirt my chance (i am really bad at telling colours…clinical, not colour blind though)and all fellow Martians treated like I did a un pardonable sin…I always stuck to my argument that it was not a pink shirt but a plain shirt with a ‘different’ colour ;-)…The matter was put to rest when during a seminar in college. The usual chit chat was happening at the back and the gentleman taking the seminar got fed up and called out through the mike ‘The person in the pink shirt in the last row, please share the joke with all of us since you are laughing so much’…All my friends starting laughing loudly because the shirt colour matter was put to rest once and for all…
isabel said:
I have a pink towel too!!!but i have not your talent!!just a pink ,still pink towel !
Shail said:
Arch, wait till it happens to you, you will find it even funnier! 😉
Shail said:
Ganga, I thought so, what with Martians aplenty in your household!! 😛
Shail said:
Bubbly, you lucky girl you!! You have an ally on your side, the little pink bundle of yours!! 🙂
Shail said:
Roopa, looks like you are reluctant to give up your towel even though its no more pink!! 😉
Shail said:
Prabod, what do you mean how long?? I am guarding it with my life!! Oh you mean how long as in when you don’t ask for directions?? Ahhh well, I am resigned to my fate of going round in circles!! 😛
Shail said:
Lahari, glad you think so.
Shail said:
Ahh Swathi, a sympathetic soul to my cause! Pity me dear child living in a Martian world and holding on to my Venuvian traits as much as I can!! 😉
Shail said:
Monu, that was a real funny anecdote about your pink shirt. It is excellent material for a blog. Why don’t you make it one?? Thank you for dropping in and keep visiting.
Shail said:
Isabel I am glad that your pink towel is still pink. Here’s to it remaining pink always!! 🙂
Radhika said:
I have a Orange Towel…very similar to your Pink Towl. But good u have kept the Pink to urself… these days guys don’t differentaite much between their usu macho Blues and Pink. They sport both colours with equal ease.
Shail said:
Radhika, thanks for the visit. Orange is your color eh? 🙂
Bob Hoff said:
We Martians must use our own towels. We do not define ourselves by towel colors; rather we use them to dry off. If a woman feels a psychological affinity for any towel, pink or otherwise, that makes her feel more womanly or special, or unique, we men need to back off and honor that.
While I have met several women who look attractive in pink, I have never met a male that does. If a male feels hurt because he is not allowed to use his wife’s or mom’s pretty and special pink towel, I don’t know what to say.
In fact, if a man is challenged as to what special color towel he would like to have for his birthday, he probably will decline to answer or not be able to.
Women specialize in high standards of self-care, adornment, and the support materials of the feminine world. Deep down many man appreciate the ease of male standards of self-care much of the time.
Well-written and entertaining. I vote for you having the pink towel; that’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.
This writing is funny because it is true
Shail said:
Bob, I am dumbstruck by your analysis!! 😀 😉 😛 Ahhh, you vote for me having the pink towel. Good, good, thats all that matters!! 😀
Bob Hoff said:
I am proud to say that I figured that out all by my lonesome. Makes sense to me. :
Shail said:
Bob, your astute observations made wonderful reading! Gosh. don’t tell me you figured it all out by your lonesome self??!!!! You are a genius!! Hope you don’t suffer from sciatica Bob, or this leg pulling might just worsen it! 😛
Jithin V Mohan said:
It is only today that I realized how special is that towel to my Mom!!! My Mom also guards her towel with all her life!! What is with this Pink?!! OMG!! My Mom also keeps a pink one!!
Me: Hello Jithin. Welcome to my blog-space. Yeah moms have a special corner in their heart for pink towels methinks! 😉 Lol. Thanks for the visit and the comment.
Rashmi said:
LOL Shailji, Loved this…
I wrote this out on our contract of marriage…
“You will not use what is designated as my towel, my toothbrush, my hairbrush or my barsoap”. Cause I saw it happen so often at my Home and my Mother’s annoyance at it(of course it wasnt me, its the others from Mars)
Me: Sigh, I forgot to include it in the contract Rashmi and woke up to it too late. 😛 😉
Thanks!! 🙂
momofrs said:
Oh how lovely!!!
I can just imagine your plight, struggling to retain that one vestige of feminity 😀
Love this post. Coz I so agree with it 🙂
Me: I woke up one day to find I dont wear any of those jingly jangly things and decided to wear my glass bangles for a change. I tell you there were three pairs of crinkled brows that went, ‘Sheesh, what’s this?? Doesn’t look good on you!’ :O :((
Gyanban said:
Well the only advantage i see here, at least you have a metro-sexual martian at your disposal.How cool is that ? Look at those boring white and grey martians of your friends…boring aint it ?
Shail said:
Lol, yeah right you are Gyan! 🙂
leo said:
hahaha..hilarious..enjoyed it rt thro t the finish..tho i dont think it wd be as funny for u..’cos i really do think u guard that towel..and this single venusian in a home full of martians-know that effect very well..happens in my house as well…sometimes feel sad for my poor mom..but then hey u ppl are lucky-ur wish is our command eh?or so they say 😀
Shail said:
Welcome to Shail’s Nest Leo. Oh your Mom too?? 🙂 Well yes, there is that of course, the lone Venusian’s wish is always the command of the Martians in an all-Martian home! 😉
SV said:
Enjoyed the pink towel. Makes me want to have one. I had a set of luxurious bright orange which after repeated washes look insipid and dull. Now I know what should be the colour of my next set. Thank you!
Shail said:
@SV,
Welcome to Shail’s Nest SV. Go for the pink set. As for me, I have a lemon yellow i addition to the pink one now 🙂 Hmm… Bright orange sounds lovely. Maybe next time… 🙂
Krishnaleela said:
hahaha !! loved it Shail !! 😀 Here I have an ultra Venusian who keeps an eye on every thing Mom puts on . So they are equally shred between us .
I ran out of books . So thought I would catch up with your blog and I am loving it 😀 😀
Shail said:
@Krishnaleela,
Ahhh having a daughter changes everything!! 🙂
Nice to have you reading old posts! 🙂 Thanks 😀
G Vishwanath said:
That was good to read.
Reminds me of my late mom who, like you, was the only female member of the family. The martian population consisted my dad, me and my two brothers.
I wonder how some colours turned feminine!
Pink, Lemon Yellow, “Mera Wala Cream” (Remember that ad?), etc etc.
Ladies have sophisticated names for simple colours.
Red becomes maroon!
Violet becomes Magenta.
Dirty light yellow becomes “off white”
And I have still not figured out “Burgundy”
Anyway, our present household is a balanced one. The males and females match each other in numbers.
We dont’ use the Turkish towels. They take too much water to wash and take longer to dry.
Towels are all white and made of Khadi.
We call them “Thorthamundu”. The only colours on them are small streaks at the four corners. We use these colours to identify the towel.
Thanks for another entertaining piece.
Will check back tomorrow for any fresh posting from you.
Regards
G Vishwanath
Shail said:
@G Vishwanath,
How I empathize with your Mom! 😉 But it IS quite fun too living in a Martians only household as the lone non-Martian 😀
I am sure those behind the campaign ‘mere wala cream’ were not women. So it is very unfair to hold them responsible for the sophisticated names for colors. Maroon is distinct from red as anyone who paints or deals with colors will tell you. 🙂
We are all Turkish towel fans in our household 🙂
Thanks for reading and commenting on old posts 🙂
pelicano said:
Although this post may-well have developed a patina in your eyes, it is a fine-and-flawless, timeless piece of writing that truly does exemplify the life of a “Lone Venusian” amongst Martians. However… (wrench in the works coming) did you know that at one time pink was considered a masculine colour in Western culture?
And I’m one of those rare Martians who likes pink- even strawberry-ice-cream pink! But I almost-always pair it with a finely-kept off-black. 😀
Shail said:
@pelicano,
Whoa! Pink, a masculine color? That is news to me 😀 Thanks for enlightenment. This is info that is going to come in useful while writing some future post 😉
Thank you for the appreciation. I will let you in on a secret, I love all colors 🙂 so I can well imagine and enjoy the effect of the pink and the “finely-kept off-black” 🙂
phoenixritu said:
Could have been the story of my life, but then my sons hated anything pastel coloured and sparkly. So I just added glitter and pastel to anything I wanted just for me
shail said:
Lucky you. 🙂 But mine didn’t mind wiping their hands with pink towels 😀
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