Yesterday I bought a red shirt-top. If you want to believe it, the other top I chose to try out was also red. There were a few others in my bag to try out too, but they all had to be rejected for one reason or other. It was either that the neck of one was too low cut, or the smallest size available of another hung on me like a tent, or even that the high collared one completely did away with my neck, and nobody likes a neck less look. What am I? A small ball on another with hands and legs sticking out?

So yeah, except for these tow reds, the rest of them got rejected. Serves them right for not living up to the expectation they guaranteed on first look while hanging so smugly on the rack. Anyway… there I was holding two oh-so-red red tops. Now I had a choice to make. Which one or take home, and which one to leave behind? They both looked good on me, or so I felt, and since there was no one around to give me feedback, mine was the only one that mattered.

This one or that? I pondered. The decision had to be quick. The L&M and I had actually been about to step out of the mall when I had remembered that I hadn’t stepped into my favourite store. A quick look and I’ll be back, I told him before disappearing inside. And no. Don’t laugh at the impossibility of anyone coming out quickly. If I tell you I’ll be back soon, you can definitely take my word for it, I definitely will be back soon.

Back to the tops. One had a soft shirt collar and was in a self print soft material, the other one had a round neck and had buttons on the side and a nice new cut too. How about if I took both? But both of them were red, and I already had a kurta in the same shade in my wardrobe. I suddenly remembered that I ALSO had a plain sleeveless top in red too. Oh bother. This was just too many reds. The other colours were going to feel left out.

I walked to the salesgirl and asked her if they possibly stocked either of the tops in any other colour. She pointed and said, ‘There is this lemon yellow if you’d like!” and I swear I reeled back in shock. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against lemons or lemon yellows. Beautiful colour if you ask me. But the one she was pointing at was such a bright lemon yellow-y lemon yellow that it shocked me speechless.

“Oh no, not that one!” I whispered to the girl not wishing to offend the pretty but too bright a lemon yellow-y lemon yellow top. “Do you have any other?” “None Ma’am. There were whites and blacks. All sold out.” She started showing me other designs. But I wasn’t interested. I had two that I liked. Now it was left to me to take both or just one. BUT WHICH ONE?

It was a difficult proposition since I loved both equally. There was no time to think up and weigh any more pros and cons of either of them. By the way, there were no cons. “Okay, I’ll take this one,” I said, picking up one, not really looking which one. The decision was made. I paid up and left. On time, true to my word as always. And that’s how my dears I ended up wearing red on my birthday, yesterday.

What stumps me is this: To think that a couple of decades back I had rejected a red kurta (or was it a sari?) saying it was TOO BRIGHT for me! “I was getting old, I should be wearing more sober colours,” I had told my cousin who owned the boutique. She had laughed at me outright. “Look at me,” she pointed out, “I wear ALL the bright colours AND I AM OLDER THAN YOU!” But was I convinced? It suited her, but it wouldn’t suit me, I was sure. So I stuck to the pastel shade I had chosen.

And yet..

Here I am years and years and years later, with three four red tops in her wardrobe and regretful about having given up the fourth fifth. Hmm… Maybe in a couple of decades I’ll even be wearing the too bright lemon-y lemon yellow too. Or even some neon bright colours. Who knows?! Anything can happen as time moves on. 😉

©️ Shail Mohan 2024