Sunday, October 23, 2011

My exciting toes


I’ve got exciting toes. So do you. If you keep staring at them, you’ll see great and wonderful things happening there. The middle toe is leaning towards the little one, but the big toe is acting pricey!

What yoink, you say. What next? Stare at my toes? I don’t have the time to do that – you, Jandy, have the time to stare at your toes and blog and stuff, but me ...

And yet, growing up gives us all this fascination with our toes. In a waiting room, we stare at them. While walking, we stare at them. And in an escalator – whoa – we do a PhD in the toe-staring thing. Aha! Got it now, didja?

The toe-staring is a grown-up thing to avoid eye-contact. At any cost!
It would be strange really, if while walking around my neighbourhood, I looked at everyone in the eye – I mean I know everyone – the grocer, the housekeeping staff, the security men, the neighbourhood layabouts, the neighbour’s aunt. But oh no, it’s so much more polite to just pretend that though we see each other 44 times a month, we don’t know each other. We don’t really want to wish each other here. Or start a conversation, phew! That would take forever out of our busy schedules. So what do we do instead? We spend our time looking down at those mesmerizing toes of ours.

Last year, a young Swedish couple moved into our building complex. Cute young guy passed me one morning while I walked Marco, and sent me a cheerful : “G’morning!” I frowned at his effrontery, and stared at my toes and even more intensely - at Marco’s toes. The guy learnt quick. He grew up? The other morning, I passed him, and nodded, ‘Hello!’ He hurried on, refusing to wish me or even look at me. He was absolutely spell-bound by his hurriedly moving toes.
And of course, we teach our kids this toe-staring even before we teach them their geography.
At  lunch with a friend, and her lil daughter...  the next table sported 4 young lasses – with pierced noses and weird chains and plastic flowers in their hair. While we tried hard to look at them just from behind our menus (they were so funky!), lil Ro went right up and did a stare-a-thon at them for 5 full minutes. The young ladies did NOT stare back, oh no. They stared instead at their toes, while we tried to entice Ro back to our table to school her properly.

When Neel was 3 years old, a nice blonde lady got him onto her lap. Neel kept staring at her silver blonde hair, remembering what he was taught in school, then finally pointed to her head, “Old”, he said, while I blushed beetroot and – ya, right, - stared at my god-sent rescue team – my good ole toes!

18 comments:

  1. Yes, good observation, J. Indians are a nation of eye contactless people. That sounds like people who have lost their contact lens, ha ha. But you know what I mean.

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  2. Since our childhood, we learn to ignore even people whom we see everyday and know very well. Once I came to foreign land, I learnt to greet people I have never seen before and don't know at all. Though it just started as a customary greeting, it actually made me feel good to give a nice cheerful smile and add cheer in my simple little way when I meet someone than just doing it just as a habit. Probably just hard trying to get out of the childhood hobby of toe-staring.

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  3. I can't stare at my toes ever :( I still try to greet people and often meet with odd stares like 'what is wrong with this girl, why can't she mind her own business' etc.
    especially in lift...i normally say something like...good day...have fun...blah blah...or lovely weather...or it's raining again...blah blah.

    Even the person who gets me water(the 20l can) I normally start talking something by the time he empties the current can.

    Your post has enlightened me on the art of Toe staring, I guess I should start practicing :D I think gradually even I might be able to find something exciting about my toes :D

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  4. Good one and great observation. Made sense for me as just recently I moved into the US. And here, everyone 'tries' to greet others on the road, in the supermarket, mall, church etc. Initially I found it a bit odd, but now I feel good when the passer by gives me a Hi or a Hello. Its nice to have eye-contact. At least, that makes me more comfortable now than toe-staring!

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  5. @ puja - don't DON;T DON;T start toe-staring. a sign maybe that you haven't grown up yet??? lovely!

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  6. Lalita and (welcome here) Minu! please bring the eye-contact back here with you. an import we can finally do with, huh?

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  7. Have things in India changed that much in the last 7 years? I don't remember things being like that - in fact, I can vaguely recall being this bubbly cheerful person who smiled at random people on the street, at the Lazeez waiters ;), everyone really and most times, I got a smile in return.....
    I say vaguely, because 7 years in the UK DID make me 'grow up' and join the toe-staring brigade!! I resisted for a long time, almost crying many a time in those initial days, wondering why people found the buttons on their coats so engrossing that they couldn't acknlowledge people they saw standing at the station every single day...... Boohooo in this respect at least, I want the good ol' me back :D - Thanks for this post Jandy and reminding me of what I want hheeheehheee

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  8. maybe it's one of those things the Brits left behind then, futsi? because i remember in france, walking around, and being greeted by every old man with a dog (and a roving eye?) ;)

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  9. Great observation Jane!! Loved it!We are just not used to people looking at us in the eye anymore...& if they do we get all frazzled! I for one has always been one of those who is smiles at a person & then left with that stupid smile stuck on my face ! Time I too started admiring my toes!

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  10. For a moment, I thought Neel has a lil sister Ro ;-). We have as many friends / friends kids as there are stories to tell eh?

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  12. vinoo - difference between imaginative and imaginary. ro is not imaginary. :)

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  13. I contact... eye contact... greet... smile...a different world I encountered when I set foot in
    US of A 20 years ago.
    I do that now too when I am in India---reciprocity is rare and a quizzical huh? / toe staring is still the norm.
    Imagine the number of times, one has to greet what with the multitudes you meet.

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  14. Toe staring is definitely a Brit thing! I've been frowned upon so many times for smiling at little babies (even though the little babies smiled back at me!). So out of defiance I make it a point to smile at everyone & hold their stare till they finally relent and smile back. Though, sometimes I do look through a few people at the supermarket as if they were transparent, especially if I do not like them. Toe staring has not been an option for me since K arrived - cant see past my tummy protrusion to see my toes! :(

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  15. Ha!ha!ha!.....Have never been a toe starer.But,yes,the silence in lifts can be pretty disconcerting and I end up looking at the mirror(and finding fault with whatever I see!!)

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  16. You are so abs right about this one. too much ado about nothing ... ash is one opportunistic female , who knew Abhi was the best bet , that she would strike gold and so she went along .... just look at them together , the just don't fit. He seems real , she a wax model , a fake , make believe , with her sweet smiles and sugary words. God she really puts me off big time ... really pissed off ...

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  17. In London, it is considered rude to be doling out cheerful hellos and good mornings. It is intrusive. Instead, just avoid eye contact. Toes aren't everything though. Entire organisations are obsessed with navel gazing.

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  18. pachydermus : we're getting there. of course, most men are even more adept at navel-gazing at passing female navels. but yes - getting there.

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