Library Conversation – Part 2 - Ladies talk …

I had already picked up one book and was going through shelves to see if  any other book catches my attention . Meanwhile the lady in the library who was looking for  books by non Indian Author  (let me call her Hema )was standing at the librarians counter, not particularly looking  for any book… After few minutes I saw another lady coming to towards the counter to return a book , she was quite over weight, had straightened her hair sometime back (I guess, as looking at hair, I felt she required another session of straightening hair ) and since the library is a small one had difficulty moving around, and me being fat myself, decided to make some space for her (let me call her Shalini), shalini looked again in her mid 30’s had come to return her Child’s book  .. ….

Suddenly I heard a surprise ‘Hi’  it was Shalini to Hema , and then the talk begun  … though I was not at all interested in their talk , but since there is limitation of space, I did not have much option but could hear portions of what they were talking …. Both of them were talking in English without any mallu accent but I was surprised to hear the style of their conversation … it was typical ‘ladies talk’  …. I am not trying to put down Ladies here, but I hope you get an idea --- it’s like ‘Oooooo Hiiiiiii what yaaar, you are not to be seeen for sooooooo long now,’  and then the typical talk on weight , pimples , blood test reports, and ‘Nuskhay for loosing weight’ ..  .. Somehow had this feeling that it was made up talk, that way I found Hema was talking more in normal tone of conversation  ….  And I could not understand why many women still talk in that made up tone when they meet somebody ….. 

Recently I saw a Promo Ad on how people grown up girls and boys imitate when they are asked to do something ‘Like girls do’ and most of them imitated how they thought ‘girl do things’ which was kind of  ‘making fun off’  When the same thing was asked to young girls to do they did how they would have done and it was way beyond how others imitated them ….   As a women  I feel very strongly about how women are generalized – specially they way they talk, walk, run, play . While growing up I consciously tried Not to do things or play which girls of my age would do like playing ‘ghar ghar’ or ‘playing with kitchen set’. By the time  I was 9 years old I was playing badminton and football with boys of my age  - I was influenced by my brothers choice of music  …  and I would feel insulted if anybody said or commented – ‘You do like girls do!’  …..  I would tell myself - I do things my way and its not like the way girls do  …

Coming back to Women ,  yeah I still don’t understand why many women talk and do things which seems like ‘Made up’ or which will fall into the category ‘like women do’ though I agree that women would do things the way women do because the fact  they are women, but then it is easy to make out between ‘imitated/made up one ‘ and ‘Like women would actually do’ I just wish that I would keep doing things the way I do or I would have wanted to do and don’t get into ‘generalized category’  …..