Mr. Chirpchatty

Yes, I've had to give the spouse an Indian name while we're here... For two mornings in a row he has arisen both chirpy and chatty in his fearsome new incarnation as a (gag) Morning Person! It's very scary! What happened to the one-eyed monosyllabic shambling creature I've been cohabiting with for almost 23 years!??! We are not morning people - other than in the sense that we don't usually head for bed until the "wee not-very-small hours" of the morning when you so-called "normies" are getting up. I do hope this is not a trend. Although - tomorrow is Monday and he'll be back to work with endless meetings and conference calls - perhaps the new incarnation will just crumble to bits and die a natural death, eh? Speaking of not being a morning person - I was washing my hands for at least ten seconds with the little hand soap in the bathroom before I realized that it was shrink-wrapped in plastic. I'd been thinking that this was the lowest-sudzing soap I'd ever used and whyever was it so dry!

It was overcast and raining today, so in spite of the humidity I've been quite happy. For anyone left who may not know, I have the summer version of S.A.D. (yes, there truly is one) so the greyer and rainier the better for me. We're at the tag-end of Monsoon here - it ends later in South India - so this is my easing-in period. We had a leisurely breakfast and went out to take an auto rickshaw to Spencer Plaza - a three-storey shopping mall not far from the hotel. The husband had an unfortunate slip on wet pavement and went down. Three guys waiting for customers in the auto rickshaw queue had seen us coming and were on him like white on rice helping him up. He torqued his already gimpy knee (ain't it always the way?) but otherwise no damage. Auto rickshaws are called "autos" for short. Only cars are called cars.

We split up at the mall - he went to the bookstore and I went to Fabindia. Fabindia is a great store with many branches in different Indian cities. Great for both Westerners and Indians alike because it has nice quality cotton ready-to-wear (or ready-made as they say here) clothes in many sizes and both traditional and more modern designs. Instead of being hung on racks everything is neatly folded on shelves and is very easy to go see and go through. It's also one of the few places I have a snowball's chance in hot regions of finding a size 2x. I went in looking for a few dupatta shawls to wear with the Americanized Salwar Kameez outfits I cobbled together from home. It's a three-part outfit: Salwars are loose drawstring pants with a yoke partway down the hip. The Kameez is like a short or long-sleeved dress/tunic that comes down below the knees with slits on each side. The dupatta shawl can be a 36" by 80" stole or more of a long skinny scarf, depending on the style. It's a comfortable and modest outfit. I prefer elastic-waist or drawstring pants of my own that I know fit - then the kameez, then the dupatta. The dupatta can be worn many ways, and is often an accessory of modesty to drape over the woman's frontal regions. As I am by no means small in those same regions, wearing a dupatta is a way to downplay and divert excess attention. Saris are worn in South India much more than the Salwar Kameez outfits (sometimes called Salwar suits because everything matches or coordinates), but wearing the sari is an art and I am very late to the table to learn it. I just know some part or other would be slithering off or not firmly tucked in, or there would be some terrible gaposis - embarrassment city! There is an endless variety and style of salwar kameez fabrics and styles and they all look very dressy and feminine. I tend to like cotton as it's the coolest. Women who can afford it wear silks and very high quality cottons. The greatest number seem to be out of a nylon or polyester chiffon - soft and gauzy, never wrinkle, drape beautifully, but ACK! Synthetic fiber in a hot climate! There are definitely stores with ready-made outfits in various sizes, but the more common way to buy salwar kameez is to go into a store that has the three separate fabrics that coordinate shown grouped together and then have them run up in your size. One of the three fabrics will already have the neckline and embroidery finished and then the store will finish the sleeves and side-seams to your measurements and make up the salwars. (You men can stop yawning now!) You wouldn't think it would be so hard to find links that show you but the variety is endless!

Mr. Chirpchatty thinks he has actually found me a yarn store! I'm saving it for Tuesday as tomorrow is the bead store and some walking about.