Thursday, May 14, 2009

My world is ‘large’ to me

A friend asked me recently, while waiting in line at the grocery store, about my take on the leading political story on the News that day. The store clerk, bless her timing, beckoned me to a new line precisely at that time and saved me a lot of embarrassment. I mumbled something incoherent to my friend like ‘Catch you in Mars’ and fled the place.

If you were my neighbor and your dog ate your newspaper today and you wanted a quick update on the top current events around the world, I would advise you to not pull up a chair at my home. It will take me all of 10 seconds to update you.

Not that all is well with the world and there is nothing newsworthy to report. I am sure our world has its share of heated political debates, elections, nosy neighboring countries, civil upheavals, dashing winners of nail-biting reality shows, sports events, so on and so forth. It is just that I don’t follow them. I do not subscribe to a newspaper, do not have cable to watch TV (by choice, my friends, so put the brakes on your Samaritan instinct to mail me a donation check) and can think of several interesting things to do on the internet besides checking on the News.

My apathy for the world around me is a constant puzzlement for my husband. You can’t really blame the guy because CNN is the default page on all of his browsers. He likes to know things as they happen. He is nosy that way. My routine of tending my kids, my dog, my family, my friends, my hobbies and my work with a total lack of interest for the ‘larger’ world around me baffles him.

The concept of a ‘larger’ world is highly subjective if you ask me. Packing lunch bags and getting my kids out the door before an ungodly 8.00 am with promises to go shopping that evening for the 2 new pocket folders for the Math class, 6 glue pens and a white shirt for the band recital next day is my world. Buying a soft fleece blanket to cover the leather chair so that my dog can curl up and sleep without feeling cold is my world. Playing hangman with my little one and letting her win just to see the proud smile on her face is my world. Taking my daughter to the Orthodontist to pay a fortune so she can smile pretty at the world is my world. Finding the time somewhere in between to indulge my hobbies to sing and write and talk to my friends is my world. And I haven’t mentioned the few hours in a week that I actually work for gain yet.

Now, you tell me, what would I need the 'larger' world of football games, United Nations conventions and American Idols for?


-Meena Sankaran

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

True.. very true! Well put!

Unknown said...

My thoughts exactly but put in a beautiful manner.

Lavanya

Naaree said...

You mean Venus? Mars is for men.

நாகு (Nagu) said...

And into that sweet little world, my father, let us all awake!

Srilatha said...

Just so that you can do your part in safeguarding that larger world for your children. When Texas state makes modifications in Science textbook to teach "Creationism" from the Bible rather than Darwin, our children are affected because Texas is the largest market and publishers will always follow Texas. So the larger world does intervene ... Read Moreinsidiously into our small large world :) When Supreme Court rules against a woman's right to choose, I will fight for my daughter's rights. What difference can I make? I don't know - but it took one determined father who wanted to ensure good education for his daughter that gave all our children access to excellent public education - Brown v/s Board of Education that resulted in desegregation in public schools. More recently, it just took one terrorist attack on US soil to lead to permanent curtailment of civil liberties via Patriot Act. I need to be involved in the larger world because as a mother, I can never take it for granted.

Meena Sankaran said...

Excellent points, Srilatha.

This is why the world needs more folks like you and less like me.

Despite hearing your passionate arguments, I am afraid I enjoy living in my nice little cocoon too much to step out and embrace the 'larger' world.:-)

Thank you for taking the time to put forth such a persuasive case against being ignorant. I enjoyed reading it.:-)

Meena Sankaran said...

Anonymous, Lavanya, Naaree and Nagu,

Welcome and thank you.

Anonymous said...

We were raised by Periappa whose entire world revolved around No.42, Ashok Nagar, from bolting the gate properly to checking on the water level in the sump, from anxiously trying out new medications for Periamma to worrying about our safe return home from schools and colleges he was driven by the motto "En Veedu, En Kudumbam, En Kuzhandai". How can we be any different?
Krithika

Meena Sankaran said...

I couldn't have said it any better, Krithika. I guess we all inherit from our ancestors more than just the shape of our nose and the color of our skin. I agree that Periappa's motto has seeped through our genes to shape us the way we are.