Riches of embarrassment - Deccan Herald Right in the Middle (20-Jul-2016)

Riches of embarrassment

'Wind through my hair' was a jolly time when I was young, but an embarrassment today.

https://www.deccanherald.com/content/558936/riches-embarrassment.html

We all have our embarrassing moments in life. In a very public place, if someone whispers “your fly is open,” that can leave one red in the face. Knowing that the fly is open is one thing; but when in one deft move the ‘exposed’ closes the zipper expecting a pat for the dexterity, and a stranger walks up and compliments for a job-well-done, he is embarrassed! 

‘Wind through my hair’ was a jolly good time during my younger days, but today an instant embarrassing moment!  My thinning hair parted in a particular fashion does a decent job of not exposing my receding hairline and a bare crown. Exercising abundant caution, I almost always carry a small comb to quickly manage my hair so that my extended face does not stand out.

As I drove into a hotel’s valet parking area and got out of the car, the cunning breeze swept through my hair. Not at all perturbed, I quickly pulled out my comb and parted my hair in a way that gave me the confidence that I am not ‘exposed.’  However, a little later, as I entered the hotel, two big fans running in full speed ripped through my hair; imagine my embarrassment when a youth, who had probably spied me, pulled out his comb and handed it to me! Instantly, I took a vow not to be led into taking a few long ‘well-oiled’ strands from above one ear and stick them across the dome all the way over to the other side, giving a wrong sense of head full of hair.

For my slightly obese friend, low-waist trousers become a quintessential foe since they would have slipped below his waist, exposing the under-arching brand of the innerwear, a situation he has taken for granted!  But what about the embarrassment people in the immediate vicinity face having to digest the ‘unfolding?!’

One, a friend’s wife in her hurry to present herself well at a wedding reception, draped a very elegant expensive saree and put on the right make-up; everyone praised her for she was truly looking beautiful. On the platform with the newly-wed couple, she was captured in a shot where she truly stood out, only to realise later, as she was alighting the steps, that she was in her odd-coloured house slippers! 

But the epitome of embarrassing situations was the one faced by yours truly.  Many years ago, our family was at the West End Paradise Island for a dinner. My father who had got up to use the washroom did not come back for a long time. Later, I heard him yell my name in a frantic voice.  He had to ‘go urgently’ but his pajama lace (laadi) had become completely tangled and could not be untied. No tools came to our rescue until I thought of my teeth to rescue him out of this situation.  And just when I had sunk my teeth into his pajama laadi, the restroom door opened and a few strangers froze in their path!

Uncomfortable situations lead to many such embarrassing moments but as long as they don’t lead to humiliating ones, we can still laugh them all off.