What Goes Around

I fell! No one knocked me down, I just fell. One second I was walking along and the next I was down. I had a few images flash before my eyes, which was a new experience. But nothing about life. They were just images of falling. I either stepped on poop or slid on mud. Either way, I went down. One leg went straight out in front, the other stayed bent, which helped in the quick get-up. I put one hand down to catch myself and now that hand is all bruised. From the wrist to the palm is black, blue and red. But the worst part of falling is all the people around. Thankfully it was getting dark out, which may be why I didn't see the "mud". It was right where the cycle rickshaw drivers wait for customers. I heard a few "tsks" which is like saying "oh, too bad." Then I shot back up and dusted off my behind. Usually I laugh when people fall, but this time I didn't laugh.

Several of my Indian friends have asked me lately, "What is wrong with your face?" This is never a question you want to hear or answer. When I look in the mirror I ask the same question though. Yesterday my good friend was over and of course the subject of my face came up again. There is a wedding in a few weeks and she hopes my face will be alright by then, because everyone will be looking at me. The problem is that my body has betrayed me. Here I am, 37 years old and I have more pimples then I ever have had before. And it really doesn't help to pick at them. So I have red spots on my forehead, chin and cheeks. I am a big freak! Indians are so honest with their comments too. Like when you gain weight they say, "You are fat (healthy)." Or when you lose too much weight they say, "You look thin and sickly." And now with zits on my face, "What's wrong with your face?"

The story continues.... The MCD let us have three days to remove our items from the basement, known as "the gym". We got everything out except an old shelf that probably has a next of cockroaches under it. There was no electricity so we had to work in the dark, damp basement by just the light that came in the door. My friend and I stood outside the gym waiting for the MCD guys to show up to de-seal the door. I'm so thankful for this friend. She is so loyal. Then we looked inside. What a mess. After four months it can get pretty dirty. Most of the equipment is too heavy for us to move so we just started gathering the smaller things. A guy friend showed up and got things rolling. He hired a truck and a few guys to help load everything. A lady from the gym is letting us use her basement as storage so we had everything taken there. What we didn't realize is that her basement is worse than ours. It has about an inch of water on the ground. But what can we do?...

To me, the letters MCD have never brought happy thoughts. But yesterday that changed. Yesterday the MCD came and opened the gym door so we could move our things out. MCD stands for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. What I see them doing is removing store items that have been placed on the sidewalk (displays or signs) and removing cows from the streets of Delhi. The last couple years they have been enforcing the property laws regarding businesses in residential areas. They have closed thousands of businesses in the last few years. Mine was closed by them in May. This wasn't my first run-in with the MCD. About three years ago they came in our neighborhood to remove signs and merchandise from sidewalks. I had a sign out in front of the gym that was a sandwhich board type sign. While I was away at lunch the big truck came and they loaded my sign in the back along with all other items they had confiscated. I was truly naive to the situation and felt it was unfair that my s...

Our gym has been locked up since May 7th. It is the craziest thing really. We have a beauty parlour in the gym also and the mean ole city people came when the gym was closed but the beauty parlour was open. So the lady that runs the beauty parlour talked to the guys and made them angry, which may be why we didn't get a warning about the closure. They asked her to step outside and while they were talking to her they put a lock on the door. That's it! So everything is inside (hopefully no customers). This past week we have gone to the city office to see if we can get the door opened for a day to get the equipment out. This isn't the first visit to the city offices. Back in May there were several visits and then in June too. So it turns out that some of the workers have not been showing up for the past three weeks, kind of a strike. I guess they are striking because of a new rule being inforced regarding the removal of cows off the street. Anyway, the guy in charge ...

Today I used an umbrella to shade me from the sun for the first time. I have always thought that people looked silly using umbrellas for the sun. But today I was visiting a friend and when I left her house we commented on how hot it was. She said I should have an umbrella. I told her I didn't even own an umbrella. So she rushed back inside and brought me out a new umbrella to have. So of course I used it. The thing I like about it is that when I come up to men on the street it hinders the eye contact and conceals my identity a bit. So maybe I will continue to use the umbrella.