A stubborn conversationalist!
Knock. Knock.
Mrs. and Mr. R were standing at the entrance door waiting for me to say a hello to them.
My husband S raised his voice from behind me.
“Hey R, welcome! P, meet Mrs.and Mr. R. R joined office yesterday!”
“Welcome, please come in!”
I directed them to the sofa and they sat down on the edge. It was a hesitation on seeing strangers.
“I will be back in a jiffy!” My husband went inside, put on his pant and shirt, and told me,
“P! R and I are going out for 10 minutes. Keep talking to Mrs. R!”
‘Ok!”
R and S left..
I decided to be the conversation starter. Judging by her face that she might be a shy woman, I decided to make her feel comfortable.
“Would like to have a coffee or a tea?”
She nodded her head meaning no, thank you.
“How about having a cool drink?”
She nodded her head again. There was nothing more to offer, obviously because I was not prepared enough to make a breakfast for them.
So I switched on to our favourite ‘weather” topic.
“So how is Chennai?”
“Not bad…” she dragged.
“It’s so hot and sultry…”
“Yeah”
“The heat is unbearable. How is it in Bombay?”
“Not this much..”
“Cooler than Chennai?”
“Yeah!”
“Here the heat is unbearable!”
“Yeah!”
There was nothing more coming from her.
Should I drag the weather topic or should I change it? I was confident that I can still hold on. So I decided to continue.
“Hope it rains!”
“Yeah..”
“It’s raining cats and dogs in Cochin!”
She looked at me as if it was news for her.
“Shall I switch on the TV?”
She nodded her head slowly as if to say yes.
I switched on the TV.
She seemed disinterested and looked around here and there.
There was nothing interesting in the TV.
She looked at a painting on the wall.
“My aunty gifted it to me..”
“Who asked you?” Probably she thought of asking me, but she ignored what I said.
Oh my, Sand R! Please come soon.
I have exhausted all the topics!
If S and R showed signs of delaying, I would surely go for the family albums.
But there was one final arrow left.
“Do you have kids?”
She brightened up.
“How many?”
“Two! A son and a daugthter!”
She was beaming. Now I knew I have caught hold of a topic of interest.
I switched on to my next question.
“How do you manage these kids? Kids are darn mischievous these days.! Not like our generation! Gosh!”
That was enough! She started talking about her kids and she went on and on. I relaxed and leaned on the sofa. All I have to do now is only listen to her!
Knock. Knock.
I went and opened the door.
S and R.
“P, did u talk with her? Mrs. R, were you comfortable?”
‘Yeah!” she said and nodded her head.
R looked silently at her. He knew there was something waiting for him at home for leaving her with a stranger and going out!
Mrs. and Mr. R were standing at the entrance door waiting for me to say a hello to them.
My husband S raised his voice from behind me.
“Hey R, welcome! P, meet Mrs.and Mr. R. R joined office yesterday!”
“Welcome, please come in!”
I directed them to the sofa and they sat down on the edge. It was a hesitation on seeing strangers.
“I will be back in a jiffy!” My husband went inside, put on his pant and shirt, and told me,
“P! R and I are going out for 10 minutes. Keep talking to Mrs. R!”
‘Ok!”
R and S left..
I decided to be the conversation starter. Judging by her face that she might be a shy woman, I decided to make her feel comfortable.
“Would like to have a coffee or a tea?”
She nodded her head meaning no, thank you.
“How about having a cool drink?”
She nodded her head again. There was nothing more to offer, obviously because I was not prepared enough to make a breakfast for them.
So I switched on to our favourite ‘weather” topic.
“So how is Chennai?”
“Not bad…” she dragged.
“It’s so hot and sultry…”
“Yeah”
“The heat is unbearable. How is it in Bombay?”
“Not this much..”
“Cooler than Chennai?”
“Yeah!”
“Here the heat is unbearable!”
“Yeah!”
There was nothing more coming from her.
Should I drag the weather topic or should I change it? I was confident that I can still hold on. So I decided to continue.
“Hope it rains!”
“Yeah..”
“It’s raining cats and dogs in Cochin!”
She looked at me as if it was news for her.
“Shall I switch on the TV?”
She nodded her head slowly as if to say yes.
I switched on the TV.
She seemed disinterested and looked around here and there.
There was nothing interesting in the TV.
She looked at a painting on the wall.
“My aunty gifted it to me..”
“Who asked you?” Probably she thought of asking me, but she ignored what I said.
Oh my, Sand R! Please come soon.
I have exhausted all the topics!
If S and R showed signs of delaying, I would surely go for the family albums.
But there was one final arrow left.
“Do you have kids?”
She brightened up.
“How many?”
“Two! A son and a daugthter!”
She was beaming. Now I knew I have caught hold of a topic of interest.
I switched on to my next question.
“How do you manage these kids? Kids are darn mischievous these days.! Not like our generation! Gosh!”
That was enough! She started talking about her kids and she went on and on. I relaxed and leaned on the sofa. All I have to do now is only listen to her!
Knock. Knock.
I went and opened the door.
S and R.
“P, did u talk with her? Mrs. R, were you comfortable?”
‘Yeah!” she said and nodded her head.
R looked silently at her. He knew there was something waiting for him at home for leaving her with a stranger and going out!
Posted in Sulekha.com on 16 Jun 07
3 comments:
Hi,
When did u come back 2 the blog world??? I never came 2 know this :O
How r u? :) hows life?
Hi Ponn, I am blogging in Sulekha.com regularly. This is a back-up :) Thanks :)
this was interesting .. enjoyed reading it.. I can go on and on about my Dog.. heh :)
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