LAST DAYS, PART 3: The Little Fairy Creature


In this surreal era of the Covid pandemic, the appearance of children out in public has become something of a rarity. You saw the boys I encountered playing street cricket in a recent post: it was newsworthy precisely because such a phenomenon is now, sadly, unusual. Meeting my neighbors--grandmother, son and grandson--a couple days ago (when their coconuts were being harvested) was also an unexpected surprise. So you can therefore understand my delight every time I am graced with the presence of one of these precious youngsters; most of all, the young lady you see in the photo above. 

I have seen her from time to time in our society. She is always alone, which is surprising enough, being so young. Equally so is her ethereal, fairy-like, self-assured countenance, her fancy, fluffy dresses and her stunning, other-worldly smile.  She is completely enchanting and immediately captured my heart. She always smiles, always says "hello" to me, but no other words. When I tried to converse with her, it was apparent she knew no other words in English. She would just continue to smile, gazing at me in her open, happy way. 

I never knew where she lived inside our small complex, or who she might belong to. 

Then, today, much to my great surprise and delight, this little creature actually made an appearance in our guest house! Apparently she is a friend (or relative?) of the new, young housekeeper here.  My host, Prachi, told me both of their names but, as is typical of me, I promptly forgot them. (I am bad with names in general, and the unfamiliarity of the multi-syllabic Indian names makes it even more challenging.) So I cannot tell you either of their names, but they are both exquisite subjects, as you can see!

After the young housekeeper finished her work, she set about doing another job: decorating the fairy creature's arm with mehndi, a henna paste used for this purpose. (While a tradition at weddings in India, it is not a common sight to see girls doing this "just for fun", as is what this appeared to be.) Hence, my good fortune at capturing the lovely little girl on camera, along with our housekeeper. 

What a treat! A simple, fine way to break up the monotony of an otherwise routine, stay-at-home kind of a day!






Comments

  1. JeanneAugust 2, 2020 at 10:43 AM

    What a sweet smile! I am always amazed at the beautiful creative clothing the women wear. No boring jeans and tops here!

    ReplyDelete

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