As I mentioned in my last post, I read a lot of romance recently. A lot of this 'a lot' was set in regency period (I even managed to make favorites from authors). Since romance does not force your whole mind to concentrate, you keep reading while one part of your brain is free to wander down tangents. Here is one of the tangents:
All of the ladies in Regency England were quite worried about their complexion and carried parasols to escape the sun. And I am not talking about prolonged exposure to the sun - parasols were present while walking short distances. Sun hot enough to escape? In England? Has there been a reverse global warming since the royalty lost their power? Poor English, if they can think of parasols in their climate with only 2 months of sun, I can almost sympathize with what they must have had to suffer in the climate in the Indian sub continent. I would like to think that it was just punishment for colonizing us!
Another tangent which kept persisting in my brain was the food. Awesome and 'rich food' in the high class households was mainly cold cuts, fresh fruits etc - everything cold. How can people love all that cold food in that cold weather? Their tea is also so weak! For us, the colder the weather, the bigger our craving for hot tea and hot food. Maybe it is the cultural thing people are always talking about. Are acquired tastes part of a culture? And are good habits, in fact, an acquired taste? If my 3 generations live in UK and are not influenced by their neighbours, will they still love hot tea and hot food on a cold day? Maybe it is not a cultural but a climatic thing, it is easier to get cold food in cold countries and hot food in hot countries. But then, if I go by this logic, should the rich households not indulge in hot food? Well, well, here I am off converting the tangent into a straight line while my poor hero and heroine are left stranded in the middle of their romance!
Tail Piece - The sun is out today after more than a week of low temperatures and continuous rain. The world looks washed and there is new hope in the air. Finally my week long craving for vada pav has ebbed after seeing the sun! I always missed living in the UK, but last week changed my mind when I commuted door to door cozily in my heated car and remembered all the walks to and fro from the tube stations in the cold winds.
All of the ladies in Regency England were quite worried about their complexion and carried parasols to escape the sun. And I am not talking about prolonged exposure to the sun - parasols were present while walking short distances. Sun hot enough to escape? In England? Has there been a reverse global warming since the royalty lost their power? Poor English, if they can think of parasols in their climate with only 2 months of sun, I can almost sympathize with what they must have had to suffer in the climate in the Indian sub continent. I would like to think that it was just punishment for colonizing us!
Another tangent which kept persisting in my brain was the food. Awesome and 'rich food' in the high class households was mainly cold cuts, fresh fruits etc - everything cold. How can people love all that cold food in that cold weather? Their tea is also so weak! For us, the colder the weather, the bigger our craving for hot tea and hot food. Maybe it is the cultural thing people are always talking about. Are acquired tastes part of a culture? And are good habits, in fact, an acquired taste? If my 3 generations live in UK and are not influenced by their neighbours, will they still love hot tea and hot food on a cold day? Maybe it is not a cultural but a climatic thing, it is easier to get cold food in cold countries and hot food in hot countries. But then, if I go by this logic, should the rich households not indulge in hot food? Well, well, here I am off converting the tangent into a straight line while my poor hero and heroine are left stranded in the middle of their romance!
Tail Piece - The sun is out today after more than a week of low temperatures and continuous rain. The world looks washed and there is new hope in the air. Finally my week long craving for vada pav has ebbed after seeing the sun! I always missed living in the UK, but last week changed my mind when I commuted door to door cozily in my heated car and remembered all the walks to and fro from the tube stations in the cold winds.
2 comments:
Deepti ji, Arey hum wimbledon gaye the tab kitana dhoop tha. aap bhool gaye kya? kitana sun screen thopa tha maine..main bhi tab tak sochati thi jab TV pe wimbledon dekhati thi tab, ki ye ladies waha pe itana sunscreen kyun lagate hai :)
Haan, woh din kabhi nahi bhool sakte! We should also have got parasols (in addition to new dresses!) I guess your profile pic is from that day.
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