If you think I am a cute little chair, think again. Or better, look again.
Yes, I look cute, a cane chair meant for some little angel, to sit by the window and munch nice roasted peanuts or mangoes or something equally delicious. A chair that also witnesses fights and quarrels among children and adults. To be pushed about in the 'goings-on' of grown-ups, or worse get kicked about by kids upset about not getting what they asked for.
So this is what you think, right? Well you're wrong. First,I have belonged to someone for over 50 years. I have been tended and repaired a few times. I sport a new coat of paint (a bit garish in my opinion). I also have a soft pillow with some summer-colour designs. But I don't just sit around, mind you. I record history.
Like when my mistress took me from town to town, using me as the only support for her emotional relief against the constant onslaught of change. Like when the little son of the house did his home work. Or when the little daughter was playing with her dolls standing on me, unmindful when her back was a bit exposed by a loose pyjama.
I have seated my mistress when she read huge tomes written by Tulsidas and Tolstoy. Of late she reads all things spiritual, journals from several ashrams and dead and alive masters. She looks out of the window and reveries about Himalayan masters and psychics and yogis. She also sits in family gatherings of three or more generations, a little quaint amidst fat and slouchy people like my chronicler, who sink into ugly recliners or sit on stuffy stylish wooden chairs. Seated in me, my mistress gives other-worldly views on everything, like cell-phone toting drivers and loud music.
I don't really have any opinion, but I think she's always right. Anyway she never pushes me away from my pretty window or lets anyone take me for granted. So much so that some of the nails sticking out of my cane work makes the casual sitter take notice and walk away, careful not to complain to my doting mistress that I am in disrepair.
You see, I am not just another cute cane chair. It's all about attitude. Where you stand in life depends on where you sit.
