the ubiquitous safety pin

Decided to write on this a few days ago - towards the end of last week.

Tried composing it offline for the past 30 minutes or so before realizing once again that it does not work for me. A horrible waste of time considering that I have so little these days, and had I started here, the post would have been completed by now.

It all started the other day when I was getting ready for office. The strap of my office ID broke, and I was looking for ways to fix it. It was then that I realized that a safety pin could have helped ... needless to say that I did not have one available. The ID therefore went into the rear pocket of my jeans, and there it stayed for pretty much the rest of the day ... except for those blessed moments when it was pulled out in order to open a door or two.

It came back home at the end of the day - remotely representing something that we'd done in computer graphics way back - a Beizier surface. That, however, is not the point of this post and I should not digress so easily.

The point of this post is the safety pin - or the lack thereof in our daily lives today.

Going to office takes me a while. I still haven't worked up the courage to drive or ride on the rabid streets of Bangalore. So, while my almost new, three year old bike gathers dust in the parking lot, I walk out from my home, run across one of the aforementioned rabid roads and stand under a tree waiting for an Auto to take me to office.

The tree in question finally decided for itself that winter has arrived (some time about two weeks ago), and shed all it leaves overnight. Much to my dismay, added to all the other inconveniences that this city has to offer, I now stand waiting for an auto under a tree that provides no shade. Enough reason for me to light up in the interim and smoke while I wait for some auto-wallah to bestow me with a glance and perhaps even condescend to talk to me ... and rasp "tirty rupeees saar" for a distance that is worth just about half as much. (Breathe : the author suggests that the reader stop for breath at appropriate intervals. Given the length of some of these sentences and the post on the whole, it is possible that a careless reader may swoon for want of air. Be forewarned!)

The only point of the above paragraph being to establish the fact that I get time to think over things on my way to office. That established we shall now return to the topic at hand.

The safety pin.

The safety pin brought with it memories of mom, and most of the women of her generation. They always seemed to have a bunch handy. That reminded me of some of the older girls I knew then. Most of them seemed to carry enough on them to execute a break in or car-theft at any time. Apart from the safety pins, there would be the hair pins - the wavy sorts - perfect for picking the best locks that any locksmith has ever devised.

Up to this point, I was very happy and full of that happy warm feeling that you get every once in a while. However, as I finally sat in the rick to get to office, my thoughts took a slightly more somber turn.

I realized that safety pins had all but disappeared from the arsenal of the women I now saw about me (hairpins too; probably something to do with the advanced anti-theft systems installed in most of the new cars). And, I couldn't help worrying about the kids today - can you imagine a kid's world without safety pins? A hundred buttons always missing, the hanky always lost unless pinned to the lapel ... button fly’s missing buttons (darn embarrassing) ... and to add to the chaos ... no safety pins!

I really felt for the tots of today.

The apprehension was not just about the safety pin. I realized that it had slipped away from my life without my even being aware of it. I shuddered to think what else might be missing already and when I will wake up to the fact.

More than anything else, I wanted to thank all those women who were always there for me as a kid ... mom, aunts, older cousin sisters ... with their hankies, their hair pins ... and yes ... their safety pins. I grew up safe cocooned in all that safety.

I hope and pray that all the women today - the mothers, the aunts, the older sisters - who are all so caught up in their work and hectic schedules never lose their magic for the kids. I hope they never lose their safety pins....


"Tirty rupeees onlee saar ... no change".