The dry fruit

It has been more than a month now since I blogged. Anoop has been pushing me lately to start again. But I am yet limbing. How much you squeeze a dry fruit?

September was eventful. Events? Wife and me both got sick. She says whenever she gets sick, I too get that. And this time I totally surpassed her. Almost two weeks I was down. Almost no office. Not looking into the 12" screen of my Dell is a rare day for me - normally. These two weeks were not so normal anyway. No laptop, no desktop. Man, I was so tired. Luckily work load was too low. Probably it was only an hour mailing and an hour blogging anyways!

Then I had a trip to Dallas. A week. Met Cherian, did some shopping, drove around for the first time in the US. Went to mosque too, met a couple of guys including a newly-found-colleague! Well, met some people in office too. Because it was an official trip:)

Dallas was interesting sort of. Texas is one of the states were whites are in minority. Most of the kids books in Barnes and Noble went bilingual. Go to any shop, starbucks or Mac, you meet mustached guys and pierced ear gals. The darker than white skins make you feel more at home. Like the one Tamil air-hostess among a "host" of Chinese crew in SQ409.

On the way back, bought a novel at the airport and finished off during the 11 hour flight. The Bluest Eyes by Nobel Laurette Toni Morrison. Story of the black community told through the ugly eyes of an ugly back girl who prayed for a beautiful blue pair of eyes.

"You looked at them and wondered why they were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that it came from conviction, their conviction."

Hope this is only a novel. But it talks about the long history of self contempt, of self conviction through generations. Read before you blame the next black looking at the color of his/her skin. They have been in the sun for time immemorial forced to be busy with the chores of the society. They are a dried fruit. You cannot squeeze them and have a juicy juice. And sure your fist is going to hurt if you try.

Ramadan is on. When I end the fast everyday with a cup of tea and a dry fruit, I need to answer how much of a dry fruit I am? What is left in me?