The Yellow Fever

Now… before you think of ‘jaundice’… I’d like to clear that it wasn’t the disease that had affected my friend. Yes, she had the yellow fever but it was worst than any medical ailment and I got the full blow of it when I went shopping with her recently.

At first I’d like to give a brief introduction of this friend of mine to the people who are new readers of this blog. Gayatri or Gayo (the nick name she hates but has to answer to, whatsoever) and I go way back from school to college and I must say our friendship has withstood all the tests of time.

Just the previous day I realized something was wrong when she started grumbling about the lack of ‘yellow’ in her life (more so in her wardrobe). Ya folks, she can grumble like a toddler asking for a new toy… just that she doesn’t always get her way!!! She can turn into a complete kid one moment and the very next into an agony aunt giving me advice on my own problems. Well, to cut a long story short, she was in one of her moods where its better to be the fairy Godmother and grant her wishes instead of trying to make her see reason.

‘Yellow’ the voice inside my head said… ‘Why on earth that colour?’ I know it’s bright and cheerful, not to mention one of the basic colours we learn about… but as I’m very partial to black or blue or green or purple…. (Well! u get the idea), I didn’t understand why she was pinning for it.

The next day when we, brave martyrs, set out to brave the throng of puja-shoppers, vehicles and vendors alike, to do our own shopping, I realized with horror the extent of the fixation for the colour ‘yellow’ HAH had (HAH is another name for her… and you don’t wanna know the meaning of that, trust me!). I became colour blinded for a moment as I searched all around for this fantasy colour of hers (it made me realize with sadness at the plight of dogs who could only see the ‘grey’ colour… well, for me it was yellow at that moment).

Soon we spread our contagious disease to the shopkeepers, who looked around to produce their yellow-wares in jiffy. There were some nice pieces of material, which I felt were really worth their price… but hey! I wasn’t the one wanting to buy it… the decision still rested with Gayo, who being so very indecisive (yes, that she is!!!), didn’t like any of them. The poor salesmen were flabbergasted… as they tried to fathom why their goods failed to woe this particular customer. I took her to one of my favourite shops where almost everyone can find something or the other… well, almost everyone. Soon we were devastated… nothing seemed to make an impression on her and I was seeing the sun in my eyes, literally, as it too is yellow. At last we came across a small shop and thankfully it became our last stop as we finally found the perfect dress for her.

Now, after searching every nook and corner of the whole of Fancy bazaar for a specific colour, one can imagine that finally we must have chanced upon the ideal yellow outfit… but wait folks! That wasn’t the case here… the fever subsided just as quickly as it had started and soon we were returning home, dangling a yellow polythene packet (eco-friendly one) and inside it was…

A white dress!