Bangles

I wish I could say that the New Year's Resolution I made this past January was lofty and inspiring. I wish I could say that I vowed to volunteer more or be kinder to friends and family. I wish I could say I decided to spend this year devoting my energy towards world peace or fighting to end hunger. But the truth is that my resolution for 2009 was to accessorize more. Seriously.

The good news for my silly resolution is that in India accessories rule. Earrings, nose rings, bindis, bangles, necklaces, anklets, toe rings, regular rings...you name it, Indian women wear it. Of course, there are some rules. No gold below the waist. And some things - like toe rings or anklets on both legs - may be signalling that you're married. But for the most part, everything else is fair game.

When a friend from Bhubaneswar left last week, I inherited her glass bangles. I had previously only worn the metal variety. I know this should go without saying, but the glass ones are significantly more fragile.

The First Attempt
I tried to slip on the first bracelet but it wouldn't move past my knuckles. I told my coworkers that they were too small, but they insisted that they would fit. I gave a bit more of a tug and the whole thing shattered in my hands.

The Second Attempt
Saryu told me that I just needed to be more gentle. She said that the bangles would easily fit if I positioned my hand correctly. She then demonstrated by folding her fingers into her palms in such a way that her hand shrunk to half its size. She then slid all four bangles past her knuckles and onto her wrist in 3 seconds flat.

It was then my turn. This time she would help me. She tried to inch the bangles past my knuckles. No luck. She gave the instruction to squeeze my fingers in. I did my best to imitate her incredible shrinking hand trick. She said "no, hold it like an Indian." Not surprisingly, this direction did not produce the result she was looking for. She slapped the backside of my hand. "Keep your knuckles flat. Like a girl. Hold it like a girl." Failure again. After 15 minutes of her coaxing the bangles and admonishing me for my poor hand posture, all four bangles found a place on my arms.

The Third Attempt
I got the bangles off with the help of soapy water. But then the following day, we were dressing up to go out, and I wanted to wear them again (this is how resolutions go). Focused, I greased my hands and wrist with a copious amount of body lotion, pinched my fingers together, while attempting to prevent my knuckles from jutting out, and with some manuevering got the bangles on in just a few minutes. Success. And I had thought garbha pindasana was difficult.