Green Glass Bangles

They lay in the cupboard untouched for a long time now. Some were given to her during weddings, few during at the havans she attended and some she tried but couldn’t even remember.

Green was considered auspicious in her tradition, if it involved girls and their connubial life. It gave them power, power to stand against all the evil they come across, ancestors said. But she was one of those unfortunate who could not wear them. There was a problem and it was unsolved till date. All the glass bangles given had a standard size of 3.4. It never could enter her hands, no matter how hard she tried. Once the glass broke and entered her skin deep, the scar was still visible. Nor she could ask for a bigger size which would be as bad as not accepting.

She now owned a collection of all green shades, asparagus green to fern green to forest to gray-asparagus green to jungle to moss green to myrtle to pine to sap green to shamrock green to tea green to teal lime to bright green and there was more to it. It was not just collection of green bangles but collection of problems as well. None solved all disputed.

One fine day, the lightning stroked, & she received the green bangles at the local goddess deity as a mark of tradition. The priest blessed her with “May the powerful chithaliamma give you all her power to axe the concerns running in your mind”. She just smiled; she knew the bangles would never give her any luck but as usual tried wearing them. They were 3.8 sized and fitted her hands very well.

That’s when the green revolution began in her life…. At work and at home…