When I turned Pooh

As a child, my mom narrated to me stories from the Arabian nights and Panchatantra during meal time in the hope that I would eat well. But I was so fascinated by those tales that I would forget all about the food on my plate and listen intently as mom narrated with voice modulations and facial expressions and I was more than willing to stay up the night listening to them. She would of course stop mid-way and I, like King Shahryār, had to wait for the next meal time. There was no book from which she read so I had to be at her mercy to know the rest of the story.

When it was my turn to narrate to my kids, I did start with a few stories from my childhood but by then I was also exposed to other children’s books so I narrated from those too. Although Aladdin remains the favorite tale for both my kids, I got hooked on to Winnie-the-Pooh. I loved Winnie’s chilled life and the simplistic stories rich with friendship. And at 51, today I can relate even more to Winnie. I am quite convinced that Winnie is a female bear… And a menopausal one too!

All my mother’s efforts to feed me, only enriched my imagination but my body remained thin, note I do not say lean or slim, I was just plain thin. Even wedded bliss or maternity failed to make me fat. But when the menopause button was pressed, for the first time in my life, my weight matched my height on the chart of ideals. My thigh cheeks started greeting each other and my gait changed to that of Winnie’s.

Winnie’s round tummy is exactly what my menopausal belly resembles. The fuzziness that Winnie so often experiences is very similar to me failing to remember why I walked into my bedroom and opened the wardrobe!

Winnie’s vest seems like an ideal outfit with the kind of hotness I’m dealing with right now, explains her menopausal state too.

The way Winnie craves honey, I crave a lot of food, currently mangoes. That one story where Winnie holds on to a balloon and flies off to reach the honey comb, well I tried that once when I was tempted by the mangoes on the tree but soon realised how fictional that story was. So I just bought mangoes from the market and satisfied my craving only to realise that each mango is just an appetizer.

When she floated down holding the deflated balloon, her hands were stuck in the balloon-holding-position for a loong time, isn’t that exactly what happens to my hands after doing weights for a few minutes.

And then the one story where Winnie gets stuck at rabbit’s house because she’s eaten too much honey, well that is how I’ve been stuck indoors nowadays although people believe it’s the pandemic that keeps me at home. Truth is I cannot slip out the door any more.

And just like Winnie I could catch a nap anytime of the day and wake up hungry.

The long walks with her friends in the 100-acre-wood kept Winnie in shape (round is a shape too) so does all the exercise that I do. My current shape is maintained.

And lastly just like Winnie I am happy at one instance,  confused at the other, sad the next moment and hopeful later.

Now I wait to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow 🙂

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