Oddity Jane, that’s me.
So, what makes you odd? you ask.
I’m a serial learner. I’m always signing up for lessons—CSS, HTML 5, Urdu, Kathak, tabla, violin, Bollywood aerobics, Bollywood dancing, elementary education, photography, you name it. At one point I was taking five different language, music, and dance classes every week!
And that’s odd? you sneer.
What do you think, grownups don’t rush from class to class, they rush their children from class to class.
Family and friends have learned that the one constant in my life is that I do classes. “How are your lessons going?” is a safe conversation starter. Even the woman at the beauty parlor I visit thrice a year knows that. Once, years ago, she had offered me some space in her parlor to hold classes. Now she knows I’m not likely to graduate to teaching anytime soon and sticks to asking what I’m learning these days.
As a kid, I wanted to do every kind of job there was in the world. As an adult, I want to sign up for every lesson that will accept adult beginners. And I’m fortunate to live in a time and place where there are many of those.
But, do you know what’s odder still? Life lessons are not welcome in my house. All doors and windows are boarded up against them. Learning new skills is heroic, learning life lessons is defeat, I feel. But, lately, I sometimes think, What if…
Is that a sign I’m ready to join the world of “normal” grownups?
