Bosom friend 'Kindle'

Four days have gone by, drenched in rain showers and blown away by ghastly winds. Another afternoon, I quietly spent lounging in the comfort of my room only with a brief break at the restaurant to get a quick meal. Although quick, I indulged, for a change, in a three course meal (the standard being four). It's my birthday after all. I turned a big 32.

I concretized one of my observations about the average French person. They never eat alone. They are always in the company of someone. Four days in a row I had lunch by myself, coz my loved one was in the midst of less loved others.

Day 1 was terribly awkward alone....to myself....no one to talk to. All the chitter chatter that hovered around seemed to come at me rather fiercely. I felt like I was drowning in all that French chatter. The sensation was nearly crippling.....with some fleeting thoughts 'I must run now....'Calm down!' .....I should have skipped lunch altogether....How silly.....C'mon this is all good experience....' .It was all too much. To add oil to fire, I did not know what 'that queer piece of cultery' was used for???? How shameful? But how do I even ask? I don't know how to get my message across in French? I just wanted to get that afternoon over with.

Day 2, I take my Kindle with me. Atleast (I thought to myself) it would give others a different impression of who I was....not someone who looked so lame in front of her food wondering if she should just stare at it all afternoon or perhaps say a prayer?

With the Kindle under my arm, I walk confidently to the restaurant to take a seat...take a cursory look at the menu and am ready to place an order. I lifted my head and saw a few people look at me. I'd say from their looks they may have been thinking "ooo....that woman must be busy....maybe she is a writer....what's that notebook like thing in her hand?" For once, I felt like I was onto something - a person with a purpose, an agenda. Never knew that my Kindle would make me feel so.

T, an electronics buff, purchased his 'new gadget' (to his infamously large collection of electronic goodies) on the pretext of my 30th birthday. I knew very well what his motives were. He would always 'kill 2 birds with one stone' - that is his style. I did not complain. I began to use it several months after it was 'gifted' to me. On the side, I have to admit that I have become a lot more techno-savvy ever since we hitched.

On day 2 and 3, I had curious observers who enquired (in their French ramble) what I was using? E-book? they asked. So I replied..."No, its the Amazon Kindle, v.1".

With Kindle v.2 and I-pad out in the market, Kindle v.1 will soon become outdated. But my Kindle (yes, my Kindle) will remain close to my heart - bosom friend.