Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Observant Women

In the first one hour at work this morning, I ran into 8 people from my team (6 of them being men and 2 women). They all asked how my vacation to Florida was and I had my standard answer "short!" But the women didn't stop with just that. They went one step ahead and showcased their observational skills meticulously. They both casually said that I got some nice tan. I gotta admit that my skin is a little sensitive and shows up change in color pretty fast. But this time, the tanning (thanks to the Sun, he was scorching and heating the soil to 85 F) I thought wasn't all that starkly blatant. But these women they find out. And my boss she asked me if I slept at all in the last 3 days. Maybe my eyes showed.

In general, I have observed that women observe a lot. They know you and that’s it - they have this ability to sense the minutest change. This is especially amazing, when most of the guys would not recognize the change, even after a lucid explanation. I go to work with a half-sleeved shirt, one of my lady colleagues would be the 1st to ask me about it. I have a hair-cut, one of the ladies would ask. I don’t shave and go to work, one of the ladies would ask. I don’t get a proper sleep last night and get a small black circle around my eyes, one of the ladies would ask first. It's just not at work it works the same way with my friends circle too. When guys don’t notice or have a problem with me not tucking my shirt, most of the ladies would. They would at least ask me for an explanation.

Maybe it’s the way women are created to be - to find out all minute details and to candidly ask about it too. Considering me, I find it a little difficult to notice changes in people, unless they make it too-obvious-so-one-can-never-miss types. Hypothetically for example my male project manager dressing up in a silk saree or my fat female colleague sporting a bikini to work or my peers walking in the cafetaria in NASA space-suits. Other than such clamant changes, I react the same way to them. I once even missed out noticing when one of my cousins asked me if I notice any change in her face. She actually had a "nose-poke"(is that what they call it?) and in spite of her wearing a nose-ring, I blinked and guessed if she did some hair-coloring. Though not all men are as stupid, most of them fail to notice small changes in people. But almost all women on seeing somebody get to the job quickly and scan for the change. And adeptly identify it too. Maybe that’s the same reason Indian women are obsessed about purchasing bling bling jewelry and silk sarees. And make sure that they showcase in the weddings and public functions.

They are so smart that when lady1 sees lady2 in a wedding, she instantly saves the details of lady2 along with her attributes (like color of the saree, type of the jewelry, amount of jewelry, etc.). The next time they meet in a common function, lady1 would do a quick scan and compare her current sight to what is already stored in her database. If she finds a match, this is how the conversation would mostly be like:

lady1: "Oh! You are wearing the same necklace that you wore last time around too!"
lady2: "Yaa, just like your third bangle from the front on your left hand. I saw you wearing that last week in Ravi's wedding too".
lady2: "??!!"


One can see this kind of a behavioral trend, not just in weddings but in all women-women encounters. When college girls meet up, most of the conversations would involve at some point or the other "Hey, this earring is so cute" or "hey, this outfit suits u so well" or "you must not have wore a dupatta for this" or whatever. Even small girl kids from school when they interact would talk about their plaited hairs or their uniform skirts. And I have seen my Paati talk about how her Madisaar looks rich compared to her counter-part-neighbor Vanaja Maami. After all this, I tend to jump to a conclusion that women in general are pretty observant.

So, women get used to correctly identifying the change in the other person, ask for an explanation and get what they look for most of the times. And slowly they extend this behavior towards men too. And gradually towards everything around them. They know if something in their surrounding changes. Even to a very small extent. After all, it is of course nice to be noticed at times. At other times, it might not.

But the bottom-line is one can never try to escape women!

27 comments:

Guru said...

'She got her nose pierced' is better ..

About the post ..

So true ..

N.V.Prashanth said...

Its just tht we do not care! And it does not really matter. We have got all other issues happening in this world to talk abt :P

SK said...

Heheh good observation by you ! :--D

Anonymous said...

Women are not observant with everyone.. They are observant only with people they like..
May be all your lady colleagues like you very much :P

Gayatri said...

nose poked-a?? aiyo rama!

Men blame a lot of things on their lack observation.

Btw, when the woman told you you had a nice tan, if she was looking at you without batting her eyelids and smiled oru maadhri, she probably likes you da :)

Anonymous said...

Pretty true , I happened to read a bio magazine when travelling back to chennai this week - there was a related review on this where this is proven to be the behavioral pattern of almost all women across the world .. sort of 'manufacturing attribute' I would say... One of a noted tamil orator attached this 'function' to 'forced insecure behaviour'.. not sure which one is right...

The general biological clock has stood that 'right from the birth - a girl baby is pretty observant when compared to a baby boy.....

As long as the observations stand on the fun line... u can have your share of fun and more data to write :)

Preeti said...

1. agree with guru, nose-pierced it is.. :)

2. agree with most ppl here, the 'women' who say stuff to u probably like u... ;)

3.I'm the least observant kindz...n im nt proud of it...cuz at timez, girlz in my class wud discuss how cute the 'cute guy' looked in his black n white striped shirt tat he's wearin tat day n they'd look at me, expectin an answer n id go,"huh??" I realyyyyyyyy don't notice...itz also pathetic when my girlfriendz ask me,"so, notice any change in me?" I wouldnt have noticed a thing but for her sake id say,"oh yea, u look fab" without really mentionin what..or the easiest way is to go,"somethin looks different in u, but i cnt pinpoint what!"

busy-writer said...

uh-oh, yeah, like this one time when i got my eyebrows done..i had even my oh-dunno-who girls comin up to me and askin about it..and my close male friends/family members didnt even notice the change!
me? am okay, extreme. too observational or nothin-at-all, once i noticed that a house had been broken down..my lane, a month after it was! yuh-ikes!

Anonymous said...

I agree with sk! Unga observation chance e illama poitruku.. :D

Anonymous said...

"I don’t shave and go to work, one of the ladies would ask. " - Sathiyama ithu Poi ... oru difference um irukaathu appuram eppadi kepaanga ? :)

Arun Sundar said...

Guru,
Yaaa, "pierced" - Micheal Madana Kaama Raajan "Catch my point" maadhiri marandhu pochu ;)

Prashanth,
How can a guy not care?

SK,
:) contagious from women I reckon.

Vidhya,
Kilinjuthu. All my paatis wonly.

Gayatri,
Enna "aiyo Rama"? Don't u realise one's nose can't be pierced without poking first? so, 'Nose Poked' technically correct dhaan.

Arun Sundar said...

Narayan,
I happen to observe something that is scientifically proved. Eureka!

Preeti,
1. Agrees. Pierced it is.
2. Ahem...
3. You should be my friend ;)

Busy-writer,
You noticed that a house was broken-down in u'r lane after a month? Do u walk in the roads or run like in Tom n Jerry? One needs to run like hell to miss such a thing!

The victorious,
Idle-mind is the warehouse of observation.

Vijai,
When I wrote that line, I sort of knew u'd comment this way. And adhu enna sathyamaa poi? Oxymoron'a?

Hari Vishnu said...

lol lol at all the comments :-))))))...

yea i notice this too.. although its a revelation that girls do this with ppl they like only.. but yea one heckuva observant lot they can be.. down to the smallest detail..

nice blog.. keep going..

unfuel the planet said...

i would second you on that. its very hard to escape an observant women.
esp when you want to hide something

m said...

Intha ulagatha romba observantaa paathu kannum karuthu maa katti kaapathi, socializing skills a grow up pannura "great women folk" pathi ippavavu puriyuthaa?

-=A.R.N.=- said...

agree with you there dude.
Not just observant, too much technicality as well.
For instance;
Guy1: Hey, nice shirt, where'd you get it?
Guy2: Thanks. It's frm ColorPlus.
=End of discussion=

Girl1:Hey, nice saree...isn't this the one your cousin wore to nimi's wedding?

Girl2:Thanks, no this has a creme border with yellow roses, I got it at BigShop...it was a bargain; you should go. The one my cousin wore had a pink border with dark yellow flowers, she got it from SareeWorld...bad price, I didn't even like the salesgirl's dressing there...
*loop back infinite*

LOL!

Arun Sundar said...

Hari vishnu,
Thanks.

Ankur,
Hide something from women?! It'd be suicidal.

Ela,
Yaa. And they kozhappify a lot'num puriyuthu ;)

Rahman,
And how much does the 3rd person hearing that conversation would wish he is deaf! :)

busy-writer said...

@arun
no you need to talk-talk-talk with ALL your conc looking the other side while walking. :|

Preeti said...

oh sure sure ;)

Confounded-Lady said...

You thought women were observant?

I think you're a threat for us. ;)

But yes, we have to live under the mortal fear of not being seen in the same attire twice.

@lol on the Vanaja maami thing...I hear my chithi do that sometimes with my mom :P

m said...

kozhlamburathukku aal kedaikkum pothu kozhaluppu rathula enna thappu irukku? i think it still will fit into manu dharmam!

Arun Sundar said...

busy-writer,
Now i get the picture.

Preeti,
So, Wats u'r phone number ;)

Confounded lady,
Threat'aa? Am just a silent spectator doing my civic duty as a hu'man'.

Ela,
manu dharmam'a? Ennavo solreenga.

Absconding said...

Heck, I think that the women today are making up for what Eve had missed. If only she had seen the darn snake, men and women could have had their roles switched!!!!

A wo(a)ndering mind said...

hahahaha!! :D

maxdavinci said...

lucky fella, ladeej are jolly vidifying you.

enga office le all 40+ only...

Arun Sundar said...

Absconding,
Yaa, Eve was a loser. But so was Adam.

Manasi,
Enna sirippu?!

Maxdavinci,
who said ladies at my workplace are young?

Anonymous said...

Mr.kabali....nee sonna kadhai-la irunthu enakku enna purinchi-tho ellayo...onnu mattum purinchithu....6 vayasu school pora ponnu aramichu...60 vathu vayasu patti pesurarathu varikkum porumaya ukanthu ottu ketu irukka :) :) :)

B/w hope you are having nice time @ ur work place....being observed by all the ladies....kalakura kabali :) :) :)