London gloves

Winters have set in and the winds make it worst. I am advised to be fully covered. Head to toe, as they say. Discretion is better than chivalry. And so I keep myself protected against the wintry winds of London. ‘Even the palms should be covered’, reprimanded my sister. ‘Yes’, I agree ‘otherwise the fingers may get numbed’. Thus I bought a pair of gloves from one of the superstores. A giant store that has everything an ordinary person needs in their ordinary lives. 

Wearing gloves is little uneasy for me. I had never worn any. Coming from a tropical country my closest encounter with freezing winters had been during my school days. Being surrounded by hills the winters were very chilly in that town.  And to make matters worst we used to get up early in the morning for a PT drill. But strict school rules never allowed us to wear gloves.

Now I am in London and that too during the winters. Everywhere I go I see people wearing gloves. In tube or in the pier or while taking a walk along the riverside I see people with gloves. Some gloves are colourful and some single-colour. Some are for the fingers and some not for the fingers. Some are just gloves while others extension of the pullover one is wearing.

As a kid I use to think that the only time someone wears gloves is while doing something wrong or dirty. Gloves gave them the convenience of keeping their hands ‘clean’. The murder mysteries added an extra layer of mysticism to the act of wearing gloves. Every crime scene in the movie exaggerated the act of wearing and removing gloves. 

While leaving for office in the morning I wear gloves. It seems surreal as if I am acting in a movie. Reassuring myself that I need to give a best shot I stylishly wear my gloves in front of the mirror like a Bond movie hero. It is only to realise later that I have to remove them to lock the door.