Clothes and me

I am oscillating between should I make my Will or should I teach my children to cook? Do I keep a bag ready, as I did during pregnancy with all baby clothes washed a couple of times? I remember not buying Baby clothes in advance, as we consider that inauspicious. Where was the time to do all that? I was working as the Director of Sales for a Five Star Hotel. We were in the pre launch stages and there was tons of work to be done. I used to come home, cook dinner and get ready for the next day. There was no time to go shopping for clothes, mine or for the Baby who was yet to be born. We believe better not to put new clothes for the baby. The New Born should have soft fabrics which are well worn. I remember going to Matunga Central with a dear friend from the hostel. Inside the vegetable market, there was a shop which sold baby clothes. The shopkeeper knew what all I will need and kept showing stuff. We both with no experience of a New born played safe and bought very little. Mom was going to come with the old well worn stuff. This was just in case, we need to rush to the hospital earlier. I came home and washed the clothes. The 'Jabla" as we call the baby tops were all  in white colour. and pure cotton with hardly any trimmings. I mean why would I put these specific colours on my child to identify him or her as girl or boy. Why do I need to label my new born as boy or girl and dress the child accordingly. Who decides what is 'accordingly'? Why the hell does someone say it is Pink for girls and Blue for boys. Who decides which colour is Macho and which is Girlie? Why can't my daughter be Macho? What is Gender Neutral? Indian 'Jabla' are usually in pure white cotton. The idea is to make the child wear a pure colour. Someone asked Sri Sri, why do you always wear White, is it your favourite colour? He said "Because it has all the colours.  There was no Mother Care in Mumbai in those days. Some shops sold imported Baby clothes which was from Thailand. Mom got some nice cotton 'Godris' from Dhanbad. They are like little beddings for the NewBorn made of used bedsheets. They are used to cover the Baby, as a mat, and as a mattress. The child is put on the floor and no rubber anti skid mats. We just put a "Chataai' or a 'Godri'. I remember we went all the way to Breach Candy, which had the best baby stuff in those days to buy a pair of Scissors to cut nails. I still have those Scissors and they still work well. They make me happy and I still do not know to cut nails of babies or children. My sister did that for the newborn as I was scared.

By the time, my younger one was born, four years later...lot of shops had opened. Cannot understand this concept of Nursey for the child with a huge selection of toys. Children are so happy following their Mothers on their fours. Give them a steel bowl and spoon and that is their toy for days. Why would one buy so much plastic and furry looking stuff. I am shocked that people still have furry toys. I have had too when I was working. In the hostel,  almost everyone had their own furry toy. I had never seen all this in Jharia Dhanbad. I just knew Teddy Bear. People had these stuffed animals in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Why would I want to sleep with a stuffed animal with scary eyes. That too in Mumbai which is so warm that I can barely use a cotton sheet for covering myself. 

Nowadays, the building has put in a lot of restrictions to fight Corona. No one can come to the building. All deliveries to be done with the watchman. We have to take our garbage bags down and collect our milk packets. In India, most of us are into getting fresh milk daily. We are still not upto Tetrapacks unless the rich or the ones who have lived abroad so want tetra packed milk for higher shelf life. We like to boil the milk fresh milk every morning. The building also has timings on when you can step out. Other Housing societies are doing horrendous things like shutting down their elevators to stop movement of people and having only one day in a week where residents can step out for their shopping. So going down with the kitchen Dustbin is my only outing for the day. I pack a small bag of leftover food for the garbage collector, I carry some packaged snacks for the watchmen, empty all the bins of the house in the main one and wear my mask and my Crocs and go down. I go down in my cotton nightie. All these years, I have never stepped down in my Nightie but now I do not bother. In fact, I step out of the main gate, just to look at how the outside world feels. People are barely waking up in the Chawl across. May be one person per family is awake. The bread earner has of course left for his morning shift. I just walk a few steps to the next door Chawl which is again contained. The Lane is barricaded from all sides hence no vehicular movement . The Hanuman Mandir inside the Chawl is welcoming as ever. The five oil lamps are lit though there are no flowers anywhere. I say my little prayer to keep us all safe and run back. The ladies from the Chawl in their Nighties are comfortable going about their daily routine. I am still not at ease in the Nightie. In Jharia, no one wore a nightie outside their homes. All women were in Sarees and the unmarried girls in their twenties wore shirts and petticoats . That is another outfit I am yet to wear. WhatsApp messages saying one should pack 14 sets of clothes for the hospital. I do not even take so many clothes on a holiday.  

Notes to myself :

All is Well. All is Well.