Unwanted Guests

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In the Lockdown, some men have their hair grown long and some have gone bald. Women have started cutting their hair on their own at home. Some of them have cut hair for their family members . For Hair Colour, people usually used to go to the Salon or get the 'Parlour Waali' home. Now those things will be avoided for some time. My nails are cut short and then chipped. The finger tips have lot of cuts from the knives and other sharp kitchen equipment. Kitchen is all about mindfulness. A moment of your attention going else where and you can mess up with the hands or the food.My hands are totally dry and raw with the innumerable times washing with soap. I used to have very soft hands for years. Mom used to say it is because you never had to do any hard work. Hard work according to Mom is doing dishes, cleaning the house and cooking. My Nutribullet which is my sole source of Nutrition, is not working now. The machine works well and the jar is fine.  It is just a small little piece ( less than half an inch) of rubber which attaches the jar to the base which has fallen off. I am quite cranky because of it. Some of the curtain clips in the Living room where we all are literally living, the new plastic variety, are broken. The sofa cloth is torn and tearing more every single day. The children's room air conditioner is not working now. The toilet seat clips have come off. Actually all household work is like  meditation whether it is doing the endless dishes, drying clothes, sweeping, cooking, cleaning, ironing etc. People are finding their own favourite tasks. In Reiki or any of these New Age transformation things, they expect you to practise for 21 days. In Yog, they say complete a Mandala which is 40 days and then it can become a habit or a good practice one can follow. With the household work and so many days, I have yet to settle in. Expertise is coming but speed would of essence. Right now, I wish I had a magic wand which would just clean the house and do the dishes for me and make me super efficient at all house work. I do not want to do a drama around my work but in my mind, I land up doing it every single day.

I am not in a mental stage that when will this Lockdown end. There is no  big desire to go out and shop or party. There is a desire to go on a vacation to some place wonderful.  Peaceful, beautiful, blissful and full of nature. I want to walk on the mountains through the trees. I do not want to go on a structured walk in the coffee estate organised by some resort. I want to dip my feet in ice cold river water of the Himalayas. I want to experience the forest air and the mountain chills. I want to build stamina now so I can explore hills and nature in its rustic form. I am not yet ready for adventure sports or going to the Everest base camp. I just want to go to a place with a large compound which merges into the river and the forest. I want to go with lots of family for Teerth Yatra. I want to spend time with my elders, siblings, nephews, nieces and their spouses. I want to not play some virtual games but play Garba with family. I want to have people home so I can show off all my learnings of the Lockdown. I am already planning menus when family n friends start visiting each other. I want to go to my old books vendor lady to get Mills and Boons. I want to have a South Indian Thali meal. I want to buy some flowers for home. I want to walk barefoot to Siddhi Vinayak. I want to go back to my Yog class every day. I want to see my Dhobi and his nephew every morning with ironed clothes and a little chit chat. 

There is little irritation about the amount of soap the maids were using. How did the detergents get over so fast when I had house help. Little hurts like why did someone blame me for something I had not done, for some misunderstanding that happened, for a tiff which I could not resolve though I was not a part of it, about  people who never return calls, things lost, time lost and moments lost. Those little hurts linger like unwanted guests. 







Comments

  1. Arun KumarMay 19, 2020 at 2:06 PM

    Well Iexpressed Parul. I can relate better to the latter part of your nice article as I don't dye my hair, I have had a beard for thirty seven years and have managed to trim my beard and hair myself :-)
    I keep feeling that living in a farm and subsisting on what one grows is the ultimate goal. Not sure if I can ever get there.
    Once the lockdown allows travel, I'm sure you'll find places closer to home than the Himalayas where you can converse with mother nature.
    Yes, the yearning to spend tome with dustant family members is a strong one.

    ReplyDelete

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