Friday, February 01, 2008

Right now the clothes are getting washed. The machine is humming a tune of its own. When I’m at work I like to hum softly tunes of popular Hindi film songs. This lightens the work burden and smoothen the length of time.

This washing machine has been with me and at my service for more than sixteen years. A sort of attachment has developed with it. But if it would not have given the service I would not have acclaimed it. I would have thought about the space it was eating up and looking at it from time to time the thought of selling it off as a junk item would have crossed my mind. All that I can say now is, “I love you dear and I like the way you are rendering your services”.

Today I’m in no mood to cook lunch. Days are cold and nights are colder. BBC weather had predicted temperature in Delhi would come down to 0 degrees today. But Met office says temp. will stay in and around 1 to 2 degree Celsius. Lunch will be bread and eggs and a hot cup of tea to go with it.

The telly is on. I love the T.V. to go on jabbering when I work. I get the feel of the presence of someone in the house. After a while I’ll sit back on the sofa and watch the cricket match.

So much happening is in the cricket world. The word ‘monkey’ is making round in the cricket arena of Australia. A simple question that comes to my mind, “Did Bhajji use the word ‘monkey’ in the field?” There had been umpiring chaos and I think the Australians have not played the test series in the true spirit of the game.

Charles Darwin is back in my mind. The monkey tale reminds me of this great personality. When I was in kindergarten I remember the monkeys raided the fruit trees in our garden. We beat drums and made all the loud noise in the world to drive them away. Laughing my elder sisters would joke, “Are we not the descendants of the monkeys?” Mystery solved or unsolved? Decide. I sit back and laugh at my own joke. You get the fun out of it.

The bedroom needs a clean up. The clothes put into hiding in the cupboard. The bed sheets need a change. I manage to pull them out and place them in the laundry bag for a next time wash. Today enough of washing has kept me busy. The balcony at the back is flooded with sunshine and the clothesline looking eager. They know the clothes from the drier will soon hang on them. The pegs will keep the wind from carrying away the clothes.

The marigolds are in full bloom. The Tulsi plants are growing up in their pots. My small gardening space needs a clean-up. I’ve got some pots. These are the earthen pots from the sweet-stall. Misti Doi (sweet curd) came in these earthen vessels. Soon these pots will be ready and I’ll be at the nursery buying flowering plants.

My Ma’s kitchen garden was looked after so well that there were always fresh vegetables for the kitchen. The taste of fresh vegetables is a long lost thing. These days’ vegetables come to the household for a week or even more. Life has changed with time. Where are we landing up?

Will a time come when we need not cook, eat, wash, clean, and what else to add. I’m having weird thoughts. Now I think it’s best to wind up my journal for today.

Otherwise you’ll say, “What a creepy creature she is”.