Attack of the de-clutter bug - epic fail.

While I did manage to make my house clutter free to a very large extent - which was also hastened due to two important facts:
1. Visit of the in-laws
2. Shifting to a new house.

So armed with these two motivational weapons I managed to throw out/ donate/ clean a lot of stuff in my house. But as I often do - start things and leave them incomplete - this blog suffered.

Hence, the epic fail.

But I have decided once again to finish (try and finish) things that I start. Therefore even if this blog is LATE this blog series need an an end.

Here goes quickly..

Hail de-clutter fairies
Started with sprinkling magic dust on the linen closet
Spread it over wardrobes and bookshelves
(loathe I was to let some clothes go)

Attacked the kitchen
Failed miserably

Praise the packers and movers people who without complain wrapped and packed and shifted and unpacked all my stuff successfully.

****

So now I am in my new house for the past year. One would think that this one is finally clutter free.

Bah ha ha ha ha!!

Bah ha ha ha ha!!

Bah ha ha ha ha!!

Attack of the de-clutter bug ... Phase 1

It is Tuesday and I still do not have a list. Pinterest, it turns out, is not really for Indian homes as of now. An average Indian house does not have broom cupboards, wall to wall carpets, walk in closets, pantries and the like.

So I will have to make it up as it goes.

For starters I will try to go cupboard by cupboard. Attack each one with a bag - in which I will throw stuff that I no longer need, those which I have not used for the past one year, those which I know i will never use.

While I have not yet managed to make a concrete plan of action I know where I want to start. What the Pinterest posts would call "linen closet" :)

This week is turning out to be quite crazy at work so I will start reallllyyyyyyyy slow - just organise the cupboard which holds all my bed sheets, bed covers, pillow cases, towels etc. Now this not just means arranging them neatly, but also ensuring that there is not item which belongs to this cupboard in the laundry basket. Everything will be washed, ironed and put in the cupboard OR it should be in use.

And the cupboard should look nice when someone opens it. Not like leaning tower of sheetsa threatening to topple over and suffocate you!

So help me linen fairies!

Attack of the de-clutter bug...

I think myself to be a neat person. Friends often make fun of my OCDish ways. I like things to be replaced where they belong. I like the house feeling fresh and nice. It is nice when table tops, book shelves, glass surfaces dust free.

But I must admit doing it yourself when you are sharing a flat with friends and are responsible for just your little room it is so much easier. My hostel room, my room in the shared flat were always spic and span. I could say my OCDish habits were successful there.

Unfortunately a whole flat is a different ball-game. With long work hours, and just the weekend to cram all the chores and entertainment and relaxation into, keeping the house clean is maddeningly hard!

More often than not I end up stuffing everything extra into cupboards and running through the surfaces with a duster. So at least the outside looks pretty alright but the stuffed and cluttered cupboards stay firmly in my head taunting !! And every time I open a cupboard I am faced with mountains of clutter which is screaming for attention.. Demanding to be sorted and de-cluttered.

So...

Terrified, though I am, of the magnitude (for me) of what I am going to state right now.. I have decided to give it a shot.

I am going to spend the coming 2 weeks DE-CLUTTERING & ORGANISING.

It is a humongous task for someone like me who is prone to stress about cleanliness at the drop of a broom (pun intended).

To make sure I carry out my resolve in a systematic fashion which will not drive me insane I need to start small and slow.

The first thing to do is make a list. The steps I am going to take for this endeavour and then attack each item one by one.

For my list I am going to refer to one of my favourite apps :D Pinterest. I love Pinterest and this will be an interesting way to actually use it.

Aim - Come up with a comprehensive list by Monday.

Target - Declutter house, throw/donate stuff not used, old, useless.

So help me De-clutter fairy!!!  :)

PYJAMAS

She walked out in her purple pyjamas. The one with little clouds printed on it.They were her favourite pair. She walked towards the living room where her parents watched TV and had coffee before turning in for the night.

But she did not find them there.

She liked sitting by the living room door and listen to the gentle din of the TV and the soft voices of her Mamma and Papa sharing jokes and incidents that happened during the day. It made her feel safe and warm. Content she would go back and snuggle into her own bed smiling.

But tonight was different.The din was absent and it made the room chilly. The coffee mugs were lying on the table untouched. A cold silence had over taken the room

She was suddenly scared. Slowly she ventured out. Desperately hoping that Mamma would catch sight of her and gently scold her for being out past her bed time.

She heard no one. No one called her into her arms.She wondered what had gone wrong. It had been just like any other night. And she was in her own soft purple pyjamas that she loved so much.

Or was she?

She looked down in horror. Her pyjamas were not purple and there were no clouds on it. She was wearing these bland plain pink ones. With a little logo on the pocket. “Some home” it said but she couldn't really read it well.

Startled she woke up in the bed. A cold hard metal bed. And remembered, the crash that took her parents away.

Every night she had the same dream.

What are you reading ...

When the highlight of one entire day was a contest on chat with a friend on who can name the maximum characters in the Enchanted Wood series I realised that I really needed a break. Thankfully it was a Friday so I promised myself to haunt the bookstores on Saturday for some new book. And since it was Enchanted Wood that revived me on that dull Friday I thought best thing for me would be to go back to the books I loved as a kid and even now.

And after a relatively long time I went to the kids section of Crossword (Flipkart and my library membership having made trips to bookstores a rarity).

So there I am a 31 year old loafing around in the children's section looking for a book that will catch my fancy. I was hoping to pick the 3 Enchanted Wood books but to my dismay I could not find them. And what made me even more upset was there were barely any authors that I knew. Gone are the days when you would see multiple racks of good old Enid Blyton. The books are there, but limited and with brand new cover pages which just left me shocked – it was like staring at a bosom buddy who has got plastic surgery done. Where were the St. Clare's books with the beautiful O'Sullivan twins on the cover? Or the Mallory Towers with the curly haired twinkly eyed Darrel rivers on the cover?

I used to pride myself in knowing the children's section well – and had even helped and pointed out books to children and parents.

But things are changed now. I could not find the Magic Faraway Tree but instead found something called the MagicTree House books! There are dozens of teenage vampire books. Then there is a deluge of books by these new authors who are probably churning books by the minute- Rick Riorden, Eoin Colfer and many many more.

I suddenly felt lost in the land that I thought I knew so well.

And I sat on the little stool staring at all these fat colorful books wondering what happened. And wondering what the children were reading. What was “in”. What was good. All the books looked the same to me.

I watched kids picking up books with a surety that I did not feel anymore, browsing through the shelves, picking up 5^th and 6^th books of a set of 8 or 9 books.

And I wanted to ask them to tell me what they were reading these days.

Oh and by the way if you are still wondering about the result of the contest I had with my friend – I won. 

Open Letter to the PM of India

Subject: I am willing to give you a chance.

Sir

India has seen innumerable cases of inhuman behavior towards women. Rapes, gang-rapes, feticide, wife-beating… the list is long and painful. Also painful is the fact that none of these crimes are not specific to the age of the women or a factor of their beauty or attire. In this country a woman can be raped while she is on the hospital bed, a woman can be raped when she is just 3 years old and not yet a woman, an old woman can be raped. A woman can be violated by one or many in turns. Can be raped using not just their “manhood” , but rods or whatever might catch the miscreants fancy.

While we are all talking about it, shaking our heads and getting worked up with impotent rage across the nation, we know in our hearts of heart that there is very little that will happen.
And that Mr. PM is a sad mirror to you and our society.

Agreed, that the real change will be when there is a major shift in the mindsets of people, which will take eons. Sad but true.

Right now, I request only one thing from you. Let us take this as the starting point and set an example.

Let us punish the perpetrators of these heinous crimes in the most appropriate way so that no man will have the guts to even think that such an act – individual or in group will go without bitter consequences.

Even as the nation’s people are facing the capital’s chilly weather, the police’s lathi charges, tear gas attacks. Even when thousands are raising their voices through peaceful protests, candle marches, social media. These crimes continue to happen.
Within this very week there has been at least one piece of news every day of someone getting raped in some part of the country. Even a 3 year old baby.

Believe me when I say we do not care under what party government these issues are happening. It is NOT a political war, please do not make it so. These crimes happen in our country 24*7 be it a BJP govt, a Congress government or a coalition government.

We do not care about what party is in power. We ONLY want quick and assured results so we know that the people in power – be it politics, police force, judiciary – care for its’ citizens irrespective of their votes, gender, caste, creed, social status. That is what your real job is.

There is a saying “der se aaye, durust aaye.” You start taking action now and we shall be willing to not rant about the past once we are assured that the present and the future crimes will be dealt with the deserved severity.

They also say “prevention is better than cure”, as some people unbelievably questioned why the girl was out so late at night. Please let me assure you – prevention is not women hiding themselves in their homes before sunset, girls getting locked up in hostels after 6:30 pm, women not using the public transport in the evening and covering each and every bit of their skin. Let me assure you Mr. PM these measures do not stop rape.

True prevention will be educating the men in this country that there is a certain respect that they need to have for the other sex. Educating the women in India who pine for having sons and then turn them into spoilt, disrespecting, pathetic  fools who are SURE that they can get away with anything and that the women are just their “pair ki jutti”.

This very “jutti” is what these men need to be slapped with. Please do not make this a political agenda – it is not. Please do not try to shove the women in their houses – because that will not solve anything and don’t forget men even rape their nieces, daughters, sisters. Please do not try to shift focus of the real agenda of the protests to the fact that some miscreants caused unrest and violence in it.

And most importantly PLEASE DO NOT WAIT FOR THE VICTIM TO DIE TO HANG THOSE CRIMINALS.

There is no dearth of evidence, motive for this case. This is a clear case. Please show some result that will help us restore our faith in you, the men, the country.

Otherwise I do not think this system deserves our respect and votes. In fact then this country does not deserve us.

I don’t know what we will do. Take to arms, take law in our own hands? You will leave us with very little option but to fight our own battle in whatever way we can.

Please take this as the first step towards real progress and prove to us that you are there not just a designation.

Regards
Geetanjali

I am sorry I broke a home.

They were a young couple. Madly in love with each other or so they thought. They had just started building their brand new home. A cozy little abode enough for two, in a serene quiet corner. It was a carefully selected plot, away from the jarring noise of the outside world. Sheltered and cozy.

Bit by bit they added to their haven. Every day they reminded each other of the blissful life they would enjoy once their efforts brought fruit. They were already dreaming of adding to their family.

They were happy.

And then I came along. I saw what they were doing. I watched them in their joint endeavor towards a love filled abode. I was jealous. They were making their home on the foundation of a relationship that had just started budding for me. The relationship which I dreamed of nurturing and cherishing for a long time.

I did what I had to do. With my own bare hands I broke their beautiful home. I smashed it and threw away the smithereens. My unfeeling heart cold as stone. I wanted my relationship back.

And I got it back. I saved it at the cost of their home.

And now I watch them, the beautiful pair of pigeons, frantically looking for what was once their home - the money-plant pot in my balcony. They look back at me with sad eyes.

I am full of remorse.

Forgive me, I broke your home.

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