Laundress

Image Source

A large pile of dried clothes is staring back at me to be folded. Another dirty heap is accumulating in the laundry basket. One more lot is drying in the hanger forever. Have you ever hoped the clothes can get folded itself?

I enjoy sniffing the freshly dried clothes. I use generous dose of fabric conditioner just to satiate my sensory pleasure. I don't believe their claim of keeping clothes soft and wrinkle-free. Setting dirty laundry into the washing machine is the only easier part. You need an immense level of patience to entangle them before putting it out to dry. I sun dry only bed spreads, blankets, duvet, towels, and mats. Rest of them will be hanged inside. I wash them in the evening so they will be bone dried by morning. Since the railings are higher I take hubby's help on this particular chore. And I don't forget to mention "couple who dry clothes together stay together".

My extended family is aghast when I told them I wash clothes only thrice a week. Some were very curious about the specifics. It was a sight to behold when I mentioned we put our undies to the machine. Later I was told none of them would put their appliance to such an impiety. Pardon me for metaphorically washing my dirty laundry here.

As hubby wears formals to office, those shirts' cuff and collar needs to be cleansed separately before machine washing. It hardly takes 5 to 10 minutes, but getting to do that needs a herculean will power. No matter who does the chores. We both feel the same.

And most dried clothes stay in the guest room. Since I've the work station there I get to see them continuously. Do you know how much time consuming it is to fold socks, undies, hankies? Since two of us cohabitate the fabric needs to be arranged separately. Sometimes when guests arrive unexpectedly I just grab all clothes and dump in the cupboard. At that particular time this method was life saving. But you will realize the impact of that hurriedness only much later when you try to find a matching socks.

Because I wear casuals to work (pre-corona era) I don't have to iron them. And hubby's clothes are outsourced for pressing. This is the laundry woes of just two people. Imagine the plight of pre-washing machine generation. While conversing about these things Ammamma never forgets to mention we Millennials have easy way out. If this is the smooth sailing what I'm complaining of? Are we inherently a generation of somnolent or is it just me?

The Month That Was March-2021

Image Source

It is exactly a year since Corona wrecked havoc on mankind. Yes, it started way back in December 2019, but we Indians felt its presence only in early March after the 15-days states'curfew followed by unplanned nationwide lockdown. while randomly chating with friends I asked anybody is interested in meet-up. To my utter shock everyone readily agreed. This must be the fastest planned get-together and executed effortlessly. Same goes with meeting one of Hubby's friends and family. This month also marks one in first of hanging out with Y.B and SIL sans nephew A. One notable thing here is none of them tired us with their kids'shenanigans until asked about. Maybe it is a conscious decision on their part considering our childfree status. Or maybe they want to converse something different other than the kids.

Due to the busy social life we could watch only two movies, Act 1978 (Kannada) and The Trail of Chicago (English). And 'The Crown' seasons continued. Exactly a year ago we had to cancel the show 'Pukkate Salahe' due to curfew. Incidentally we started visiting theater for the same drama this month.

The books I've read this month are "A Gentleman in Moscow-Amor Towels, The Beekeeper of Aleppo-Christy Lefteri, Pachinko-Min Jin Lee, Home Before Dark-Riley Sager; and Sparkling Cyanide-Agatha Christie. In the begining of this year I made a conscious choice to pick books set in different parts of the world. There is a famous saying in Kannada 'Desha Nodu Kosha Odu' (Travel the world-read books). Since traveling is restricted I metaphorically transport to these countries to hear about the stories. I've even zeroed down on where to stay when in Moscow. It maybe entirely different establishment now, but since it is functional still why not get a sneak-peak into Count Alexander Rostov's life. My tryst with #christiechallenge2021 continued with 'Sparkling Cyanide'.

 I couldn't give much time to gardening. As much as I love seeing greenery around maintainting plants is a difficult task and it needs constant nourishment, pruning, repotting. The only plants flourishing without doing anything on my part are aloeveras. With little water and more sunlight, they thrive astoundingly. I think I need to learn better time management skills to pursue many unrealistic hobbies of mine.

March has been kind. Hoping for a peaceful April.