Moving Tales

     June 2016

               

(Source: Google)

I had relocated earlier to Chennai and Mohali, but never has it been so exhausting and painful as it was this time around. I guess that’s the difference between shifting clothes and shifting an entire house !! It took me close to two weeks to pack our stuff and it never ceased to amaze me every single day how much stuff two people could accumulate in a span of one year!! This relocation was similar to spring cleaning. I remember Ma, Aaru and I used to do a massive cleaning up exercise every year (with Dad as usual claiming each single paper was of national importance ;). Nevertheless we did manage to bring semblance of sanity and I intend to carry on the yearly tradition (excluding hubby's study of course :P)

              

I always wondered why the things I love have taken me to cities that I never wanted to go - World Bank @ Chennai; ISB @ Mohali (all I ever wanted at that time was to come back to Hyderabad!). After Herculean efforts I finally found a job in Hyderabad, found a Hyderabadi guy too ;). And now on my way to Mumbai, am reminded of the saying...

              

(Source: Google)

As a kid, I only remember living in our independent house with a sprawling garden and spacious rooms. And to be honest, people's description of the old dilapidated houses in Mumbai scared me. Apprehensively I started my search online, and this research gave me a pretty good idea. Without the hassle of brokers, we zeroed in on our dream home in Thane and finalized it within a day,  having fallen in love with the view from the house - you might call it the Austrian hangover ;) "The hills are alive with the sound of music":D

Moving from a furnished home to an unfurnished one (that too half the size) made me really look for space efficient furniture. I was amazed at the options available (storage beds with shelves et al); and for a person who hasn't shopped online till date, I ended up buying all furniture online! And while setting up the house,  I had to manage with a 'no nails policy', not an easy task considering that I have a photo frame for every occasion ;) But we found spaces, nooks and corners and I fit in a puja mandir as well :)

Within two of weeks of shifting, we were all set. Ma came and helped in the first week and Aaru in the second week. Family times and dinners are always fun, but I cherish the fact that each relocation phase has given me the chance to spend so much of time with each of them separately… Dad in Chennai, Aaru in Hyderabad and Ma in Mumbai. Setting up the house has its fair share of adventures as well - I remember that time in Chennai when Dad got me a dressing table that was a full length mirror hung near the window with an inverted carton acting as the dressing table stand! ; and that time in Hyderabad when Prudhvi, Aaru and I repaired the curtain rod like 3 mad scientists in action :D ; and me and Ma going ga ga over shopping in Mumbai:)

Quitting my job has given me ample time to savor things and new avatars - I quite like my gruhini avatar of setting up the home and cooking for a change. I am a voracious reader and am so enjoying all this time reading, watching tv and playing games like there's no tomorrow. It has also given me time to figure out a healthy diet - till now, the general rule of my eating habits was that if I liked something, you can be pretty sure its completely useless from a health perspective ;). But on a serious note, some serious vitamin deficiencies made me realize that I better not take this aspect of my life lightly anymore.  I married a man who says “delicious” to everything I cook, but there was definitely something vital missing - proteins (obvious, considering that I don't even eat egg). I know that's the doctor’s wife talking :P. I just cannot sit for hours in the kitchen and cook, so that’s the reason I love cooking in the microwave. And my latest purchase, an induction base pressure cooker, is definitely God's gift to girls like me. Now I make a different dal everyday, even with the leaves and veggies we don't like, and voila - taste buds as well as doctor hubby are satisfied :)

Its just been two months since we relocated and already I keep hearing surprised conversations that I haven't taken up a job yet. I keep telling people I am yet to be fully resurrected :P.. Plus you are talking about a candidate whose job search always coincides with global recession.. Lol.  Albeit on a serious note, firstly, I believe taking a sabbatical is essential - a break is refreshing and rejuvenating. Secondly, his current job is so hectic and his timings so erratic, I sometimes wonder if we could have set up the house at all if I also had rushed into a new job in a new place. And I like it that I have been able to stick to a schedule and manage without a maid (an absolute impossibility going by the gasps of astonishment I hear when people come to know of this ;).

I want to take time off till his career stabilizes, and not because of any gender based role - to be honest, in the first year of marriage, he was the one working from home and managing as I had a crazy schedule. I believe that both partners should not be in a state of flux at the same time, each one should give one another time and space and if necessary take a backseat while the other person stabilizes – finding the equilibrium like Yin and Yang. And finally, most importantly, both of us are not the asset creating type but the experiential spending type, for instance,we are already debating our next travel destination whereas buying a home is not on the list. And on that note, am going to turn that page, literally (currently am reading War of the Worlds) and figuratively (remember, the world is a book my friend).