It has been a crazy week plus, and I haven't been able to find time for this space!
Among other things, I wrote this article that got published on Womensweb today. I had to fit the writing of it around a score of other things that I had to do.
A nephew has landed his first job in the city, and he and his mother, my sister-in-law were here for a week. She and I (with nephew and kid in tow if it was a holiday) would start out after breakfast everyday to scout for a place to stay for him. In the process, I learnt one thing- houses built here by the house-owner's design are terrible in terms of layout, ventilation, natural light, spaciousness, basic plumbing facilities, width of staircases that lead up to the topmost floor on which the 'house to rent' is usually placed, as an addendum to the independent house in which the landlord stays...the list could go on.
My pet peeve is the positioning of toilet/bathrooms. One gets inside the main door, and a door to one side immediately opens to a toilet. Followed by the kitchen, and then another room next to it. This is what Sangi had to say about this strange (to my Mumbai mind- we don't mind small rooms, but need the main door to open into a living room!): It has do something with the fact that most South Indians need to wash their feet immediately on stepping into the house- a reason for the bad design!
I have also gone sari-shopping (GASP) with the sis-in-law who has bought some breathtakingly beautiful saris for what seems to my mind an obscene amount of money. Sigh! The books that I could have bought for that, or the people who could have been fed!
Both A and I have thoroughly enjoyed this visit by extended family. A has been having a wonderful time bonding with them, something she misses so much being an only child, and most of our relations in Mumbai or elsewhere.
4 comments:
Wah! ekdum good good girl you became!
Oh please thank Sangi for that explanation...I never understood that design till date..like you mention, give me a small house, but the main door has to open to the living room :)
LOL on gasping at the saree shopping..clothes are getting really expensive na :(
'were' here? you mean you guys found a place?
Yeah, the result sucks, whatever the reason.
You have patience! Sari shopping and all. Good (too good!) bahu alright! :-D
@RM:):)
@Choxbox: Sis-in-law left the morning of my writing the post, nephew was here till Sunday- We haven't found a suitable house yet, so he has moved in with a friend of his who is here for a while now. A stop-gap arrangement since it is quite far from nephew's office. Will be hosting sis-in-law's family more frequently now that her son is here, and given that his home will be bachelor quarters!
Sangi: Tell me about it. Actually, I quite enjoyed looking at the saris and helping her choose- alright when I am not spending good money on something that will be worn just a few times, and adds no value to me or my child! Just wish that it hadn't turned out to be an all-day activity. My feet were protesting after sari-shopping from 10am to 7pm!
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