I am in a mood of precision and decided to do an objective type blogging where in I identify the exact take away, without much weaving around in elaboration.
Here's random things I learned during my home redo that spawned over a month, and is still work in progress in random order, though they are numbered for effect
#1 - The most comforting of foods is not a delicacy. It is not dessert either - it is the simple, unadulterated meal, served off the stove, piping hot. It could be vegetable broth for all I care. Hot, freshly made if it is. (A takeaway from heating food in the microwave and eating it cold sometimes, when the situation demanded)
#2 - The biggest of our blessings are the most underrated ones. (A takeaway from the surprise hot tea a friend made and brought me in a thermos. It stayed hot for a good six hours. Imagine the comfort that slipped through an aggravated throat amid all the dust mites. Thank God for true friends and thoughtfulness)
#3 - A good chunk of our Bollywood, Tollywood music is, ahem, plagiarized - form Spanish music. (It is weird how many of those songs those workers blared in their phones as they worked away, sounded like something native I had heard somewhere , rest in peace - my quest for originality)
#4 - Humanity is a universal language. Though most of the helpers on the job didn't speak a word of English, they graciousness is something that touched and humbled me.
#5 - A space of your own is the biggest blessing - be it a shack or a palace, if you have your space, your privacy and your freedom to be yourself in your jammies, with hair marinating in coconut oil, piled up on your head like a rat's nest, while you sip your morning tea and giggle silly with your toddler. (Take away from having an army of men swarming in every nook and cranny, making me feel like I am in a public dorm, sharing space with a dozen strangers)
#6 - Everyone has a story, a life lesson, some wisdom to impart (Take away from the the struggles a few of them who knew how to manage a conversation in English shared with me)
#7 - Music is magic. It heals, it peps, it soothes, it inspires and it makes you pretend like a symphony conductor while spinning your Philips screw driver in thin air, with closed eyes, while immersed in a Mozart rendition (take away from watching the old man Pedro, that loved listening to western classical music like a zen monk in meditation, while he did odd jobs around the work site.
#8 - People are endearing, amusing and utterly considerate if we care to stop and stare (Take away from noticing a heavily wrapped something doing the rounds in my microwave - it was Roberto's (the main contractor) way of being respectful of the fact that I let him use my 'strictly vegetarian' microwave to heat up his meat dish. I was planning to do a thorough clean up because I didn't want them to eat cold food - but was smiling when I saw how thoughtful they were of my finickiness.
"It won't smell now Senora" He beamed when he saw me observing him :-)
#9 - We are all born to be happy. But as we grow, the world gets to us (take away from noticing my darling three year old dousing in dust, feeding herself bread crumbs in lieu of spongy idlis and perfectly puffed rotis - all while bursting into a sing dance routine or engaging herself in an elaborate pretend play, enacting the workers she'd been intently watching all these days.
#10 - Everything is learning. Be it good, bad, ugly, challenging or awe inspiring - if we look at life with the right perspective, we can make the best of everything. We can connect with people that have nothing in common with us and we can live. And learn.
I have a lot more that would come - but here's a wrap. For there's more to catch up in my Semusing updation.
Here's random things I learned during my home redo that spawned over a month, and is still work in progress in random order, though they are numbered for effect
#1 - The most comforting of foods is not a delicacy. It is not dessert either - it is the simple, unadulterated meal, served off the stove, piping hot. It could be vegetable broth for all I care. Hot, freshly made if it is. (A takeaway from heating food in the microwave and eating it cold sometimes, when the situation demanded)
#2 - The biggest of our blessings are the most underrated ones. (A takeaway from the surprise hot tea a friend made and brought me in a thermos. It stayed hot for a good six hours. Imagine the comfort that slipped through an aggravated throat amid all the dust mites. Thank God for true friends and thoughtfulness)
#3 - A good chunk of our Bollywood, Tollywood music is, ahem, plagiarized - form Spanish music. (It is weird how many of those songs those workers blared in their phones as they worked away, sounded like something native I had heard somewhere , rest in peace - my quest for originality)
#4 - Humanity is a universal language. Though most of the helpers on the job didn't speak a word of English, they graciousness is something that touched and humbled me.
#5 - A space of your own is the biggest blessing - be it a shack or a palace, if you have your space, your privacy and your freedom to be yourself in your jammies, with hair marinating in coconut oil, piled up on your head like a rat's nest, while you sip your morning tea and giggle silly with your toddler. (Take away from having an army of men swarming in every nook and cranny, making me feel like I am in a public dorm, sharing space with a dozen strangers)
#6 - Everyone has a story, a life lesson, some wisdom to impart (Take away from the the struggles a few of them who knew how to manage a conversation in English shared with me)
#7 - Music is magic. It heals, it peps, it soothes, it inspires and it makes you pretend like a symphony conductor while spinning your Philips screw driver in thin air, with closed eyes, while immersed in a Mozart rendition (take away from watching the old man Pedro, that loved listening to western classical music like a zen monk in meditation, while he did odd jobs around the work site.
#8 - People are endearing, amusing and utterly considerate if we care to stop and stare (Take away from noticing a heavily wrapped something doing the rounds in my microwave - it was Roberto's (the main contractor) way of being respectful of the fact that I let him use my 'strictly vegetarian' microwave to heat up his meat dish. I was planning to do a thorough clean up because I didn't want them to eat cold food - but was smiling when I saw how thoughtful they were of my finickiness.
"It won't smell now Senora" He beamed when he saw me observing him :-)
#9 - We are all born to be happy. But as we grow, the world gets to us (take away from noticing my darling three year old dousing in dust, feeding herself bread crumbs in lieu of spongy idlis and perfectly puffed rotis - all while bursting into a sing dance routine or engaging herself in an elaborate pretend play, enacting the workers she'd been intently watching all these days.
#10 - Everything is learning. Be it good, bad, ugly, challenging or awe inspiring - if we look at life with the right perspective, we can make the best of everything. We can connect with people that have nothing in common with us and we can live. And learn.
I have a lot more that would come - but here's a wrap. For there's more to catch up in my Semusing updation.
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