While the family left for Yadagirigutta on Saturday evening to visit to our family deity Lord Narashima Swamy, I stayed back. I spent the Saturday evening preparing myself for an Unusual Sunday that was about to come my way. I was about to get a chance to do all that I have never done on a Sunday. It is not very often that I get a chance to take care of myself at home and also take care of the household chores especially on a Sunday.
Waking up on this Sunday morning, I had a big list of things to do.
- Cleaning the House
It is a great responsibility for me as I have to take care of the floors which have been cleaned, mopped and washed by mother to an extent that they have come to resemble stone mirrors. With a huge task at hand (the portion we live in is quite big), I cleaned it on Saturday evening itself, to assure myself of some good rest. - Washing Utensils
You need to wash some utensils to understand the complexity of washing them at home. Managing the space that is available for keeping the utensils, the washing liquid, cleaning the leftovers and finally using the optimum amount of water to clean the utensils. Did this quite successfully with some previous experience at home coming handy. - Performing Puja
Nothing beats this in my home. A logistical and arrangements nightmare. Very well managed my mother and carefully executed every day without fail. But it was me who had to handle this on a Sunday. And luckily my arrangements from the previous day helped me. - Washing Clothes
Always wonder how my mother manages this particular, rather boring, energy sapping work at home all these years. Having to deal with only two pairs of clothes, it was just a matter of the 15 minute workout in the bathroom. - Buying Vegetables for the Week
I have been trained for this rather complicated assignment for many years now. It took me close to six months initially to figure out how to pick the right vegetables and the right variety. Luckily this exercise was completed in 30 minutes. - Preparing Breakfast
How much I like them? I surprise myself when I gorge on the crispy, wafer thin hot Dosas served with the coconut or groundnut chutney at home. I have never had more than one Dosa at a time in any restaurant till now. Nothing beats home fare. - Make My Lunch
Do this very rarely. Again my mom ensured that I was not to be troubled. All that I had to do was to cook the rice and I did it in the rice cooker. That was so easy.
Sundays have always occupied a special place in our family. It is the day when you are supposed to have Dosas with coconut chutney for breakfast. So much so that any thing else on the menu for a Sunday breakfast makes our stomachs wail in pain. Then the visit to the local market to get the vegetables. Lunch at 2:30 p.m, a nap after the lunch. Watching movies in the evening and an early retreat to bed by 10:30 p.m.
Cooking, cleaning the house and helping my mother and sister with their household chores is something I always liked. But you do not mess with the exclusive rights of mothers and sisters (at least in my case). Mothers take it to their heart if their children are handling too much of their household chores. I am just lucky to have three wonderful ladies all capable of dishing out mouth watering stuff in quick time consistently. I know how proud my mother or sisters feel when someone compliments them on how well I take care of the household chores.
P.S. This is a reworked post. Vinay rightly pointed out that there were many errors in the post. Another reminder to myself to be more careful with the proofing.
Aala Santhosh Reddy 