I woke up in the morning with a question. "What time is it?" This was followed by a series of questions thrown up in the rapid fire format. "Is it time to wake up?" "Can't I sleep for a few more minutes?" "Why has the maid not turned up yet?" "Is she going to be late?" "Am I going to be late?" "Do I really have to go to work today?" "Why is today not a holiday?" "What if I bunk all my plans and sleep up really late?" "What if I wake up with just enough time to get ready and leave for office?"
Finally, my sensible mind intervened and told me "Shut up Kinshuk! Get out of bed and get started!" That was when this thought first seeped in my mind. I realised that the initial two hours of my daily life are so routine and so full of mundane but indispensable issues that they do deserve a place on my blog.
Everyday, I spend the morning asking myself just too many questions. Living alone, I often indulge in monologues with myself, but what I have often observed is that the morning monologues are usually a series of rhetorical questions. Starting from the debate on the right time to wake up (or should I say, Is it the right time to wake up?) to issues like if at all I should cook (or not), whether I should have some breakfast, to what should I wear to work and of course, can I really not bunk office.
A regular day starts with my mind partitioning itself into two compartments, one of which cares for my comfort and pleasure (Read lazy) and the second one takes care of the practical issues. (This is quite similar to how I expect life to shape up post marriage; with me looking after the ‘pleasure’ aspects of life and Aks taking care of all the practical issues :P ) Okay, coming back to my original topic, of course the first debatable issue is about getting out of bed, but since past 3 months this issue has been out of bound for me, courtesy my ever so sincere and punctual house-maid. At times she actually coaxes me to open the door (and even cook). Once out of bed, there are not enough options to squander time and I eventually end up in kitchen.
The next debate of the day is about whether to cook lunch or breakfast or tea or all of them or even better none :P . Again I don’t have to put in much of an effort in reaching a conclusion in this regard. The biggest deciding factor is the availability of time, the next one is availability of resources (Read basic ingredients like ‘Sabji’, ‘Doodh’ and ‘bread’). Finally, the veto power rests with my laziness (which is further facilitated by my excellently cooperative memory, which comfortably forgets the canteen lunch menu for that day and makes me believe that I will surely find some good lunch in office :P ).
Once I am done with part 1 of the basic human requirements of ‘Roti, Kapda and Makaan’ (I must admit my relief that at least I don’t have to worry about the ‘Makaan’ issue on a regular basis :P ), my debatable minds reach the next platter and need a decision on ‘What to wear?’ Ahh! This indeed is a tough question (esp. being a female), with numerous factors to consider before reaching any conclusion. A neat policy of rejection is to be adopted and I start by limiting my options to what all ‘clean’ stuff is available. Second point to be studied is the site conditions ie ‘Will I be spending major portion of time on field or in office?’ ‘Is it a rainy/muddy day, or is it a sunny day, or is it for a change a pleasant day?’ The next query I raise to the practical half is that whether I have sufficient time to iron a dress or should I rather stick to 100% wrinkle free brigade (the lazy-lazy me gives a wide sneer while dragging the practical me into this sub-issue). The veto power in this case goes to the two halves combined because just when they are about to reach a consensus, I confront both of them with the ultimate question “When was the last that I wore it to office? :P.” Even though there aren’t enough females in my office to notice these issues, but I do have a reputation to maintain. :P
By the time these debates are concluded and the decisions are being implemented, I realise that like all PSU projects, I miscalculated the time. The two halves of my mind combine into one and its finally time for the ‘Jugaad’. So finally when I lock my door a little before 9, I often carry a lunch box with ‘sabji and dal’ (My unified mind reasons: Rotis should be eaten hot and should therefore be outsourced to canteen, its not so bad afterall :P). Also I am often carrying two pieces of bread in my hand. (Again my mind defends that there is nothing to be ashamed of, I am eating my breakfast and should not be bothered with the ‘What people might think?’ syndrome.) Last but not the least; I am often wearing some un-ironed dress because afterall the ironed creases last only for the first 15 minutes. :D
