DECLUTTERING THE NON-ESSENTIALS

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 It was Sunday. I hoped the world would stand still, and I would not be required to get out of bed. I had never been so lazy on Sundays, except when I had to reduce my cabinet to essentials.

Each shelf meant a separate row for each variety of apparel that belonged to me. The sarees would stand still, supported by the hangers on the right corner. The jeans were supposed to be hung down too, while the t-shirts were to sit quietly near them. The salwar-kameez and the kurtis would lie happily on the lower shelves. And the office attire, consisting of trousers and shirts, would be in a descreet section inside my three-door almirah.

These were the images of the wardrobe inside my head.

In reality,

The sarees were clumsily stacked one upon the other. The jeans, salwars, kurtis, and T-shirts were crammed inside two shelves like a mixed vegetable dish. It took me so much pain each morning to search for the correct pair, and every day, I was determined to declutter my wardrobe early the next Sunday. And when Sunday arrived, I would lazily toss it to the next weekend.

I remember trying to push this tedious labour on my maid, which had repercussions similar to the fights between a mother-in-law and her bahu, ‘dekho didi, ye sab nahi hoga mujhse. Time nahi mere pas.’ Sometimes I wondered who the maid was. Her or me? Also, I adored her audacity to deny it so blatantly on my face with so much rudeness, knowing her worth in my life. What if I could inculcate some 10% of those guts in me in my workplace, where I would slog off day and night without speaking up for my rights, considering that would have negative consequences on my annual appraisal?

The fact highlighted that she knew her replacement hunt was painstaking for me, while there were thousands to push me away in my office.

Phew!!!

Stressed.

Today was Sunday. It was 7 in the morning. I rigidly pushed myself out of bed. I made some coffee, read the newspaper, and geared up for the big task of the day. As soon as I opened the door of my almirah, all that was stacked above started cascading on my head one after the other. The next moment, I realized I was canopied with a cloud of clothes. It encircled me horizontally and vertically like a gust of sandy wind.

It took me hours to sort out everything kept inside the cabinet. I realized I was not even wearing many of those. Some were donated to my feisty maid who took them happily home, ‘Oh didi! Aap bhi na. Beranded kapde sab de dia mujhe.’ Some, I considered for my home attire, and the rest, which did not fit me or her anymore, were to be distributed among the needy.

At the end, the wardrobe looked fanciful, beautiful, and classy.

The next morning, when I hurriedly dressed up for the office, I realized it was my exclusive almirah and nobody else's. I was not used to praising an uncluttered almirah often. This made my Monday morning beautiful, unlike the usual gloomy ones. And now staring at my wardrobe, I aimed to unclutter the upheavals of my life.

 A fantastic feeling!!!

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