Rosa's Verse Kitchen

I am a packrat(not the actual rat,but figuratively). I keep every bit of paper, card, pen, refill, pencil stub……. And so the list goes. Whatever I got from others I have kept it. My cupboards are crammed with things. I know, people say we should not give importance to material things, we should be spiritual, blah,blah,blah…But sometimes these things that we keep, insignificant as they are, they cheer us up(somewhat).When you think about it, are they useful? No. But something just keeps me from throwing them out. Recently, I took a decision to clear out a few things (no easy task, mind you). So started my crusade to rid myself of my packrat label. It was like hacking through a jungle. Pulling up stuff from under, reaching inside the corners, separating things which you didn’t think can stick. And all the while, having some sneezing bouts.

So, after a kerchief around my nose, kinda bandit-ish and a lot of work(a whole lot of work) later, the cupboards were clean. I had a smile on face. Phew! At last! The cupboards were clean. But my smile was a bit premature. I turned around and was greeted by a big pile! A huge pile of trivial possessions. The “Phew!” that I released, came back in full speed and settled in my throat. Ah, well! I started this. Might as well finish it.

One of the benefits of being a packrat is that you’ll find many things which you lost awhile back. Like my game and watch which I thought I lost. Wow, almost feel bad for accusing my bro for stealing that.

Has anyone seen mouldy money? I have. I found some rupee notes which were covered with mould(Talk about ‘pootha kaasu’. Eeww! That one was disgusting). I can’t throw these away. It is money, after all.

Aww! I found the B’day gifts which I got in college. Cannot throw them away. Too many memories.

What about the shampoos and lotions? Whoa! This one expired in 1995? Yuck! Thump! Into the dustbin it goes followed by some more of the half finished and barely touched lotions & shampoos.

Then came some bills. Ok! Ok! Not some bills, but a pile of bills. Hmm! Lets see-Anns bakery, Anns bakery, Ladies Store, DC Books, Anns Bakery, Archies, Anns Bakery, Anns bakery, Varkeys Supermarket, Anns Bakery, DC books, Anns Bakery, Anns Bakery ……..I know what you are thinking.

How come I didn’t have any bills from Jocees bakery, right?

So on and on I rummaged, sorted, categorized. Then came the treasure. And what a treasure it was. Just the discovery of this one made me forget all the trouble and hard work. It was my bundle of greeting cards. These I kept safe and sound for a long time. Nowadays I don’t get greeting cards, only e-cards(which are not bad, except for the fact that they are not accessible after 65 days). It felt wonderful to go through all those beautiful greeting cards. Cards from family, friends, classmates who I can’t even remember now. It lifted up my spirits. All the while I sorted through them, I had a stupid grin on my face. Those cards were so beautiful. Some had music, some had chubby babies, some had talcum powder inside them(it was during the anthrax scare-by the way, talcum powder can become mouldy) some had flowers, teddy bears, bunnies, santas, reindeers, infant jesus, nativity and so it goes on. Fact is, it felt great knowing that, some time or the other, these people liked me enough to go to all the trouble of sending me a piece of paper with a picture on it. I had to keep them. They were too dear to my heart to throw away.

And so I continued with my clearing out process. It took me a long while to do it, but I did it. In the end, the dust bin was not full like I expected. It held only some bottles of lotions and shampoos and some bills. The rest? Well, the rest ended up back in my cupboards, but in an organized manner. Still cramped, still full, my sweet insignificant memory ties!