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HOME ALONE
No this is not the fourth sequel to the movie by the same name but my own edition.
Somehow I’ve always been excited at the prospect of being Home Alone. Something that turns
the adrenalin on. The things that one can do when Home Alone.
Setting aside the frenetic week-end, let’s just visualize a typical Monday morning in a woman’s
life. What a luxury! The man of the house has just left. (Shedding all his baggage, remember?) Kids
are all off to school. You have the entire house to yourself. You first take in this luxurious feel, spending
a few relaxed moments. And then you start your day. Your actual day, I mean. On your own terms, at
your own pace. Wonderful na?
Step in, Housewife. Ever since realization has dawned, I’ve always wondered why so many of
us, when queried ‘Are you working?’, promptly reply ‘No, I’m a housewife.’ On second thoughts, don’t
you agree that it’s not only erroneous but quite crazy too? If only we were to remind ourselves of the
near 24x7 multi-tasking that we could do when the situation demands, we would instead respond to
such a query by emphasising, ‘Yes, I’m a housewife.’
So now as the morning advances on this said Monday, the antiquated housewife makes room
for the homemaker. She gets down to brass tacks, restoring her house into a home, dealing with all
the nitty-gritties of keeping her home functional. She gets not only the rooms of her house but also the
‘rooms’ of the upper decks of her being in order. Meditation or yoga, prayer or introspection, call
it what you will. It is your Time Alone that builds you up, edifies you. It is this invaluable space that
helps prop you up as the pillar of strength, the waste disposal outlet, the boxing-pad, or whatever it
is that your loved ones look out for. It is this space indeed that helps one in making a house a
home. Isn’t home where the heart is? Isn’t home, not only where you live, but where they understand
you?
Did I say I’ve always been excited at the prospect of being Home Alone? Well, not really. As the
noon progresses the excitement wanes. One look at the clock and I’m excited at the prospect of being
joined by loved ones in a couple of hours. So I need to get my act together. It’s time now for the
Domestic Engineer to take charge. Supper and strategies innumerable need to be ‘designed’, various
plans are orchestrated.
Making the best of resources at hand, of time and energy; of moods and preferences
arid of idiosyncrasies and limitations, one sets about to re-create the ambience for Home Sweet
Home.
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- Nita Abraham (Delhi)