Vinaigrette

Taking advantage of my break, I decided to indulge in some spring-cleaning and re-organising of my cupboards. My wardrobe was an easy task, since it rarely gets disorganised and a cleaning mission merely means putting the already neat stacks of clothes into neater stacks so they do not cross the invisible frontiers between them (I know I'm a freak, don't look at me like that!).

My study however is a different matter all together - it took me the better half of the day. A tiring task, but an extremely satisfying one, at the end of which I discovered treasures from my childhood. Stickers my father had brought back for me from Germany when I was ten years old - Papa would get back Staedtler colour pencils, felt-pens, stickers and other stationary for me on each of his trips to Europe. Back then, in the late 80s and early 90s such stuff was not easily available and I treasured each thing Papa brought back for me. The way I was brought up, the stuff was not given to me directly. They used to be kept in the cupboard in our living room which housed all the stationary used in the house. Whenever I wanted to use the stickers, I would ask Amma and she would open the cupboard, a treasure trove in my eyes, and let me choose. There were no restrictions, but I knew I couldn't waste them and I shouldn't go around randomly sticking them just anywhere I so pleased.

There are at least five complete sheets left and a couple more with a few stickers remaining. My bhabhi was shocked when I told her how long back Papa had bought them for me and even more when I calmly told her that I still have the Caran D'Ache felt-pens he got me from Switzerland when I was 14. Assuming I had kept them as a souvenir, as I have with several things Papa had gifted me over the years, she shrugged it off, only to stare at me with her jaws dropped when I pulled them out and proceeded to use them a little later in the evening. I wouldn't say I was a frugal and miserly child who did not use the stuff because of its "special" value. I used them - I've always enjoyed doing creative stuff so all the things I had were put to their maximum use, but I was also taught how to take care of my things and to use them in the right way so they lasted long and were not wasted. My parents firmly believed that creativity was tested not by using in carefree abundance the resources at hand, but by making the most of what one had and learning to recycle and produce something beautiful...something that has stayed with me till date.

This evening after giving some of those stickers to my nephew, I watched in horror as he immediately and carelessly stuck them on his cupboard. He is still very young and the notions of making things last and taking care of his belongings haven't really formed completely in his head, but I wondered if he will ever be taught to use things the way I was taught by my parents and the way most of my contemporaries were taught by theirs. I wondered if I'll be able to pass on the same habits to my nephews and (possible) children...and then wondered if the habits have the same value today, as they did in my childhood...

Musing over how times have changed, I wondered whether I envy my nephew his childhood...and close on the heels of the realisation that I do not envy him the least bit, came the realisation that slowly and steadily I am ageing. I'd like to think like good wine, but I sometimes wonder if it isn't more like sour vinegar!