Ready To Learn

Its strange that since our work/data is now stored in a digital form, the importance of spring cleaning seems to have reduced. Here in India, other than spring, its the days leading up to Divali (a major festival usually at the start of winters) that sees all households in the throes of a major clean up. Wardrobes, shoe racks, store rooms, kitchen stores and so on all get a thorough make over often with a coat of paint as well. Tons of faded/torn/outdated/outgrown clothes are either given away to the needy or some are possibly recycled into mops/dusters. 

Yet I find that our digital 'storage' too must be cleaned occasionally. While it may not be necessary to 'throw away' things, data may need to be transferred into another format or some such 'geeky' treatment. 

Here is another post that has emerged out of my e-spring cleaning of the October 2007 vintage!

.....

This has been a difficult week for me. Reason? I was finding it really difficult to procure a particular soap bar. Elementary, you may as well say like the legendary Sherlock Holmes. But there was a huge barrier.

Seeing the deteriorating state of my kadahis my domestic help recommended a particular brand to get them to sparkle. “None of this fancy stuff you bring is any good,” she said. However she did not know its name. Seeing my confusion she helpfully described the product to me.

So I set off to the local shop confident of making a purchase. What happened was totally surprising. The shopkeeper was completely foxed by what I was asking for. Any fancy description seemed to draw a blank.

Finally I began with the description I had of the soap. I wanted a bar with a picture of a lemon on it! It had to have a particular fragrance. It was specifically meant for aluminium vessels. This brought strange looks from everyone on both sides of the store counter. I seemed like an educated lady, had come out of a car and here I was describing a brand like an illiterate person! I went from shop to shop with this description but no one could provide me the 'right' stuff. I did not even know what right was anymore. Did we really have such a large range of cleaning products? Then why could I not find one for my kadahi?

Here I was a self-proclaimed celebrated hostess, shopaholic, mall savvy and alert consumer who could not get one bar of soap. My ego thoroughly deflated I picked up the first one I was offered at the 10^th shop and returned home. 

‘This is not the one’ she pronounced.

I gave up. I told her to get a wrapper from somewhere and I showed the shop keeper to give me the kadahi panacea. The joy I felt that day was something I had not felt even when I had managed to pick up the rare kantha sari at the monsoon sale!

The struggle was worth it because my utensils are sparkling now! Lesson Learnt: Keep an open mind and learn from everybody. There is no substitute for experience and recommendations from such a person will invariably make a positive change.

Age should not be a barrier but mental attitude can be. Overcome it and open your mind there is a wealth of learning waiting for us!

NOTE:

Kadahi: Wok

Kantha: A type of embroidery from India's West Bengal state 

Best!

Archana