Har ghar yeh keheta hai, andar isme kaun reheta hai!

I feel these lines from a popular paint advt are written especially for a person like me! I really don't care much about immaculate cleaning and dusting type of work since I'm not one of those 'log-kya-kahenge-if-I-don't...types'. I'm okay with little bit of dust on the windows or little bit of grease in the kitchen; isn't this what differentiates a home from a house!!! More so, because of my dust allergy that I'm prone to, now it's reached a maturity level where Cetrizine, Allegro, Actifed or Alerid hardly have any effect. At the same time I've no option but do these 'detestable' things, well if I don't take care of my house who else will? When such a thought crosses my mind I immediately de-prioritize my other activites and get down to brooms, brushes, sprays and cleaners. Of course, I regularly act upon such thoughts, sometimes inevitably, there could be a long gap where I need to concentrate on my core activites.

Who would not want his or her house to look tidy, neat and clean! Though not a finicky spick-and-span-clean-home type, I get into a cleaning spree when I can't take the dust anymore on window grill, ceiling fans or other things in the house. Our windows are sliding-type but the grills and glass panes are peculiarly placed. Cleaning the glass is almost impossible without some specially designed brushes or sprays. I usually insert my hand through the grill and brush it from outside. After a while my hand begins to hurt. What a design! I keep cursing the architect for having thought so little about window design and usability. On some windows that face the road, the dust settles stubbornly. There is very little space between the grill and the glasspane; here only a vacuum cleaner can help. And for people like me who cannot hold the vaccum cleaner for a long time, it adds to my woes. I get a peculiar pain in my forehand my I hold the vaccuming pipe for long. My windows can never look immaculate, no matter how much I try to clean them, the outer side is simply is not reachable. Why can't things be made simple?

This time I had another challenge. This had to do with the wooden unit on which we have placed our TV and music system. When I got this unit custom-made I insisted on a 'wireless' look behind these entertainment gadgets. I wanted all those ugly and dangling cables and wires to be hidden behind the equipment so that it looks neat. What about cleaning! I don't think I gave it a serious thought, otherwise I would have made some provision for easy way to disconnect and remove it while cleaning. This was a real painstaking task. Removing the TV and keeping it back was not that bad, however pushing and pulling the wires through a single hole at the back of the central unit-top demanded some real gymastic skills. I had to repeatedly bend and get into the compartment below, often hurting my back as I had no idea how I could bend so low and then push the wire from under the hole and so on! The problem took a grave turn when I had to fix the music system. The speakers wires had to be pulled in from tiny hole in the central unit. I'm sure these holes were made adhoc by the carpenter when he realised the length of the speaker wires was not that long. There was no way I could move the central unit, the wires had to be first placed into the hole and pulled in ... what a pain!!! the speakers had to be connected to the music system and then the main plug of the system had to be pushed out from the hole behind. How could I not think of any of these issues when this great piece was made ? I wondered, feeling helpless. Finally I managed to put things in order and checked if the wires were connected properly. It did!! Wow! Now I was able to relax, watch TV, play music... slowly I sensed the pain again, every part of my body began to ache, severe muscular pain, it was agnozing to say the least. A lovely Sunday was lost lying on the sofa, I simply could not get up, even after a Brufen tablet and some Myolaxin.