The Obsession Series - Being almost Monica Geller

Dedicated to my sister, Lameez, who called me at the right time, at the right moment. And promised me she wouldn't read this post.

(Which was now :D)


I've thought long and hard to recall a day when I haven't complained about the state our country is in. Oh yeah, I lurve India and all that. But there are many bits and pieces, that I would love to snip out, if not change. And that's the cleanliness. Or rather, the lack of cleanliness.

Ideal Beginning to this story - 
Ever since I was a little girl, I was obsessed about keeping things clean.


Actual Beginning - 
I was such a little brat when it came to being organized. I was an expert at crumbling my clothes and hiding it in all corners of the house, behind the door etc. God alone knows how did I find them. My poor Dad (whom I swear should have been in the army) would bring out the cane to instil some discipline into me, but the cane did indeed make rare appearances.Only because me and my sister (the smart asses that we were) would break cane after cane and hide it behind the refrigerator. :)
Times did change and I can't exactly point out when did I start getting almost obsessed. So much to the point that I couldn't even throw a sweets wrapper outside the window. Yashi, if you're reading this, I changed you, honey :) I did manage to get all my close friends to stop littering the streets. And my brothers thankfully, did not join the clan of spitters/pee'ers on the streets.

This reminds me of an incident I had 3 weeks back. I was munching on Twix (I should probably dedicate an entire post towards my obsession with Twix which will guarantee you respite from insomnia) while waiting for the bus to come. When I put the wrapper into my bag, two guys commented l-o-u-d-l-y - Oh, Avalude oru shuddhi! (Commenting about cleanliness in mockery). If the bus hadn't come then, I would have given them a piece of my mind. And a large one at that.

The worst part - NRIs complain about how dirty the streets and how everything is so perfect back 'home'. Come on, you want a Singapore right here - start building one! We can sit back and complain about the Government not supplying dustbins. Between you and me, we so know that's not happening. So , be smart. And be clean :)

I'm reminded of one of the most beautiful Hadiths -

Narrated Abû Mâlik Al-Hârith bin Âsim Al-Ash’ari: Allah’s Messenger said, “Cleanliness is half of Faith; the utterance of Allah (Al-hamdu lillah – all praise belongs to Allah) fills the scales of good actions; the utterance of Allah (Glory be to Allah and all praise belongs to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth, and Salât (prayer) is light; and charity is the proof of Faith; and endurance is a light, and the Qur’ân is a plea in your favour or against you. Every person begins the morning ready to strike a deal with his soul as a stake; he either ransoms it or puts it into perdition.” (Muslim)

I know that the people who should actually read this are not going to, but as they say, never stop trying!

Issued in Public Interest by The Girl who dreams too much :)

Monica Geller is a F.R.I.E.N.D.S character who is obsessed about keeping things clean.

Quality time, the way I like it.

Not a day goes by when I wish that there were more than 24 hours. 

I've had a good couple of days - Watched a movie that made me cry and read a book that also made me cry.
I rarely get the time to watch movies - and when I do, it's rarely based on filmy stuff. The Help was hands down, one of the best movies I've seen. It's centered around one of the many things we think we know, but far from the reality. Yeah, we've all learned about Racism in 9th grade. But the extent to which it actually was prevalent, had no clue! 5 minutes into the movie, you'll forget that it's actually just a movie.

Madhouse was an eye-opener. To what guys actually are. The book is a collection of memories revolving around the hostel life at IIT in the 80's. Now even though some of the stories were gruesomely disgusting for their sheer content, it did show how a bachelor's life is which my friends have been so desperately trying to hide from girls all their lives. One of the stories was so funny, I was rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes. For those who haven't heard me laugh, you would have to believe me when I say that I can bring the roof down! It's a pretty decent read, which took me back to my hostel days. We had a deadline of 06 30 pm to reach back at the hostel which was broken almost every other day. I was miserable the first few weeks, because my life would start at night when I stayed in an apartment. Don't get me wrong - I'm talking about restaurant and mall-hopping :)

As our luck would have it, our room was the nearest to the warden's. We had to tiptoe at night to fetch water or creep into the other rooms for a late night session - This was a rare occasion for me because I can't reject my bed's invitation later than 10 30 pm. The torch would be someone's Nokia 1100 to skillfully dodge rats. Yes, you read it right. Every night I'd hear the warden scream her lungs out for being the biggest pests she has ever had to deal with and that would equal to me learning more Kannada words. Of course, I've only retained two words in my memory now - Kannada + Gothilla (I don't know Kannada). Birthdays would mean getting drenched and yummilycious cakes. TV times were literally a pain in the ass because all girls would be hooked on to some Saas Bahu serial. Catfights were rare but when they did happen - oh boy, did we have fun or what! Constancy is another thing I learned - For two years, we had the same chapatis. The same chicken curry. And the same everything else. I can still identify the dish from the smell it gives out from a mile away.

Everyday, in our last year, we'd ask each other to imagine what the last day would be like with the room becoming empty. That thought did give me a bit of joy - because I'd see all corners of the room as spotless as it could get! Keeping a room as clean as you wish, when you stay with 4 others is a daunting, if not impossible task. But I knew it would mean the end of my independent life. And I still yearn for those days to this date.