tales of Suchita

My mom has this saying, especially when either of her daughters shock her, “Ye kahan se seekha? Humne toh nahin sikhaya.”

I love it because it tells me that irrespective of genetics, nurturing, gentle teachings and dire warnings, I still have some power to create my own quirky habits – that sometimes drives my family wild.

So, to know if I have been somewhere, without physically seeing me, you only need to look for the following signs:

Sign 1: A week-long stack of clean clothes on the ledge. I will not put away those clothes unless that stack becomes an eye-sore.

Sign 2: A closed tap if you’re washing bartan with an open one. I am allergic to the sound of running water. I will close the tap and my sister and mom have been known to scream at me because they find it “inconvenient.” Well, I find wasting water inconvenient.

Sign 3: A clean desktop. I legitimately have only the Recycle Bin on my desktop. I would probably not have even that if I were allowed to delete it.

Sign 4: Files and folders organized to within an inch of their life. I love organizing stuff so my files on my desktop are so heavily archived, sometimes I cannot make sense of my own system. For example, my “Writings” folder has works organized in the form of done, WIP, not working, short stories and different folders for the novels I’m constantly in the middle of writing.

Sign 5: A journal and a black Uniball pen. Ever since I found myself in need of my journal when I was in Sri Lanka because on some days, only putting pen to paper can help calm the chaos that is my mind, I have taken to carrying a small journal and a black Uniball pen in my purse every time I travel. I am mentioning the brand because I adore their pens and have them in at least six colours.

Sign 6: Bare walls and room, with barely any personal touches. I have always lived in rented apartments and the last time I had a bulletin board to stick stuff on it, I was twelve. Even though I have lived in my own house for the past seven years, the only personalization my sister and I have done to our room is select our curtains, wallpaper and bedsheets. Though I love the idea of those quirky looking boards, paintings, etc that I have seen in other peoples’ bedrooms, we haven’t gotten around to actually decorating our bedroom.

Sign 7: A well-made bed. I love making the bed. There is something about smoothening out the rumpled bedsheets and covering it with a colourful bed cover that I find is the perfect start to my day.

Sign 8: Irreverent patterns, colours and prints. I love buying colourful things with unique, weird or loud patterns. I have a beaded pouch in the shape of an elephant. I love buying graphic tees and if it has flowers on it, chances are, I will buy it.

Now, it’s over to you. Tell me a sign that screams “you” even without your physical presence.

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This is written as part of #BlogchatterHalfMarathon