house

for those of you who know what my current obsession is, no, this post isnt related to it. for those of you who dont, wait for a post on it. coming up REAL soon.

yesterday when i was on skype with niyu, she said something that really struck a chord with me. it articulated perfectly what i feel. something that has often just left me wondering, in amazement, unable to put down in words what im feeling.

she said having a home of your own is like playing house -- except its for real. when we were kids, we'd play house. and niyu and i took it to great lengths to make it realistic. dolls, kitchen sets and dolls houses were passe. we wanted the real deal. so we'd take utensils from my mums kitchen, hijack the utility and convert it into a mini house, drape on mums old saris, concoct dangerous mixtures with sand, water and leaves, pretending to be cooking.

one summer we took it one notch higher and occupied my neighbours house. they were in the states on a 2 month long vacation, and handed over their keys to my folks. nobody knew, but everyday niyu and i would go there, and spend hours playing house -- IN THEIR HOUSE. using their kitchen as our play kitchen, their dining table to eat out play meals, their beds to sleep at play bedtime. i dont recall ever being caught.

playing house was serious business as far as i can remember.

15 years later, i suddenly realise that my reality is a bit like a repeat of playing house. except its REAL. its the reality version of the exact same things we did when we played house. planned meals, went shopping, cooked, cleaned, napped, watched tv, gossiped, waited for husbands. and it was such fun. much like it is in real life.