Ever wondered how some things in the house go "missing" and despite deploying thorough search warrants along with sniffer dogs (ok, maybe not sniffer dogs), the thing remains elusive. And one fine day, while a search warrant is being deployed for a different misplaced item, pop! there you find the first misplaced thing staring right in your face as though shaming you by saying, "I was here only all the time. Too bad you lost sleep over me!" But of course the timing of things going amiss and emerging suddenly from dark alleys is always disproportional to the urgency of the need.
I have been the eternal "loser" of erasers, pencils, sharpeners, water-bottles and tiffin boxes when in school. It was as though I had no control of myself when it came to "forgetting" to take these back home. Had I saved the money spent on the fines that I have paid to retrieve the "lost belongings", I would've had a size-able amount in my kitty by now. I have tried hard to shrug off this careless nature in me and become more responsible in my school life. But as they say, old habits die hard. I am trying hard to compensate for that phase in the adulthood.
In my quest to turn into a new leaf, I needed to be more organized. I began to clear unnecessary clutter in the house and stashing important items into "safe havens". Only that at times, both these activities assumed extreme proportions. Documents so safely tucked away that when it was time to retrieve them, I still couldn't find them! And talking of clearing away clutter, I have developed a fetish for throwing away papers (read used bus, air and rail tickets) and sundry pamphlets- that make their way surreptitiously into the house-that are strewn in all the corners. The moment I see these, my mind and body goes into a tizzy and they automatically resemble a crane gathering and throwing them into the dustbin. Oh! did I mention that in the process, I have been guilty of throwing even recent shopping bills and tickets that might have been of importance?. Hubby sure will have
Alas! I still have a list of things that have been organized-ly "misplaced". A dupatta, a blouse, a bottle, a container, so on and so forth. My quest to be an organized and responsible citizen of this earth continues...
hahahahahha! you remind me of my mom who 'accidently' throws away most of my dad's important papers (that he is a typical prof who writes them in scraps of papers which look waste) and then appa will tell amma, see if you hadnt thrown that away, I would have got a nobel prize for the discovery..and ma is like 'as if' :):)
ReplyDeleteOh tell me abt it! This drama keeps happening often at my parents place... wheres the bank pass book, wheres the electricity bill, where's the HDFC cr card statement, why isn't it in it's place??
ReplyDeleteall this when everything has a proper file for it! :) someone takes it from the file and either forgets to put it back or files it in wrongly. :|
So true..I am one of those organising freaks and as u said lot of my stuff esp documents are 'organisingly-misplaced'.
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting read!
shuchi
http://s-lostinreverie.blogspot.com/
www.kadambaby.com
tell me about it! happens all the time! right from mobiles to medical prescriptions.... and horror of horrors- library books!
ReplyDeleteOMG Uma, you are reminding me of hubby's single sock, that I thought I had missed during the wash cycle and would find with the next one, and kept aside, only to always have a single sock hanging around - like the famous vazhaippazham joke - whenever i see it i think it's the other of the pair only to find otherwise - and I keep looking :) !
ReplyDeletevery true... it happens quite often... i have been looking for my pen drive for the past two weeks... i am very sure i haven't lost it... i have just kept it "toooo safely" somewhere!!!
ReplyDeleteRM: arrey, even I have thrown away some tickets and bills only to learn later from hubby that he needed to claim them in the office...*grins sheepishly* :-O
ReplyDeletePurnima: a file for everything?? wow! I actually did start off by filing things properly..but later...as you said..just became lax at it..
and err..u said mom's place..what's the scene at ur place?? ;-)
Shuchi: there you go..so there are people like me around..:-)
ReplyDeletethanks :-)
And wow that's an interesting concept...will drop in surely at leisure..all the best..
Vidya: I know..misplacing library books are nightmarish, na? We are always searching for something at times..
Aparna: LOLOL at the missing sock story..seriously it IS like the vazhaipazham story many times..:-)
ReplyDeleteRadhika: keeping things "too safely" seems to be a bother with most of us here..hehe..good to know there is a club out there..:-)
lol..The worst part is that the "thing" surfaces exactly when you dont have any need for it anymore.
ReplyDeleteI need a sniffer dog too..I've been an absent minded professor type person all my life.
Bhargavi: especially when you have bought a new one to replace the old "misplaced" one..chhaa..
ReplyDeletewell, i had a box in which i kept all important stuff. I didn't file them, but at least whenever I wanted something all i had to do was open the box and search within it.
ReplyDeleteeven after all this, i misplaced (rather, organised-ly misplaced, like Shuchi has said), our Pan cards. Now i was here and husband in US and me telling him to open all boxes because I knew i had kept it safely somewhere among other important cards!!! and it wasn't in my imp box either. Can u imagine PAN CARDS?... it meant so much of re-documentation and perhaps filing police complaint for it is such and imp doc. Thankfully, husband is gifted with all the patience (and i wasn't shouted at)!
Finally, found them in one of my bags in which there were all imp documents and other sundry cards!
PHEW!
OMG!! I just finished hunting the whole house for hankies...I keep buying them but somehow at any given point there are only 2 in the whole house!!! Its so annoying. And for the last 2 days I have been hunting for 5 small plastic dabbas which have mysteriously disappeared. I'm sure they'll turn up someday after I have replaced them :(
ReplyDeleteLOL on Aparna's sock story - hilarious!
Uma, I'm having nearly as much fun reading everyone's comments as I did while reading your post LOL :)
ReplyDeleteAparna, plastic dabbas!! Don't get me started ;).
Aparna: Each time we pack off for some vacation, hubby gets a new pack of hankies because, like you said, only 2 remain at any point..:-))
ReplyDeleteAparna: LOLOL..
I have recently "lost" one out of a pair of bottle-containers and a blouse of a good saree..the container, am not so worried about. but a blouse?? can you beat that!! I am quite hopeless, sigh!
Purnima: Phew!..
ReplyDeletesame case here, hubby has my share of patience too..
Every blog is getting better by the day Uma! I agree with every word in the post.
ReplyDeleteOn the same lines, we lose patience, peace of mind.. Right? :)
Sahana: wow..what a compliment..thanks a lot for the kind words :-D
ReplyDeleteYou're right. The misplaced item occupies the mind all the time!
ha ha .. Hilarious!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should have a master list that tells you what is where .. And lose that one too :)
But don't worry, you have a companion in me for all that you have written .. Am surviving because of mom, my savior who keeps all my important stuff in order ..
And this post is so well written .. Enjoyed reading it ..