Skip to main content

Random Thoughts: Tiny Bastards, Collateral Damage and Pink Sarees

HOUSEWORK. Chores. Sorting out things. Vacuming and mopping. Washing and drying. Just generally keeping the house dust free. I wish I could stay in rustic, little hotel rooms everyday so things are always organised for me when I return from lunch. But my home is not a hotel room and unfortunately, I'm the maam and the maid all rolled into one little person covering an area of 1,500 square feet! It's a tough job when you have to juggle chores between a full-time job and it doesn't help to have a billion microscopic dust particles that seem to have a hundred sets of feet each to invade the living space right after a cleaning session. I hate those conniving, tiny bastards. 

My favourite spot is the floor space behind the sofa on a sunny day. 

It's not like I live in a particularly dusty country. Apart from the stupid haze, thanks to a certain neighbouring country for their clever handling of forest fire or whatever it is that they keep burning annually, my country doesn't have dust storms. Thunder storms yes, but no dust storms. Still, I can't figure out the particles that race back into my house just days after cleaning up. 

Yet when I actually hire help (usually only when I'm unwell), I turn into this person with chronic OCD. It's like I need things cleaned a certain way, in a certain pattern and I find myself to be massively disturbed by the foreign presence sorting out the nooks and corners of my kitchen or the framed photographs in the living room cabinets. I guess it must be the unfamiliar foreign presence in my personal space and my inability to be the perfect bitch in situations where I'm required to be one. How do you tell an intimidated 18-year old that the space beneath the kitchen stool is still dusty for the third time? She should be in college, having the time of her life - not scrubbing someone's bathroom floor in a foreign land. 

Not sure if the part about having OCD is just a female hormonal thing but it got me into thinking about having a group of female soldiers to tackle a mission in say... Mogadishu or something. Just a random thought after watching a documentary on Killing Bin Laden and the movie Act of Valor with the story of an elite Navy SEALs team embarking on a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent. 


No great acting here but I quite enjoyed the show

LOL. I'm suddenly reminded of an incident I witnessed in much fear near Pasar Borong Selayang (a local wholesale market) involving some women from the Nepalese immigrant community. A fight took off, and these gentle-looking women clad in sarongs suddenly morphed into some ferocious hyena type beings, grinding their betel nut stained teeth, growling and pulling each other's hair. One literally tossed a child of maybe two into the air like a rag doll and lucky, someone was there to catch the toddler. I don't know who took whose husband in that scenario but I fled the scene for the fear of becoming collateral damage. Mind you, it's a notorious area by reputation and these women were mad in rage. 

If that's bad, then a mob of men stripping and beating up a 19-year-old girl which took place in India in July is beyond that. Who does things like that? The parents of these men should hang their sons and later also hang themselves to eternal damnation.

Which is why I cannot help but grin pinkly when I read about the pink saree gang's mission in Bunkelhand in south-east Uttar Pradesh, India. The group known as the Gulabi Gang which began with a few members in 2006 has some 300,000 members now in Uttar Pradesh alone. They only take matters into their own hands when problem-solving in a non-violent manner does not fruit any results. Now I'm against men and women beating up each other but wouldn't it be sweet if this gang could teach the mob of men a lesson with their bamboo sticks ?

You don't want to mess with the Gulabi Gang. (Pic from here)

Comments

  1. Yeah, my room is a beacon for dust to fly into. I blame my computer for sucking in all of it with its fans.

    Lots of weird things going on in the Middle East these days. I heard there was this public stoning of a married couple because they had sex before they married? I don't even know anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. agreed. its stupid to think what religion can make people do.
      a dusty house can keep me unwell forever. hate it.

      Delete
  2. Act of Valor sounds pretty good, I've never watched it before but I think I've heard good things about it! I'm not keen with chores either but dust is such a pest it's a necessity to keep up with everything or my room would be a tip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i know! i have this little vacum i-robot that goes around twice a day. still there's dust at other places too. urghhh.

      Delete
  3. You should watch Glory..starring Matthew Broderick and a couple of very famous African American actors. I am sure you know who is this..he he.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. would keep that in mind and look out for it, but who is this ?
      i can't tell :p

      Delete
  4. I like the pink saree gang. These men need to learn violence against women is not okay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. exactly. i really wish this pink group could teach them a lesson :p i can join in if they need volunteers.

      Delete
  5. I went to the Pink Saree Gang link/website. “A gang for justice.” Very impressive. Ah, the power of women when they band together…

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. impressive indeed ! i'm surprised that they are allowed to function given the soceity that they're in. but really, it's cool.

      Delete
  6. we watched Act Of Valor this weekend. The movie made me think too...so much violence in this world! scary and crazy..why?! but also so much goodness. too bad the bad gets all the media attention.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yeah, so much violence and goodness. i guess they have to co-exist.

      Delete
  7. Dust gets everywhere, my damn ocd hates it, but I've learned to try and let some slide, because as you say, no matter how much you clean the tiny bastards just keep coming back for more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they're back like on the very next day ! i just have to run my finger tip on the table to see. tiny bastards are like immortal. the vampires should learn from them.

      Delete
    2. I can imagine that wonderful space behind the couch is just a lovely place to throw a pillow on a sunny day and read...that is, until the pillow throws up a cloud of dust...little bastards!

      Dean
      http://leftcoastguy.com

      Delete
  8. Pink sarees gang.. I'm hearing for the first time.. Is it similar to the pink chaddis campaign against the rss?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. not quite. try going to the saree gang website and check em out. they mean business.

      Delete
  9. The Nepalese are the martial race from which the Gurkhas are recruited, so it doesn't surprise me that their women are hellcats. There might be a few men who'd pay the pink saree gang for a good thrashing - probably not in India though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well, yeah thats true abt the Gurkhas. i wonder if i have some gurkha blood in me - i cant explain this gnawing urge to kiss some ass, GB

      Delete
  10. I hate cleaning the house, and it's worse when your house-mates aren't the cleanest people in the world. My idea of cleaning is to keep something clean and then sterilize it once a week - if only I lived with cleaner people ;P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i know!! i have had a housemate from hell - she's the dirtiest bitch i know - in every sense that is. her concept of cleanliness or rather the lack of it, made me to go crazy.
      well, at least those years are over for me. i love living all on my own.

      Delete
  11. I'd like to wear my pink skirt, pink top, and pink shoes, and BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THE BAD GUYS.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  12. See, this is exactly why I like you and our friend Az: Only the two of you can get away with saying "She should be in college, having the time of her life - not scrubbing someone's bathroom floor in a foreign land" and "The parents of these men should hang their sons and later also hang themselves to eternal damnation".... all in the same post. And I couldn't agree more, too. My favorite spot in the house doesn't really belong to me anymore. I've got two big-eared friends who claim it's their spot now. My favorite spot is located in Spain: here, to be exact.

    I'm all for women beating up men who resort to violence. I love women an I want all of them to be free like a bird. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh RC. you can say these things too. no problemo. i dont have any furry friends to steal my spot at home but even if they were, i'd make sure they know that the malayan tigress is the boss!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaya J, I'm going to shut down rcbenglishclass (I'll tell you why at some other time) but here my new address: www.thebluegrumpster.blogspot.com . You didn't think I was gone, now did you? So I'm going to press your Follow button again.

      Delete
  14. Wow, you sure covered a range of topics!

    Dust is an endless problem. I often imagine just getting rid of everything I don't absolutely need just to cut down on housekeeping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha. yeah. just one thought led to another.
      i'm throwing a lot of things right now. i'm more of a minimalist when it comes to housekeeping, yet the dust. geez.

      Delete
  15. Who has no dust problem? It makes me sick, when I clean something and the next day the dust is back again. Not as much as before of course, but I can perfectly see it on my TV screen or my bedside light. Wouldn't it be great to invent something that would simply absorb all the dust and that it will never come back, like water which just drips off?? I know this isn't possible, but good to think about it ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. its the same story here. they keep appearing. gah. but yeah, an invention like that would be godsent!
      and thanks for visiting :)

      Delete
  16. "What did you say about my third eye?"

    Those were the last words I heard...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL. good one!
      thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  17. Wow! I certainly wouldn't want to piss them off!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. certainly not!
      but they only beat up women so we can join the fun.

      Delete
  18. I enjoyed your reading... lol. Looking like Misuse of Dowry law of land. Try to respect all Communities and specially womens.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Award on Oscar Day

THANKS for the Kreativ Blogger award on Oscar Day,  Queen Bee . It is sweet to pin a badge like this here and since this is my first award, it's all the more sweet.  With this, I'm required to list out ten random things about myself and later tag six other favourite bloggers.  Let's start with the 10 Random Things :)  1) Diamonds are not for me.  I admire jewelry (fine or otherwise) but I'm not in love with them enough to want to own them. My favourite jewelry is a pair of white pearl stud earrings.  2) I drink water for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. It's just a good habit I can't break. I usually write with a bottle of water next to me instead of a mug of coffee.  3) I love balms . Nothing calms me better than a nice balm. It reminds me of my grandma, clears my mind, and puts me to sleep.  4) I keep a hammer in my bedroom.  It came in handy TWICE when the lock jammed. I broke it and set me free. My mother was petrified with the knowledge that m

From Doha, With Love : Minimal Changes

SO I've been to Doha a few times already by now. Minimal or no changes at all on this flat land of sand and sandstorms, except that the population seemed to have increased by god-knows-how-many-folds judging from the volume of people seen at the popular Souk Waqif in the city centre two days ago. It's like people have multiplied like the sea sands. The last few times I was there, I remember liking the place for what it was - a perfect venue to people-watch, smoke Shisha and be a tourist. Now I don't know if that's a good thing... ...if there aren't enough social venues for this astounding volume! Perhaps, I'm a little spoiled coming from a city where food is available 24 hours a day, with freedom of alcohol consumption at random bistros and cafes and to do just about everything I wished for in a cultural setting that doesn't stare at me like I'm some kind of a three-eyed monster. I suppose people here are just a curious bunch given the potpourri of

Me, Myself and I

LOVELY Miss  Azra  has tagged me. It's fun once in a while to do this sort of thing and questions here seem doable too. I'll try to keep my answers short and sweet, resisting the urge to ramble since it's all about Me, Myself and I ! 1. What is your favourite saying, or motto ?  It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it.  Basically, I just try to see the positives in most shitty situations. Realistically.   2. What is your dream job ?  It ranges from being a tour guide, a travel writer and a secret agent to a medical rep, a rose picker for Chanel gardens in France and an English teacher to those under 12. I'm allergic to teenagers. 3. What part of the world do you have little interest in travelling to ? And which part of the world is next on your list ?  I have little interest in Jakarta and Bangladesh, or any place where the temperature is -45 Deg Celcius for most of the year.  My dream destination is Africa. Next on list is either Africa or New York