Patriotism

"Jab yahan ki reth nahi tickthi, tho log kya tickhenge" (when even the grains of sand here don't have any cohesion, why would the people here stick together?) said the stranger to me a few months ago, kicking the desert sand in Dubai around with his feet.
The words came back to me suddenly while walking in the city centre this evening watching people go about their lives in the gentle snowfall, insulated against the cold and against each other as well. Make me an Indian everytime dear God!

The thinking man :)

A little ingenuity goes a long way :) The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and S moved a large wardrobe the same way last night :). I'm impressed!

Now this wardrobe is made of wood, is 6 feet high and just as wide, and used to stand right next to our bedroom door in a very annoying manner. Apart from creating the visual illusion of a much smaller room, it prevented the door from opening fully. Not to mention the risk of walking right into it in the dark. I knew moving it wasn't going to be easy, but obstinate person that I am, I simply had to try. So I went to S about how it's a 'husband' job to move furniture at home and how I would do it on my own, with just a little help from him. I had all my 'bad vastu/feng shui' arguments ready, but S decided trying to move the wardrobe was easier than trying to talk me out of it, and agreed very quickly. 

So I emptied the wardrobe and threw the entire force of my 5'4" 54kg frame against it. Not too surprisingly, it didn't budge an inch. The furry rug it was standing on didn't help matters either. Then I decided wrecking either of our backs for this was not worth it and gave up. S figured that brute force wouldn't work, then tried tilting it forwards and back (!?) and said it could be done, that we just needed the right tools, and went off to look for the said tools :) He came back a few minutes later with the rolling pin, a round handled wooden cooking spoon and a couple of wooden rods from the towel rail in the bathroom. Clever, thought I, and had to smile :) He tilted the wardrobe and I squeezed the makeshift 'rails' underneath it. And within a few minutes the wardrobe was at the other end of the room, with barely any effort! Very very impressed with S right now :)

With a Big Fat Grin on my face :)

1:00 o'clock in the afternoon on very wet, grey and cold Monday. And I'm at home, heating up fish-biryani for lunch, that S made over the weekend. Have downloaded a movie to watch with the biryani, and have a book to finish curled up in bed afterwards. Do I miss working? I think not :)

P.S. Does the voice in my head make me feel guilty about it? sadly, yes :(