A Matter of Time

By -
A Matter of Time



She was sorting out the clothes in the closet; putting aside those that got shorter to be donated and torn ones to be used as dusters. When clothes got old or torn, she used them as dusters. She felt environment conscious in this type of reuse and even found it economical as it saved her money for the dusters. One of her son's vests had a hole in it so she decided to replace it as her dusting cloth. 

 After it was used for the intended job, it turned from white to grey, with all the muck on it.
Even after washing the stains won't go off, and she did not even try scrubbing it too hard, as it was only a duster. This duster was washed alongside with other clothes which included some new vests for her son. After washing when she put up the clothes to dry on the line, her son accompanied her.
Placing the new vests and the 'duster' side by side on the line, she casually remarked to her son “Look at the difference!" trying to point out the difference in cleanliness and whiteness. But her son saw it differently, he said, "What is the difference Ma, that one was a vest few days ago, and this one would be a 'duster' some days later. It is only a matter of time.”
She felt deeply how looks affected the position and utility of things, and imagined what her position and utility would be once she grew old. Her son as if read her mind and placing his hands on her shoulders said, “Just like when you would get old, you will cleanse us with your wisdom and not require much cleaning yourself!”


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Dream of Life: A Conversation with Mrs. S. Saraswathy

By -
Image
Our lives are pulled by the string of our dreams like a kite. This thin string may sometimes become invisible with only the kite floating above and being visible. But the string is there as long as it floats above the skies, with the winds of breath. Mrs S. Saraswathy a retired government school teacher,from Chennai, India, now living in Singapore since 10 years, 72 years of age,  obliged me with this insightful interview where we shared views on one's dreams in life. She started with telling about herself: Her father was in the teaching profession and had inspired her and all her 7 sisters into teaching. She started working as a teacher at the young age of 19 years. She taught English and Mathematics. Since it was her dream to be a teacher, she thoroughly enjoyed every bit of her teaching life. She said, " More than teaching it is important to love your students. If there is mutual love between students and teacher, learning becomes so much easier as the student is in
Read more

THORNS OF LOVE

By -
High atop a windswept cliff, far from the cozy communal nests of other birds in the valley below, resided Aethel the mountain hawk-eagle. Aethel was a large, bulky eagle of forested hills. Her small head rested above immensely broad wings, and a large, fanned-out tail. A thin upright crest crowned her regal form. Solitary and focused, she fiercely guarded her nest; overlooking flocks of pigeons below. They huddled together in their soft, feathery nests, with their young ones squawking for scraps scavenged from the town square. Unlike them, her eaglets, Soar and Rye, had a different upbringing. She believed in pushing them beyond their comfort zones. Their nest, woven from coarse branches, lacked the softness of feathers or straw that other birds would usually line their nests with, offering a comfortable abode to their young ones. As weeks rolled by, Aethel deliberately introduced prickly thorns in the bed of the nest. This added to the discomfort of the eaglets and they flapped th
Read more

The Story of a Kingdom

By -
  Want, the beggar had been in a very bad shape when Contentment ruled the state. However, he was shown mercy by few, and received their attention in uplifting of his status. But he used their kindness to his advantage and continued begging. He then became a perpetual and rich beggar. Soon he captured all the markets and towns and sent Contentment into exile by a treacherous conspiracy with his friend Temptation. He made all inhabitants of the state a slave of his tyrannical demands.  His wives Indulgence, Greed and Lust were losing the resources of the country to their sons Anger, Chaos and Laziness. Anger was a spoilt brat who would even threaten his parents for life. Chaos was a totally confused personality and Laziness was a born sycophant who promised to take the legacy of Want to great heights! However, all of them were incapable of maintaining and undeserving of the resources they had acquired.  The ruler of the enemy state, Discipline was a sheer threat to Want and his family.
Read more