The last of February....

As I write this post, I am also boiling an egg and am telling myself not to get so lost in the process as to burn it. I have burnt an egg before while boiling, though only once. If I were a food blogger, singed cooking would definitely hold a key place in my repertoire. My best dish is roasted baingan bartha.

The only reason this happens is that I don't do just one thing at a time. Most often I am multi-tasking - tasks which require all my attention and am unable to switch focus in time. In fact, multi-tasking is one reason why I believe I get so less done, yes, this is a raise-your-eyebrows moment. You know, that sense of achievement one gets when one has painstakingly researched some facts and figures, spoken to experts (or not) and stringed an article.....or when you have visited the nursery in Lalbagh and bought seeds and saplings, then stopped at a place enroute home to buy flowerpots, lugged them to the terrace, planted the seeds and saplings, watered, manured,  waited, hopped on one foot in joy at the sight of a tiny shoot... Today, the terrace garden is vibrant and growing and though I have only been a passive companion to my mil's idea of it, it gives me some satisfaction to be part of the process.

What  I am talking about that is singular focus to the task in hand when you are doing it. For me, even when I cleared a certification exam recently, it was an attempt in the midst of so much ongoing chaos - of the other remote work I do, some freelancing writing, kids' and their schedules...that more than joy at the success the reigning emotion was relief that I would not have to attempt it all over again.

Sunday was eventful, got up extra early that day and spent the entire morning putting 'sandige's' to dry. These are "vadi/badi/bori" look alike sun-dried stuff which is an ultimate accompaniement to your anna-saaru (rice-sambar) after frying in oil. The one's made by Ajji and Mil are legendary and have been always wanting to learn and be part of this family tradition, A quiet satisfaction that I could. The kids too put out a few and such memories of childhood are so much to cherish.

Winds of change on the anvil as we have decided to move back. Thinking back to the entire of last year - not that staying here was a choice per se, more like a deferred decision things-kids are still in primary school, and staying as a split family does not make any sense, a realization that has come to knock me on my head many a times.

Suddenly, life here takes on an urgency of sorts, I can't explain. Mom is here with me for a few days and she is much more fatigued by the chemo compared to earlier. I feel I am abandoning her in a way when even though I stay in a different city, I could visit her more often than from another country. Never before has it been a tough choice on who/what to prioritise. On a more flippant note, there is stuff to be done like meeting up with people which would keep getting postponed to next weekend or next month, places to see, even some greens to make...well, at the end of the day, you had one life.