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Old habits die hard! What’s yours’?

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Padmasrinivas, Mar 11, 2009.

  1. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    Old habits die hard! What’s yours’?

    I was visiting my dear brother and his wife for a few days. One morning as we sat and chatted in the kitchen, I watched my dear sister-in-law as she made coffee for us. First she poured the boiling hot milk in the tumbler and added sugar. Next, she poured the milk from one tumbler to another to make it frothy, then added the required quantity of decoction. Then she placed the tumbler in the ‘Dabara’ (Sorry, I know not the English equivalent!) Mmmm, Heavenly! I liked this way of preparing coffee and promptly copied it at home. She told me that was how her mother always made the coffee.

    At home, my mother was a very tidy person and liked to keep the ladles and vessels in the kitchen in particular way. All vessels of the same shape were stacked size-wise, one inside the other. Spoons were put away neatly in sets of six, ladles were hung up on hooks under the cabinets in order of increasing size. All the vessels had their own lids and she never liked to mix them up. There were separate ladles for milk, curds, sambar and rasam and the salads and vegetables.
    One set of tumblers for coffee, another to serve water during meals. The powders for sambar, rasam, salt and LG hing had their specified places and the dals had a particular order – Tuvar, Udad, Channa dal and yellow moong dal… Heaven help us if we interchanged anything! I have not been able to break this habit and have a fetish for re-arranging them whenever someone disturbs the sequence!

    Folding clothes was an art I learnt from my dear MIL, something akin to Origami! So neat and compact, that they could be stowed them away in a minimal amount of space.

    A special way of laying the table, making the bed…
    Well, there are many more such instances, but I wanted to give ILites a chance to share their particular habits!


    PadmaSrinivas
     
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  2. Jithiks

    Jithiks Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Padma,

    Oh! For a moment I thought you were talking about me! I was wondering how Padma knew all this about me?! :rotfl

    I have this fetish for arranging things in the kitchen,living area, pooja area, bedrooms,closets,bathrooms..your name it..I arrange things in a particular order and it upsets me when things are changed.

    It is easy for me to find out if even one object is missing or changed. My dh often says that I have eyes all around. :)

    Of course, sometimes, I do change certain things after sometime.

    It is especially true in the case of using particular tumblers for coffee, water etc. Even for making dosas,adais, serving sambar or rasams, I choose exact ladles for everthing and would not like to mix it up...oh..I left the spoons too! Please don't laugh Padma...:)

    Even in the closet, I would like to hang the dresses in a particular order, so that it is easy to take it out.

    I was laughing out loud when I read the part about making coffee. I am particular about getting the foam (not too much as to let it go cold) and the right colour too!

    When folding clothes, even if they are for everyday use, I would like to fold it as though I was ironing it. Big LaughChinna chinna satisfaction thaane!

    Let me stop my rambling here...as I don't want to bore and bombard you...

    Nice thread !

    Cheers
    Krithika
     
  3. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Krithika,

    The first fb from you amd I'm amazed at the similarities and coincidences! :)

    Are we twins by any chance lost in the Kumbh Mela or Pongala for Attukal Bhagavathy Amme? :hide:! Just kidding!

    I laughed and laughed Big Laugh, my DH woke up and groggily asked me 'What happened?'

    But I like being neat and organised, else something simmers inside till I get it all back in order again!!!

    Thank you so much for coming in with such a lovely fb, Krithika dear,

    LnBBHs,
    Padma
     
  4. Padmini

    Padmini IL Hall of Fame

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    dear padma,
    how was your trip? your post was very interesting. whaen i read that i thought of my mother making coffee in that manner. even i used to like thatand now my daughter jithiks. i also have the habit of using certain things for specific purpose. i cannot digest making rasam , in the vessel which we use tosambhar!!!!i simply get irritatedRant> so many habits are there. i will stop with this. o.k.
    with love
    pad.
     
  5. Devika Menon

    Devika Menon Gold IL'ite

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    Ma Chere RS,

    Lovely post RS. I could smell the aroma of the coffee. Mmmmm......

    Well Yup old habits seldom die. And the proof of that is my home. I have this compulsive cleanliness syndrome. I am obsessed with getting everything in order and cant even waste a sec contemplating if something needs immediate cleaning and infact I even continue this when I visit my sis , mom , friends etc. Not this habit isnt necessarily confined to my home.
    My DH fears taking me out to dinner to restaurants. He feels someday he might face a lot of embarrassment as I might just carry the plates and dishes personally to the kitchen and begin cleaning it.:hide:

    The other habit is the net and the phone.Both are an integral part of my life.Addicted , addicted and addicted...bonk

    Great blog RS, Loooooved it.

    Love n BBhs
    Devs
     
  6. Jpatma

    Jpatma Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Dear padma,

    True , most of us tend to copy some styles from our mom or MIL. My sisters in India follow my mom's style of arranging the dabbas in ascending or descending order. I tend to follow my MIL as to folding clothes.

    Habits are passed on to others as our lineage gifts (paramapara sothu)
    May Bhavani maa's blessings be on you.
    Jaya
     
  7. Mindian

    Mindian IL Hall of Fame

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    my dear padma,

    Ohhhh what a pleasure.... i seem to have walked into a group of crazy people like me(sorry ladies,thats the word my dh uses for the orderly freak that I am )

    padma, i thoroughly clean my kitchen only twice a year(for diwali and when i go to india for my annual holiday ) but my friends seem to think i do it every week..every dabba is always kept in the same order and always wiped with a dry cloth(yes, automatically without my brain realizing that i am doing it...Big Laugh even i did not realise it till now).

    in fact i am quite proud that anyone can walk into my kitchen and start cooking( can u hear my ddh saying"as if anyone would want to do That")

    And i have learnt it all from my MIL,,who is exactly all that u have said...I remember when i first saw the clothes that she had folded ,i asked her why she bothered to iron it all , and she gave me a proud look saying that she had just folded...WOW...but i have not mastered that yet:).

    haha i enjoyed talking about my little loony ways..

    love
    Mindi
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2009
  8. Padmasrinivas

    Padmasrinivas Silver IL'ite

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    Dear Pad,

    Amazing! Most of us seem to have similar ideas when it comes to the home and kitchen which used to be our private domain! Not any more!

    So Jithiks is your daughter! Great to have momand DD in the same forum, both of you are great writers!

    Lovely to have you post a fb here, Pad dear,

    LnBBHs,
    Padma
     
  9. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Padumma
    As always interesting topic from you.
    I also used to make coffee that way only. Nothing can beat that taste. Also folding the clothes same way too! so same pinch many times over:)
    In the Kitchen, we have a tray with compartments to hold the cutlery and I have a seperate slot for spoons, forks etc. When emptying the dishwasher everything has to go in its slot only. My kid had a million questions as to why they should go in that order only especially since no one sees it!
    Needless to say no one messes with my spice rack. I insist that my dh use certain pans for certain foods only!
    We were house slippers inside the home. I am so particular that we remove house slippers before stepping out and wear "outside" slippers!!!! My dh is so fed up with me and my " !?#$%*@!!!!!"
    I have to mention that I have toned down a lot on annoying my dear family members. Imagine their life if I went on and on.
    I should stop here before I ramble more because then we will run out of space!
     
  10. manasa_gs

    manasa_gs Senior IL'ite

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    Devika ....
    I found it really funny...

    "My DH fears taking me out to dinner to restaurants. He feels someday he might face a lot of embarrassment as I might just carry the plates and dishes personally to the kitchen and begin cleaning it."

    Big LaughBig LaughBig Laugh
     

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