Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Memories for Sale

It's that time of life, again, when you put a price tag on things you cannot keep any more, and try and convince other people to buy them. Moving to smaller accommodation in a different country means rationalizing, and I mean really rationalizing, what all you can make room for. And the things you give up move into a mental shelf instead, where they will defiitely remain, unspoilt for much longer than their physical incarnation.

But even though you put a price tag on some things, you only realise their true worth when someone tries to haggle over it. So I dusted, polished and photographed our shoe cabinet and posted the ad online.

Within hours, I got a curt response "How old? Is it scratched and much used? I will give you ___ (insert woefully low amount here) Dirhams for it and pick it up this evening."

Well I beg your pardon!!! How presumptuous. Did he really think I would just worship him for extorting it from me! My shoe cabinet is unscratched, very new, and definitely worth more than that, thank you very much. And so, indignant and emotional, I took the ad off the Net.


What's left? The washing machine that knows my dirty linen inside out and tumble dried; the sofa-bed which...hmmm; oh well, the cooking range where I experimented with hotplate cooking; and the bean bags that enveloped my family on relaxed afternoons on our balcony.



Visitors to our Bombay house - do not be surprised if you find woodwork emerging from the inhabitants, as at this rate I doubt I will sell anything.

13 comments:

Diligent Candy said...

ek shipment bhejo - ek salaam maaro :p painful experience. i sympathise. baba looking handysome.

Thinking Cramps said...

Candy: :) You know exactly what I mean. Kept thinking of that sofa you said you had to laeve behind. As for Baba - will let him know what you said!!

Mystic Margarita said...

'Memories for Sale' - that's exactly how I feel whenever I have to move, whether it's continents or cities. While my pragmatic half (mine and the spouse) insist it's much more convenient to sell off furniture and buy it again new in the next place, the other half wants to cling to all the shared memories these furniture and knick-knacks evoke.

Diligent Candy said...

you must tell baba that - he is aging extremely gracefully - very unlike paunchy unclejees i know.

yes, the sofa i left behind ...so sad na, i wish we had given it away to someone. such a waste. but, things were too much then... life eh!

i miss you very much. read every word you wrote. achcha lagta hai ...

likha karo. aapke alfaaz dilko sukoon dete hain...

i am going to bed now. chotta candy gave himself a new look today - do check facebook put up the pic for my friends to have a good laugh.
xo

dipali said...

Can't you just cart everything back?

Thinking Cramps said...

Mystic: You said it! But what to do....it's enough that we're nomadic. At least we don't get chipped or dismantled when we shift around.

Dipali: do diwanon ne sheher mein ek chhota sa aashiyana banaya hai...wahan ya hum hain ya mera kuchh saamaan...

Unknown said...

Lol I remember that cable connection episode from when you left Mumbai ! So what happens to the bean bag and the shoe cabinet ?

Thinking Cramps said...

Eve's Lungs: Oh I bet you do. I ranted so much about it! Shoe cabinet stays with us. Bean bags - sold yesterday. I like to think they will be happy in their new home ;)

Suku said...

good luck with the move..its quite a tedious process but i hope it goes well for you. bombay is waiting for you!

dipali said...

May all that you wish to dispose of find good homes:)

Bong Mom said...

Back to B'bay ? When we moved houses here I tagged along everything even worn out shoes, thankfully it was within the same state and the towns were only half an hour apart.

My basement and garage still have old lamp shades, un-used ellipticals, bed frames with no beds, extra side tables --- I just CAN NOT get rid of stuff

OrangeJammies said...

I promise to keep a straight face. Now git over here, will ya.

Thinking Cramps said...

Sbora: Thanks.

Dipali: Thank you :) Yes, the bean bags were adopted by a lady I totally approved of!

Bong Mom: I know what you mean - but I have seen that happen in my parents' house because as a family we are incapable of throwing away stuff, and now they have way too much in their house. So I am trying to fight genes and clutter all at the same time!

OJ: Sunday :)