When you live alone, it’s easy to let go. It’s easy being untidy (read ‘a slob’) when there’s no one to nag and complain (Mother’s are very good at this.) The question is ‘Are there are any limits to how much you can let go?’ At first, house-proud that I was, my house was spic and span. I could comb my hair looking at my reflection on my floor. Life was organised. Then I got a maid, Uma. Now Uma’s a darling (she spoils me in her quiet little way) but she is not very efficient in floor-cleaning. And though my white floors look clean they have become grey. With Uma’s presence in my life came a strange lethargy in me. And I am quite ashamed to say I kind of let go. It came to a point where I deserved to be given the award of ‘The biggest Slob of the Century’. I have finally seen the light. And as part of my revelation I am going to share the secret of balance. (The balance is achieved when you are happy with the level of untidiness and you give the illusion of being tidy to the others.)
• Books are judged by the cover. Now, if your room looks clean at the first look, no one is going to check under the bed or inside the cupboard. The trick is to keep the outside clean and the inside well hidden. Just clean it once in a while so you don’t die of asphyxiation.
• Low lighting is good. It keeps the cobwebs and dirty corners well-camouflaged. You could team it up with soft music.
• If you have a lot of knick-knacks in your room, choose one corner and neatly pile things up there. Things should be piled vertically and horizontal surfaces kept as clean as possible. It’s all about illusion.
• Now kitchen, the best way to not let your kitchen get too messy is to have a fixed place for everything. Just keep everything back in its place. The other thing you should do is use as little utensils as possible. The point being, the lesser the number of dirty utensils the less of a mess. Advisable: Don’t use the same utensil for making garlic chicken and coffee. Garlic flavoured coffee isn’t very nice.
• Try keeping doors and windows open and if you’re one of those who use perfumes/ deodorants liberally, spray some in your room too. The idea behind this is that if you heighten one of the senses of a person (the nose that smells the perfume) the other senses get dimmed (the eye that notices the mess). This is a certified fact.
• Finally, your mess should be the skeleton in your cupboard. Remember Dorian Gray? He was loved by all cause no one saw his picture hidden away. The uglier your picture, the better you are at the balancing act.