Life Lessons Away From Home

Prathima D
Sep 4, 2018 · 5 min read

My journey of self-taught lessons

So like every other girl, I moved away from home for career reasons and to be self-reliant. There comes a lot of refrain along with the power and freedom to do things. But when it comes to the herculean daily chores, you need to learn it yourself even though we do not tend to perform those activities when you are living with parents. Here are some of my life learnings for the survival of the fittest in the paying guest accommodations I have lived in and across Koramangala, Indiranagar and Jayanagar.

1. Living out of the suitcase

Unlike home, you cannot have separate sections for summer wear, winter wear, dance-wear, sleepwear, swimwear, party-wear, rain jackets, hoodies, the mood swings wear and so on. I had to cherry-pick very few necessities to ensure that the clothes fit in the teeny-tiny wardrobe I am adhered to. Forget about the colours! You cannot have all greens since I had to balance with the rest of my accessories.

When you are a shoe-lover, its the hardest decision to choose only a few from your collection. You need an outdoor sports shoes for the marathons, indoor sports shoe for the dance classes or workout, a heels which goes with a party-wear, wedges for the high slit formal skirts, a ballerina for the Kurtha, a pencil heel for the formal trousers, my happy sneakers, the naughty loafers, the cool slip-on, the fancy flats — the list goes never-ending. I have at least 12 pairs of shoes at any point in time. The colour, the dress, the season, the mood, the occasion — has to go hand in hand for me to choose the apparel of the day. But I had to be heartless and pick any 4 (max) and get going.

2. Laundry chores

I first recalled the washing powder advertisements when I had to hand-wash my clothes! Yes, you are right — It’s the Washing power Nirma (with the tune of course!) which came to my mind followed by Tide! Jokes apart. And then I prayed that I don’t end up like Rachel with similar coloured clothes in the first season of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. At least she had Ross by her side, well I had a YouTube video! No complaints. I checked YouTube tutorial to hand-wash. Shhhh I say.

I was aware of a prerequisite with my observational skills since I did see my roommates doing theirs. I first submerged the garments in the soapy water and soaked confidently. My first challenge was the carry the bucket with soaked clothes from my room all the way to the terrace! Second, was the swish when I was worried about washing the delicates and favourite sleepwear without hurting the feelings of the garment! Then when it comes to jeans, I was breathless when I had to rinse and repeat 8 times. Of course, my counting starts with 5–6–7–8 followed by 1–2–3–4 since I am a dancer. I repeated the rinse until the garment isn’t slippery. You guessed it right, I used the detergent way too generously. Next challenge was to use my hand strength to squeeze the water out of my Micky Mouse Turkey towel! I was confident with air drying them since I had observed my mom doing it!

Lastly, do not forget to count the number of clothes on the rope so that you realise that none of them is stolen by the time they are dry! The art of folding the laundry might need another article.

2. Washing your lunch box and the utensils

The worse part is it smells foul by the time I am back home. I used to waste a lot of water to rinse it first and then use the dishwasher to scrub and clean my lunch box. I was only worried if remains stuck on my nails which will give a variation on my nail colours! Yes, I was a very sophisticated girl back then. Dry them and keeping it in place such that you can play hide and seek to locate them even when there’s a power cut before you run of the dinner!

3. Lock your closet

We are supposed to keep things safely since we live among strangers who just turned friends. There were boards mentioning — We are not responsible for any theft in the premises scared the shit out of me since I had my precious Apple devices and Amazon Kindle. Unlike home, you just cannot afford to keep things on the table or the fridge pockets. The table in the hostels is being shared by the rest of the roomies as well.

6. The Vegetable picker

I wish there was a job profile of food and hygiene raids in the paying guest accommodations. They surely do not provide you with the daily dose of vitamins that your body needs nor tasty. So we tend to switch towards the restaurants, fruits, raw vegetables, protein shakes and so on.
Picking the vegetables is an art. After a few bad experiences, I am now skilled in choosing the right ones from the lot. I googled — How to Buy a Good Avocado to How to Choose the Best Sweet Peppers and so on. This was the initial phase of my love towards experimenting with my culinary instincts. Otherwise, I assumed cooking isn’t a rocket since but its pretty much permutation and combinations of the ingredients stack up on the kitchen shelves!

7. Late night gossips

You are blessed if you have considerate roommates. The secret crushes, , the midnight snacks, birthday celebrations, pub-hopping, the hidden wine bottles, the gyaan of how-to-respond-to-a-guy, the hours of lizard-staring on the roof, clicking unlimited pictures, the stalker stories, secretly allowing an outsider for a night out, the act of grabbing extra food for your friends, days when you fell sick, the combined studies, those early morning runs, window shopping sprees, the gossip and the bitching, binge-watching series, the horror movies watched together, the bargaining dramas, workout-diet plans, the farewell parties when someone vacates, the list is endless. It's an ultimate heaven when you live with people of the same wavelength. This is one of the learning experiences that one should experience.

Now, I work like a charm. Well, its an all-new world outside the comfort zone called “Home”. I am glad I made my own decisions :)

Prathima D

Written by

An Ambitious Girl, Trained Dancer, Artistic Gymnast, Fitness Enthusiast, Product Manager, Agile Coach

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