My family....tireless.

My family is self-sufficient in all respects. I have a brother, a sister, a cousin, a loving granny and working parents. There is no dearth for fun, fight and play with my siblings around all the time. Seeing the parents' return after a prolonged absence (matter of hours is a long wait for a kid!) always brought great excitement and prospects of Bananas, mangoes, peanuts, toys, chips..and the list has just begun! My granny? None to beat her. If I didn't know what hunger felt like till I was in my 11th grade, its because she had a 100% record in having the tiffin and drink ready when I came back from school. (During high school, I travelled farther, so I felt hungry halfway home!).

We have not used a lot of machinary for household chores. We don't own a dish washer till date. We bought a washing machine fairly early, but found hand-wash was more effective. The same was the case with vacuum cleaner. We found that broom-sticks and waste clothes used with washing powders (Surf Ultra!)were better cleaners. For nearly 2 decades, our only personal transportation were bicycle. With my awesome granny and hard working parents and helpful siblings around, almost none of the toiling household chores ever seeped to me. No matter how much work was due, we always had the enough manpower to let me munch pop-corns over weekend entertainment. God! I had a dream childhood.

I was just reading an article in Reader's Digest which talked about how household chores like taking the trash, going to a nearby shop for grocery and helping to cook, not only improved family values, but also made one more responsible, smart and to an extent worldly. Is that true? I made a quick analysis. Oh yea! My sisters rock at home management. My brother needs little help when it comes to handling people and decision making (though my mom doesn't think so!). And....wait a minute! My secondary school friend (also a rank holder) helped his mom, bought groceries, maintained his bike and you bet he is smart! So were my friends from high school and college. The article hit the Bulls eye!

It occurred to me, I could have had a dream childhood with some more soft skills! I wish my dad dragged me out of the house to clean my bike! I wish my nanny and parents were not so tireless.