One of the greatest causes of intrigue in my childhood was my father's almirah. He had all sorts of curios stuck up in it- right from a Nepali khukri to his service pistol -to all kinds of neck ties you could possibly imagine. And there was an added attraction, we couldn't access it except on the days he cleaned it.
Once, he let me play with his pistol while he was cleaning it and my mom freaked out thinking it was loaded. Anyways, the point was - I loved the mystery associated with it. And while I could ask for the keys to the other cabinets, I could never ask for that one, and that kept the curiosity alive for a good number of years.
I'd often see him tearing bills and old files into bits before he threw them into a bin. (Now, he uses a paper shredder) I asked him why he did that. He said that you have to get rid of old things to make space for the new. Or else you can't find what is important for you. And he said, the human mind is such - you have to make space for new memories.
I confess - I have the habit of collecting junk. I keep a scrapbook and paste movie tickets, chocolate wrappers and innumerable other bagatelles in it - for purely emotional reasons. But there is a purpose: I had gifted it to SG on our first Valentine's Day and I am trying to fill it up at my own pace.
I often wonder, how strange our memory is. You remember something when you are least expecting it. And I am not sure if I want to delete them or keep them with me. And oh, I just paid to get an upgrade for my Picasa. Talk of the cost of memories. :D
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9 comments:
//Talk of the cost of memories. :D//
aha,... what a narration for simple point.. gr8
lol.. yeah.. I think that is the Law of Association of memory ;)
ah.. the attraction of the unattainable, especially the ones we remember from childhood :)
as for Picasa, guess its a small prize to pay for something important :)
:) good one.. i like collecting junk too.. i ve all my school books since my 3rd std! could never bring myself to throw them away!
@Matangi
Ditto ! Unfortunately, the mountains of books is lying at my parents' house now. The other day we were discussing the possibility of donating them to a library.
@ Sumit
You said it !
And there was so much intrigue in so many things. I wonder if I can still spend hours watching ants carry sugar. :D
If it’s not too late, here is my explanation - the only reason for the almirah being out of bound for children was the presence of the pistol inside it.
Our pet cat named ‘Mini’ was as intrigued and curious as you and probably used to think that the most delicious mice were available in that almirah. So, every time I opened the almirah she would go into it and spend quite some time sniffing around and searching various compartments. One day I locked her in, by mistake, and thought of reopening the almirah only when she was not being visible for unusual long time. Poor Mini had, almost certainly, suffered a traumatic experience of claustrophobia because she never entered that almirah, again, ever after.
poor Mini!
Aparna, you must have read about how ants leave a trail when they move so that other an't can follow them, right?
Well, when I used to see this line of ants, I could carefully wipe clean a small section of their path. Funnily, they still managed to find their way, a new path maybe but their destination remained the same. That memory has served as teacher at times while growing, perhaps even now.
agree with the throw the old memories in the dustbin to make space for new one's quip.
Good Read... Njoy'd IT
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