In school, such stirring lines as in poet Henry Longfellow’s “A Song of Life ” ‘…Life is real ! Life is earnest !…’ exhorted us that you have only one life in the here and now, so make the most of it. But modern day lifestyles extol more on the lines of – life is mending, life is repairing, life is upgrading ! It’s not just about fixing impaired alliances, broken hearts, college admissions, new tax laws and dwindling investment returns or avoiding the unending potholes but maintaining what you still have !
To come straight to the matter’s crux, during the last few months, three fourths of our family time has been invested in hardware repairs and maintenance with the assistance of a variety of specialists –setting right the problems ailing the almirah locks and knobs, falling clothes line, bulbs, geezers and ACs to debugging the laptop, replacing the desktop monitor and getting rid of archaic cable-wala in favour of a new Tata Sky connection were the high-points. However, a formidable list remains to be attended – the leaking roof and the broken tiles in the sitting room ! This is not to underestimate the power of Mumbai traffic snarls and the intrepid mobikes/autos to dent the car at least on weekly basis and regular repair visits to neighbor-hood mechanic who smiles ironically at the poor vehicle !
Coming to other issues of mundane nature but vital in importance, the usual monthly house maintenance, electricity, gas, mobile bills and Home Loan EMIs which all civilized people meet through ECS or on-line but aren’t there also dozens hounding you for new credit cards, travel schemes, home/car loans and club memberships while retired folks ( like me) receive offers on phones to earn by becoming insurance salesman . Skillfully yet patiently avoiding these traps is needed to maintain sanity !
With fixed deposit rates now plummeting to unprecedented depths, the average house-man (or lady) has to relook his portfolios and seek market advice on how to frugally maintain the depressed looking incomes.
In meeting all these challenges, what remains overlooked is maintaining the physical self – what then of the morning walks, visits to the gym, low calorie diets and no fried stuff and eateries ? With such pressures and demands on your time, it’s likely that you’d rewrite the famous lines – ‘What is this life, if full of care – we fill our hours to mend and repair !’
Working on Living 