Has anyone ever been a compulsive anything?? I think I am….a compulsive many things….freecell player….movie advertisement watcher….shopper……unable to resist crockery of any kind…..handicrafts and procrastinator of useful and productive tasks……writing (of the professional kind) has been nearly suffocated to death…because I find a hundred different bahanas not to do “work” and to do everything else….like surfing the net for useless information….am I an internet addict?? Do I lack “real” wholesome relationships so much that I am spending more and more time online?? Am I hiding?? I’m also not particularly interested in the answers…as long as I don’t screw up further…I think I can get a hold on this….

Yesterday I took amma to Shilparamam…this is the crafts village on the lines of Dilli Haat….i love anything hand made and think of myriad excuses to buy stuff…..i think of it as my humble way of encouraging and supporting artisans of this country…..for the nth time, I had to pull myself away from all the handmade madhubani paintings…if I ever bought another one, what face would I show to the many unframed ones languishing in one of the cupboards at home?? So I was pretty impressed with my steely resolve…..picked up a cute lehenga choli made of mangalagiri cotton with some hand embroidery for the darling niece / proxy daughter that I couldn’t resist….and I was complimenting myself on my restraint…….a tad bit soon I guess….cos less than a few metres away were piled neatly on the grounds hundreds of Khurja Pottery ware…..cups and saucers, mugs, plates, bowls of different sizes, planters and much more…..crockery is my weakness….i can develop a need for it when I have no place to keep them….i have two cabinets full of the stuff…most still in their packing boxes, I don’t ever think I will use all of them in this lifetime….but I still want more….i just want to look if they have anything nice…I tell amma innocently…secretly she too wants to look at them cos she suffers from the same malady…so we pretend like we are indulging the other person and walk towards the shops……let me see if they have plates I say….for the blog…to take pictures…..we spend a little time…eager like kids….and make a getaway with two bags….4 sets of serving bowls!! We tell each other what a good deal we got and I begin to imagine how I am going to use them at the next party that I have…..

When we got back home, I promptly climbed onto a chair to look through all the stuff I have at home…..reorganise the cabinets and make place for the new purchases…..i am awaiting the festival which will begin around dusshera because then it is a mega festival at shilparamam with more than 5000 stalls….till then let me pretend to practice restraint….