What Makes The Weekend The Weekend

Long post after a long while. At your own risk :)

1) Laaaaate mornings - At home I was never allowed to sleep in late; Mom used to have us (me and my little sister) up by 7.30ish, at the most, saying girls who sleep late will bring a curse upon the household because it was ashubh *rolls eyes*. But as much as I love Mommy dearest, one of the reasons I love living away from home is that I get to sleep when I want, as much as I want. Therefore the weekends are very much cherished for this specific luxury - I make it a point not to wake up before 10 a.m. Admitting it aloud makes me strangely guilty and a little shameful, but then I think about all those years of waking up at 3 a.m to study for tests and exams, I think I have earned it :P

2) Saaf safaayi - Strange as it might seem, cleaning is therapeutic. Atleast for me. The week goes by in a blur with mornings spent in battling Bangalore traffic to be as less late as possible, afternoons spend in trying not to order the YUMMY alu masala cheese sandwich from the canteen (because of which I have become an alu myself) and the evenings are a blur of aching shoulders and arguments about unfinished work. All these result in my house looking like Hurricane Katrina Part II with my omnipresent clothes being...well...omnipresent, my earrings finding their way everywhere but the designated box, my kajal frequently falling on the floor (the Colossal people should really think about making sturdier versions for people like me who drop the damn thing twenty times a week) and the trash slowly accumulating. And when the weekend comes, I chide myself for living in a dump like a pig, make a few grumpy statements to myself about how I have gotten used to living in a pigsty and go on a cleaning rampage until everything is so sparkly and shiny, I hardly recognize the place. Doesn't matter that I collapse with exhaustion right after but it's worth it. Happens every single weekend (how I manage to wreak such havoc on this small a space in such a short span of time is still a question I'm looking for an answer to).

3) Beauty regimen - I'm basically a very lazy person who will not do anything that does not actually require doing. Resultantly, I hardly spend any time making myself up (which works out quite fine considering I don't have to shell out a bomb for makeup :P) - a facewash, Lacto Calamine, baby lotion, kajal and a couple of tinted lip balms is all I have the patience for.  But weekends are my lets-experiment-with-everything-in-the-kitchen days and I go all out - bring on the eggs, tomatoes, sugar, coffee powder, the slightly questionable powdery thing I bought last year and whatnot, mix it all up and apply it on my face for the next few hours. And God help anyone who shows up at my door during those hours, my pack-laden face is sure to give them a stroke. At the very least.

4) Movie/TV Show/Book catch-up - So like I said, the week passes by in a blur leaving me with no energy to take out and plug in my laptop, stick in my HDD and try to locate which episode of what show I last saw/what part of which page of which book I was at. So during the weekends, I camp out on my bed, stretched out with my dear old chocolate-goop-in-a-mug and comforter and I finish off whatever episode/book/movie it was that has been playing hide-and-seek with my concentration the past week. And I could do this from Friday evening till early Monday morning without a break, if no one hauls me out. Which brings me to point number...

5) The 'hanging out' - I never was a fan of lounging around in ridiculously expensive coffee shops for just the ambience - if the chocolate cake was good, then it is a different matter altogether. But what with people dragging me out, sometimes literally, these days to places with fascinating names like 'Toit' and 'Banana Beach Bar' and 'Arbor' and whatever else, I realize, 'hanging out' is not so much about the place, as is the company - if you have the right company who can bakarbakar on into the night without needing any full stops, without any pauses save those spent gulping down food and air, then 'hanging out' becomes quality time spent doing all those things that you forget to do in daily life - laugh, stretch, unwind, socialize with people who are very unlike you but get  you, have a decent conversation... Just. Perfect.

In school, weekends used to be the boring pauses in the active flow of school life. In college, weekends were not so happening considering my stupid college had a closed campus. Now, weekends are the shots of pure mountain streams ka cold water in the middle of the desert that is work life. And I have a feeling that these things, right here, are the nascent stages of what will become traditions in the future.

As I finish writing, the clock beeps indicating the arrival of khooni Monday, my nemesis. Ah well, life has to go on until next Friday:) Happy week, y'all!