When the ‘handyman’ came to my help

Hey folks, I need your help – on how to deal with the ‘help’ I am getting from the L&M these days. I asked my blogger friends to help me with guest posts and they did; I asked my maid to help me with some extra chores and she did; and I asked the L&M to help me with some chores and he did too. And now, I don’t know how to deal with the last.

I am sure you think I’m being contrary or even sullen, unable to appreciate genuine support when it hits me in the eye. And I know too that the number of fans that the L&M has in blogosphere is more than all my fans and followers on all social networks put together and that they would rise as a body to defend him. But please read through the post before indicting me, ok?  And you should gauge the level of my desperation if I am blogging about it in the midst of my pressing deadlines.

Over the years he has acted the ‘ handyman’ for me even when he has joined with the Brats to drive me up the wall at times. So when I asked him to help, he jumped in with alacrity. His working from home has its advantages (to him) and disadvantages (to me). Since he didn’t go out every day, he offered help in the cooking. He would make one dish – either a dal or a subzi. I agreed albeit with reservations. The last time he had offered to cook was when I had undergone an eye surgery and was advised to stay away from heat. He would make me repeat every little step with the precise measurements of spices so that he could get it all right. I begged him to cook any which way he wanted and I would eat it, but no, he had to get it perfect. It became such a pain that I begged him – this time to stop cooking and we got food catered for the duration of my rest.

So this time I thought I was being very clever when I laid the condition that he would not ask me for directions since I needed my mind free to work. And he agreed, too readily for my comfort, but I never learn, you know that already. He has several cards up his sleeve to get under my skin.

The next morning as I was trying to make up the loss of an hour of sleep from the previous night, I was jolted awake by strange noises. I sat up bolt upright fighting out of the fog of sleepiness. ‘Thak, thak, thak…’ went something, followed by scratching sounds. What was it? And then the cooker whistled and I breathed out slowly. Whew! Having woken up sufficiently I looked at the clock. It was 4.30 AM! Heart thudding in my chest, I lay back on the pillow, futilely trying to go back to sleep. Apparently he wanted to finish cooking before going for his morning walk since he would be busy with his newspaper, TV and work once he came back.

And later when I sat down to eat, the overpowering smell of garlic assailed my nose. I like garlic — a dash of it in certain dishes. But the L&M likes garlic. Period. Suffice to say that he has asked me several times why I don’t add garlic to the upma or even the idli batter. I kept mum and ate the garlic dish — flavored with some lauki and then another garlic dish flavoured with some baingan the next day. The house smells of garlic. If nothing we will at least never have a vampire breathing within a ten mile radius.

The L&M saw how hassled I was and decided to pitch in with other things without being told — like cleaning the house. I made the tactical blunder of telling him not to ask me where to put what and use his discretion while doing it. At first I was just happy that the house looked clean and I could actually see the table top and the sofa and the divan, but that was short lived. For I discovered that he had a simple rule : put away things that are needed/in use and throw away the rest. Notice that there is no category called ‘might be needed in future’.

Soon I was searching for the simplest of things – my favourite knife, my phone charger, my reading material…you name it, he had ‘put them away,’ God knew where. And as for the throw away stuff, this included papers like receipts and bills and even warranty cards! So I began rummaging through the dustbin where we threw the recyclable waste. But it was a waste of time, since he tore the papers up before throwing them away. And so the moment I heard the trrrrrrrrrrrr of tearing paper, I would rush to find what it was that he was tearing up. He even threw away the carton in which the data card came, with the result that when we needed to recharge it I didn’t have the number, him not having noted it down before throwing it away. How I got it is another long story. Sigh.

The long and short of it is that the moment he went on one of his cleaning sprees, it was like he was a man possessed and I would stiffen, not knowing what would get put away or thrown away. Slowly I became a nervous wreck.

‘Do we need this?’ became the most dreaded question for me. I would be finishing off a perfectly worded sentence and he would pop the question and it would be gone – the sentence, that is. It could be anything from my chappals, to my coat to his jacket (which fell under the will-be-needed-in the future category and so was not in his categorisation). I had to hide things from him all over again and this time it was not just eatables but other stuff too which might catch his eye and end up being given away or thrown away. Life had come a full circle folks!

So seriously did he take this job that the moment I came back from the market and put the shopping bag down, he would rush in to clear it off the table, all the while muttering that I was a clutter-bug and that he had so much work to do to keep the house clean! Then one day I saw his table and gasped. It was like the old days when the surfaces in the house groaned and moaned with the weight of things on them. The man saw all the clutter everywhere but had left his table alone. When I went near it, he snarled, ‘Don’t touch anything there!’ I backed off hastily.

But I admire him for being such a sport. Why, the other day he came to me carrying the newspaper. ‘Look at this! This study says that housewives spend an average of three hours a week correcting the work their husbands do around the house. (Link) ‘Why don’t you write an L&M piece on this one?’ and that’s how I ended up doing this post.

And now tell me, with whom do your sympathies lie, me or the L&M?

Uh oh! I hear a piece of paper being torn. I have to go. Catch you later folks!

92 comments

  1. Androgoth · · Reply

    Hey I’m not nagging but I already
    added a comment on your ‘About’
    page 🙂

    Hope you are having a good nagging
    session and not letting him do too much
    work around the house, you know, the
    work that needs re-doing afterwards 🙂

    Androgoth

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    1. Oh, yes, didn’t you? I am sorry, but if my mail made you come back for another comment, it was well worth, wasn’t it? The L&M is after my life for not listing out all the things he does (which don’t need redoing 🙂 ) through the day. Wonder who the nag is now 😀 How do I enter your ghoul land? Can you please enlighten me?

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  2. U made my evening, such a funny post and so very similar to our lives too.
    I came home to find that all important things lying close by and all not so important things filed or kept properly 🙂

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    1. Their brains work in some kind of order that goes berserk when they see disorder and so we end up sorting what they sorted, right? 😀

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  3. hahahhahahahahaha……

    am with you both!!!

    the L&M for providing you the masala for the post and you for your putting it all in the cyberworld with such finesse!!

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    1. Thank you Deepak! At the moment he is demanding that I put out a list of things he does for me around the house and he claims that he does 75% of the work. I think I should, else he is threatening to stop doing anything. Now that IS a threat 😀

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  4. Real fun. All garlic day! However I agree with the study that women spend three hours (why only 3 hours) redoing what their husband did.

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  5. That was real fun…garlic in idli batter. However I agree with the study that women spend three hours (why only 3 hours) redoing what their husband did.

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  6. You should be thanking L&M profusely. Not just Vampires, but I am sure the Garlic smell made sure, your house remained Insect free and pest free for some time at least.

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    1. Insect free maybe, but pests? I am not too sure 😀

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  7. That was hilarious post … LOL. I really needed something like that to read today. I feel you need to send him over to my house to throw away a few things that has been collecting here over the years.

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    1. I see that the L&M is in great demand> R’s Mom wants to borrow him to feast on garlic and now you want to borrow him to help clear clutter. Maybe I should monetise his expertise, what do you say? 😀

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  8. Oh my God… you guys are soo cute. 🙂 L&M is quite adorable. 😉 And he seems to be a man of action especially when throwing things away. 😛 My sympathies are there with you in that part. I immediately remember my mom treasuring every piece of paper and thinking 10 times before even considering to throw or dump them. And the twist in the tale is: my dad is the exact same as my mom. So the only person who ever thinks of dumping something is me and I am a minority. 😛

    Oh my my.. he seems to be obsessed with garlic. Garlic in idly is heights of novelty. Who knows.. you might want to patent that one. It could turn out to be a blockbuster recipe in the future. 😀

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    1. I have said in reply to other comments and I am saying it again. My intentions simply backfired on me 😦 Here I was looking for some empathy and sympathy and I have ended up making more fans for the L&M 😀 He sure comes out looking like one harassed househusband. I hope the group working for husbands’ rights don’t send me a notice or something! Do you think I should pull this post down to be on the safer side maybe? 😀 😀

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      1. ha ha… no no.. it is lots of admiration for the two of you and a lil bit of sympathy for you. 🙂

        Dont pull the post down. it is a classic! 🙂

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        1. Thank you Raj. I am glad you liked it enough to stop me from removing it 😀 The L&M is in a major sulk that I have not written about all the other work he does for me 🙂

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  9. Practice makes a man perfect 🙂

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    1. And what about the one who gave him the training? Whew! 😀

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  10. Hahaha….that’s such a hilarious post Zephyr ! Your L&M posts are always my very favorite posts ! I think this one is among the top ! Just loved it !
    L&M is such a help to ya around the house…..have seen it first hand ! Bless him !

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    1. Oh yes, I remember you gushing over his househusbandly skills 🙂 He is actually hopping mad that I have left out the putting away the vessels part, which I think, I should add, or maybe make another post out of? 😀 For even here, it is a periodic, ‘Do we need this?’ which includes the idli cooker 😀

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  11. LOL! LOL! LOL! 😀 Sorry, aunty.. My vote is for L&M!! 😛 but the reason is you! You have written the piece in such a sweeeet manner.. you actually dint leave me a choice! 😉

    …And Btw, I wonder what happened of that piece of paper, did it survive the wrath of the handyman?? 😀

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    1. That is twisting the knife in the wound 😛 but he sure is a sport, isn’t he? Ah, the paper! He was actually tearing piece of newspaper to wrap some stuff. 😀

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  12. I protest loudly on behalf of L&M. The poor soul is working hard, feeding you garlic that’s good for your sinking heart, uncluttering the house – and you call him a headache?

    I am going on a candle light march. L&M could do with some support.

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    1. Oh boy, won’t he love the candle light march! And I thought you were my friend! 😦

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  13. a very good piece and reminds me of the many arguments with the husband regarding housecleaning….im totally control freak and need to have things put in their place…while the hubby tends to leave things at the nearest plc he finds…so we have socks on the sofa pen on the tv stand etc etc…and telling him to clean up is like doubling up my house work…he will put things in all the wrong places!!

    and yes, i read that piece too!!

    http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in/

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    1. Another sympathiser! It is my lucky day today 🙂 The L&M cleans in such a way that things are all out of sight — either somewhere too safe or in the dustbin! 🙂

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  14. ROFL really !
    I am a bit like L&M – Anything that is not used for a few months gets thrown out – much to my mother’s chagrin ! So though my sympathies are with you I do have a soft corner for L&M. After all his intentions are always right .. All the poor man is doing is trying to help you 🙂

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    1. I know, I know. Main ne apne pair me aap hi kulhadi maara hai with this post. All my friends are shifting loyalties now. Hmph….

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  15. All I can say is… you are lucky that you did not have a leaky faucet! Your ‘handyman’ would have had the time of his life… …and so, I am wondering what are the presets on your phone… other than ohhh.. 911, who else is on speed dial??? You never know how things will escalate. What a fun post to read!

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    1. Oh Ajen, you should read the other handyman post I have linked this one to. You will get to know him better then. He is THE handyman who can get such things like leaky faucets done, don’t ask how. 😀 And I guess I have to store some helpline numbers. Thanks for the thought 🙂

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  16. Oh man, this is hilarious! And it felt like I wrote it myself. I hate giving instructions for cooking too, it feels like I’m the one making the dish even though I’m not in the kitchen. I’d rather cook myself than give instructions. Oh and my husband throws away stuff too! His rule is the exact same as yours. If it’s no t being used, throw it. I can’t let him clean by himself.

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    1. Exactly! If you have to stand there and instruct him on every step, what is the point in asking him to cook, right? I am so glad I found a kindred soul in you! I had started feeling like some kind of sour-faced nag who was finding fault in her darling mate’s helping ways, not that I am not a nag… 😀

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  17. Hahaha…my god….can’t stop laughing….my two yr old comes running and asks, mommy, why laughing mommy? Mommy, why u laughing mommy? Not sure to laugh or putty at your plight ….that happens to me too…my husband is on the mission to clean the house every weekend and says, look, this is how you need to keep the house….I wish he did that everyday…and why is it that girls always have a would be needed in future list and guys have just now needed list….??

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    1. No no. Cleanliness is one thing that is common to both genders. Read the comments for further ‘enlightenment’. If you read the series you will get to know the family better and maybe then you will pity me a little more? 😀

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    2. But I approved it some time ago and now you can post it, I guess. I can’t understand the technicalities of blogs and the younger one takes care of all that. I have replied to your first comment. If you want to reply to that one, you can post it now. 🙂

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  18. Zephyr – loved it !!

    P.S. – I love your blog and I am huge fan of yours ..

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    1. I am so happy to have a fan, for a change. I had got a massive complex with the number of fans the L%M is collecting by the hundreds 😀

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  19. hey, LOL. btw, I love garlic too and more btw, I too love throwing things away if I believe they are unnecessary. hmph, and I hate clutter (but I can assure you that you will find much of the clutter in places at my home where it would not be seen). My partner often tells me that people who dont like clutter outside, more often than not, have cluttered minds so according to him, it is better to have a clutter less mind than a clutter less home!

    you take your pick!!

    great post, as usual.

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    1. Lovely to see your smile back here, Sharbori, missed you so! I have been ‘trained’ by the trio of clutterbugs to tolerate and even create clutter all these years and then suddenly the L&M turns into a cleanliness freak. How am I supposed to react, for heaven’s sake? I agree with your partner about clutter free mind when the house is cluttered. It leaves the mind free to do bigger things than just think of cleaning, see? 🙂

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  20. Hey thangam ~ everything in my narration is true especially the dogs bit. It is a ritual at my home. I was just indulging in a little hyperbole with regard to the man’s OCD 🙂

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    1. We truly are blessed wives, aren’t we? 😀

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  21. Hi ,
    Made a laugh riot here in cyber space.

    Yes, I would say, my loyalties are divided too. Sometimes, I wish my Ragamani was like that, throw away things. I have collection of around 40 years, cramming the house. Every time, I list out throwing, he puts it back. We need more rooms to keep his treasure!

    Totally agree , about having a perfectionist around. It stresses the hell out of me, when he cooks. I just melt away ,and steel myself and come back to listen to how I dont keep anything in place!! You wish they were not around for a few days, and once they go, We miss them.:-)

    All said and done, we are used to them , and we will crib and share, and enjoy.

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    1. There is a measure of security in hoarding stuff. Only those who do it can understand. And there have been so many instances of my pulling out some document or scrap of paper like a magician pulling out a rabbit from his hat and saving the day. All because I save that bit, see? Et tu Pattu 😦

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  22. Ha ha! What a hilarious post! My sympathies are with you of course. I do admire the efforts your L & M is putting in, though! 😀

    In our home, the roles are reversed. I’m the one who is ready to throw away anything that we haven’t used for a few months, and my husband wants to keep anything that has even the tiniest likelihood of being useful at some future date!.

    So how are you getting along re: your deadlines? All the best for those. 🙂

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    1. Another sympathiser for me? Wow! Thanks a ton Manju, how I love you! 🙂 I admire his efforts to help me too. I wouldn’t be able to finish my work were it not for his help. Honest. I do keep all the papers too. Psst..I still have the papers of the very first car we owned — hidden away from the eyes of the tearing ways of the L&M 🙂 I still have a month of work to get through 😦

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  23. How sweet, but !!!

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    1. The ‘But’ holds a wealth of meaning. And I take it as support for me. Thank you. Thank you. 😀

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  24. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this laugh riot. 😀

    I’m sorry, Zephyr. Really sorry, but my sympathies are divided. Unequally divided. They are with you over the garlic part and with the L&M over everything else. Also, you can write here and ventilate and your poor L&M can’t even present his side of the story of helping you. 😉

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    1. Trust an editor and writer to say something in such a way that it takes a while to figure out that the sympathies are REALLY unequal. He is enjoying all the attention and the adulation of his ever increasing fan base 😀 But right now, he is breathing down my neck saying that I should tell the world that he does all the irritating work like putting away the dishes and drying and folding the clothes. 🙂

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  25. Lovely post Zephyr, i was laughing like crazy reading this post and imagining the L&M and you. How do I tell ya, but my sympathy is for L&M. No No, I can see how frustrated you can get when something that you might need is torn and gone to the dustbin. Have been there and doen that myself and now people give me looks when somethign at home goes missing.

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    1. Ah, once guilty, always guilty. How can you be above suspicion if you have discarded something important once? Today, the poor man was tearing the newspaper to wrap something and I rushed at him like a charging cheetah, asking what he was tearing! I tell you, I am a nervous wreck 😀

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  26. LOL!!! 😆

    Talk about totally opposite ends of the spectrum…
    From being a clutter-bug to having OCD…that’s quite a transition! :mrgreen:

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    1. A transition so drastic that itself is enough to drive me nuts. I see you read the links 😀

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  27. God the woes of being a man, help and still get told of oh my oh my… He he he he
    Oh yes the table can’t be touched for we have our stuff very precise.

    Made me laugh so much.. but true too why keep things which have not been used for long.

    Thanks for sharing..

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    1. I agree about throwing away things that have not been used for long. But what about things you will need next year and is something expensive like a jacket or a sweater? Glad the post made you laugh. And yes, the woes of being a man indeed are a lot, aren’t they? 😀

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  28. hehe Well, your handyman really gave you a tough time. But, the intentions were good; we have to remember that ;-). When my handyman comes into the kitchen, he cooks 2-3 dishes real well, but I am on my toes. He asks where what is kept and leaves half the dishes dirty. And, he works from home too and his desk is pretty similar to your husband’s. And, I take on the role of your husband while cleaning because my hubby would preferably keep all wrapping, bills, magazines, cartons to posterity because they might come in use sometime. Remember, we are anyway keeping the important bills away as soon as possible because we run a business. So, these bills I am talking about are just general ones. I guess wives will always have their gripes, and our dear husbands will continue to take it in their stride and still come to our rescue :).

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    1. As i am replying the comments, the L&M is breathing down my neck telling that I should list the things he does — he swears he does more work than me around the house. Psst…he really does 🙂 And you are right. They know how to ignore our gripes and come to the rescue, never mind how they do it 🙂

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  29. Super stuff, enjoyed:)

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    1. Empathy, maybe?

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  30. You are really unfair Aunty Nag…and again as I often do, I think you also suffer from an endemic disease most mothers seem to be suffering from. Everyone works in their own way, you can’t tell them to either toe your line or accept all the accusations of being unhelpful and un-understanding. Half of Amma’s daily calls to me is filled with a long list of the things Achcha didn’t end up doing. But just the way, you described, if he does get to doing something, the criticism is soo harsh that it is no surprise the men don’t pitch in more..:) Sorry, I am an unabashed L&M fan, maybe because I also am a daddy’s girl..:)

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    1. Ah, you traitor! Main tumko dekh loongi 😛 From having to climb walls because someone is such a clutterbug to having to be on my toes lest something important gets torn, can be a traumatic journey you know. And having done things her way all along, your amma has every right to expect your dad to turn his hand at things. Daddy’s girl, Bah!

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  31. Awwww! he is so so adorable..big hugs to him 🙂

    heheheheh! he sounds so much like my dad except the fact that Appa wont throw away anything..he will just put it inside a cupboard which we call ‘bulldozer’ in our house…Amma dreads opening that one 🙂

    Errr…I love garlic..can I borrow L&M for like two days..we both will have garlic feasts 🙂

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    1. I can’t afford to keep anything that he can find. So I have to hide things and then keep changing the place like they shift fugitives from one safe house to another 😀 And please take him for as long as you want, and eat all the garlic subzis he will happily cook for you. 🙂

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  32. AlkaGurha · · Reply

    Ha, ha.. some men are more meticulous than women..My Handyman avoids entering the kitchen but when he does, he leaves it sparkling clean…even tough a few things get misplaced….
    Your L & M needs to be applauded for his sincere efforts.

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    1. The L&M has indeed been a dear these past weeks. And what are a few (kgs) garlic in the bargain, eh? 😀

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  33. Treading into uncharted waters is never easy for the one navigating as well as the one riding the boat! Can understand both your and L&M’s plight, under similar situation:)

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    1. That is the most diplomatic comment of all 😀 But like Sudha says, at least I can rant about it here and the L&M has to be content threatening me with dire consequences if I don’t tell everyone how much he helps me 🙂

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  34. What a nice, supportive hm. As for us women – simply not consistent. Grumble if they help and grumble if they don’t. (When you mentioned “Handyman” I honestly thought you meant the person who squats and waits on the footpath in the hope of some work – like repairing someone’s leaky plumbing. Wonder if they still do that.)

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    1. Ah, you didn’t read the links, methinks. But I mentioned L&M at the outset, didn’t I?

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  35. Of course I am on your side, Zephyr 😀 But this was hilarious. I only figured out half way through the post that L & M possibly meant Mr Zephyr. Hmm. My husband wouldn’t dream of taking the initiative to do something – we have an understanding about division of labor. He won’t do unless specifically told. And harmony prevails. He hates to do things in the kitchen, unless there’s no choice. He’d rather walk to the end of the street for a cuppa tea than make it. But, in a “situation” he’s right there, doing things in the way he thinks is best.

    Hehehe. garlic eh. I should send Vidur to your house. When we go to the supermarket, he picks up the pack of peeled garlic and cuddles it. Errrgh.

    Love the post! Men, I tell ya!

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    1. Hey Vidya, you should first read the L&M page to know the background and then the links to the posts in this one to truly appreciate my predicament. 🙂 And thanks for being the only one who is completely on my side 🙂 He is the handyman who gets things done with someone else’s hands 😀 The reason men stay away from the kitchen or refrain from doing other work is because we like things done our way, not theirs. And when they stay away, we nag them. Women, I tell ya.

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  36. I heard a clamour on the Internet and realised the latest installment of the ‘L&M and the Brats’ was being premiered at Cybernag! I scrambled for a view when Mr MTNL said, ‘thank you, but our servers don’t exist!’ And only yesterday I snubbed Mr Airtel for offering to revise my quota of 3G datapack. Guess what, I had to hack into my neighbour’s wireless 😀 ! You can’t blame me if he insists on protecting his network with his wife’s pet name.

    And what a show it was, replete with drama, suspense, humour and a gentleman hell bent on holding the hands of his soulmate through hard times. It was another matter that he often flummoxed her no ends with his exaggerated protectiveness which often ran counter to his intentions. And I have reasons to believe his upma and idli flavoured garlics would make for ravishing fare in exotic eateries.

    I don’t quite know whose side I am on but I do sympathize with his determined efforts to be nice to a dame in distress, and to sanitize the household of extraneous junk. It shouldn’t be hard to understand that there will be occasional casualties like trashing a phone charger or a warranty certificate but hey, what’s the big deal about that? Isn’t that the reason why he wouldn’t trust even God with the awe-inspiring smorgasbord of junk having supreme importance on his table?

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    1. Seriously? I mean you hacked into your neighbour’s network, I mean? He has been really good these past few weeks when I just hunch over the keyboard and let him hold the fort. So what if I have to eat garlic dishes? He has read all the comments and is mighty pleased with his swelling band of supporters and fans. 😀

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  37. delhizen · · Reply

    I tell you next time we meet L&M gets a bigger bouquet for being the way he is.. Else how would you share such hilarious experiences with us :))

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    1. Oh yes. he is the biggest supporter of the series and loves reading the masala I sometimes add to the posts. But this one is sau taka sach. Cross my heart. 😀

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  38. That was hilarious!! Uncle likes garlic so much? I do too…but in idli? seriously?
    I’m not sure if you’ll like this but the last para made my vote tip in Uncle’s favour…isn’t he sweet? He did try to help you all the while, didn’t he? His ways might be achingly blunt and extreme but his intent wasn’t. 🙂

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    1. He loves garlic in anything. When he was asked to gargle with water in which a pod of garlic is boiled — as a cure for sore throat, he would make me put several pods and insist on eating them too! I am seriously sulking now. He has more fans than ever and me, no sympathy. Boo hooo…

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      1. Noooooo…I’m with you…but you have to admit the way Uncle tries and helps you out is so very adorable. He must really care for you. 🙂
        So what if he made garlic sabzis with vegetables in the side? He kept his table cluttered but cleaned up the whole house for you.
        Am sure he was secretly trying to match up to your standards and badly failing at it. Nevertheless he tried, that’s important! 🙂

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        1. Awww, that was very sweet of you Varsha! Love you. Yes, he tries very hard to help and does what he thinks is good. I sometimes feel so bad that I am making him do so much. 🙂

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  39. Hahahahahahaha….thangam, that was an almost exaggerated version…but yes, looks can be deceptive 🙂 Most folks would be happy to have such a spouse methinks !!! But seriously , I think its therapeutic for him.

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    1. You had me there! I used to wipe off our Joey’s paws too, when he came back from doing his big job and all, so I thought it could be real 🙂

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  40. Oh well. The L&M actually reminds me of ME with the cleaning bit. People around me dread keeping things that are not used right then because I throw them away. Be it today’s newspaper which is lying on a chair which should be ideally used for me sitting or some random bill from two months back which noone will ever look at. The sad part is, if I Don’t throw something and its missing, well, I am branded the culprit!

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    1. The reason i don’t touch his table is precisely because of this fear — getting accused of having thrown away something, which he, in all likelihood had torn in one of his trrrrrrrrr moments. I see the L&M not only has fans, but also company 🙂 But do read the post on my climbing the wall before concluding that he is a cleanliness freak.

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  41. 😀 that was a fun read. garlic in upma and idli batter would actually be cool.

    i dont throw away anything, i even have some 30-year-old receipts 😀

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    1. Well, he was not always a cleanliness freak. Do read the links of climbing the wall and handyman which I have given in the post, to get a then and now view of the L&M.
      We share the trait of preserving useless stuff but I don’t have receipts THAT old 😀

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  42. Dearest Thangam….oh how I enjoyed this piece ~ am literally rolling on the floor laughing as I visualise every scene !!! I have a problem on the other end of the spectrum. Your buddy is a cleaning machine with an OCD. If he had his way, my home would be a museum and me, ma gal and the dogs would have been museum artifacts !! We would probably be taken out for an airing and then kept back neatly after being wiped and dusted !!! Believe you me, even the dogs have got used to his ways…every walk outside , and they are walked 5 times a day, meekly trot straight into the bathroom to get their paws and backsides washed. My domestic help are so used to his nagging ways, that they work extra hard when they the the maniac is going to be home 🙂 He can’t do much about my stray cats because they are their own masters and care a whit for the cleaning machine. He used to go around the house with a figurative magnifying glass looking for evidence of my shortcomings as a wife. He also gets along most with my female friends who suffer from the same OCD, comparing notes to see how things can be kept cleaner, newer implements and material which can aid the process ~ and most of all, to rue the disgusting shortcomings of their spouses, me included !!!! And I am considered quite a neatness freak too 🙂 I have barred him from touching my things and my cupboards, the one place I can be myself. The daughter has screaming matches when she sees her cupboard surreptiously clean. Sigh… I just know what u must be going through. Btw, am planning to loan him out to folks who need such a cleaning machine post retirement!!! Might as well make money off him!!!! You should see his face when he is cleaning with a frenzy ~ it has looks of sheer orgasmic delight !!!! Hahahahahaha

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    1. Seriously? is he that bad? Looks can be deceptive can’t they? I agree that you should monetise his expertise. 😀 And getting the dogs to wash their paws! I was ROFL imagining that! But as long as he is enjoying it and not letting it become a matter of tension, it is fine I guess. 🙂 Loved having your hear after a long time 🙂

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  43. ROFL!!! I have laughed so hard that my dad came running in to find out what happened….oh mother…your post brings cheer to a tired evening…thanks!
    In btw, your L&M seems more a brat than L&M!!!

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    1. Good to know you had a good laugh. I am hopping mad at the L&M though. You meant ‘more a brat than the Brats,’ didn’t you? 🙂

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      1. I take offence. You can’t get more bratty than us

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        1. Hey, I didn’t say it. Fight with Bhavana. She did. or at least I think she did and it was a typo. 😛

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          1. Hey Brat! Sorry, L&M is way more bratty than u guys..he is also more garlicky:):)

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