Typical morning routine

 Its 4 am. I'm up. No alarm needed. I've been doing this routine for 10 years now that I wake up automatically.

I don't pause to enjoy the still night silhouette of kochi from my high rise building. I just go straight to the bathroom and pour myself a mug of cold water as my husband says cold water is recommended by our ancestors and is written in ayurveda that bathing in cold water rejuvenate us. 

Its freezing and I instantly wake up from my drowsiness. I can't afford to be lazy anyways. If I don't start now I won't finish cooking by 6am when the rest of the family wakes up. 

After brushing and bathing. I tie my towel around my wet hair , wash my undergarments . Oops I forgot to take my new nighty. I tip toe outside as quietly as possible to take my dress from the cupboard but the light from the bathroom wakes up my husband who cringes and shouts at me for putting light disturbing his precious sleep. I should have been careful right, I mean ,he is the one who has the big important job ,his sleep is important  and  that is why I'm waking up so early to cater to his service.

I said sorry but the damage is already done. He has lost his sleep . I feel so guilty to disturb him but mostly it's a tensed guilt because I know what is most likely going to happen.

I take my dress and step back into the bathroom to change my dress and close the wretched light and step outside. 

As i tiptoed out to enter the kitchen, I hear him again. 

"Wait!"- he said rather strongly

I feel that lump in my throat. Here it goes...

" Now that my sleep is gone, come here.."- he said.

I obeyed.

" Remove your underwear"- he said.

I cringe at that ugly sentance. Why does he say such unflattering sentences.

The ordeal  cost me half an hour of my early morning routine.

I hurriedly wash up ( again in freezing cold water). It was almost 4:45 am. My husband was able to sleep again thankfully due to that ungodly activity which he enjoys so much.

I checked my weekly food plan. It was supposed to be upma for breakfast and fried rice for lunch. Nope I don't have time to chop so much vegetables.

I looked into the fridge, took out my faithful dosa batter and my weekly supply of my  onion chutney( MILs recipe). Breakfast sorted!

Now lunch was not going to fried rice which was going to cause a chaos in the morning . You see fried rice and paneer butter masala was my children's favourite tiffin lunch .  I thought for a while and said it's better to make jeera rice and PBM than not make it at all. So instead of vegetable fried rice ,I quickly decided to make jeera rice.

So I took my pan of boiled milk ,  dosa batter and onion chutney from the fridge and put the milk pan on the gas to warm it up.

I quickly rinsed the pressure cooker ,4 steel tumblers and spoons.

I bend down to take the rice from the grain container. Oof my aching back, I thought to myself .

I never thought it was necessary to goto a doctor to see my back aches so much. As my husband says I should have more physical activity to get rid of the pain. Is that so?!! 

I collected my wavering thoughts back to the rice container, measured the exact amount and started washing it under running water.

I took out the tomatoes and onions, again I need to bend down.

The milk has warmed up.i take it out of the gas and put the pressure cooker on the gas ,turned down the gas and began pouring the milk to all 4 glasses. I put jr horlicks for my kids , normal horlicks for my strong husband and coffee for me. 

I add some ghee in the cooker and popped some jeera before adding my washed rice . After adding masalas, I closed the lid and let it boil .

As i was chopping the tomatoes i remember that the paneer is still in freezer. Crap! I quickly took the paneer and soaked it in some warm milk.

It makes a whole difference . You see when middle class Indian families buy bulk items to save money they don't buy freezer containers to store them. They open the pack ,take a little and wrap the packed with a rubber band and keep it back in the freezer. So in such cases, one should be careful to thaw it in a brilliant way. So I thaw my paneer in milk to make it juicy and fresh! See so economical as compared to wasting 300 rs buying the container, 800 rs if it's signoware, or if you are fancy, spend 2000 rs buying Tupperware.

By the time it was 6 am my lunch preparation was complete. The sink was filled with pans and I was happy that the jeera rice was not sticky , I have to note down this measurement.

I quickly take out my kids lunch boxes and remember that I forgot to wash my husband's tiffin box yesterday. Thank goodness my MIL is not home ,else she would have....

Just as i was washing his tiffin box, Mr Menon walks into the kitchen and sees me doing what I was supposed to done yesterday night. What a damn luck I have.

Now he goes on ranting about my inefficiency and recites Kabir's dohe on doing things on time!

Till a couple of years back, I would have shouted back at him . But now I've become submissive. I now  know that it's better not to react. He will rant for a while, throw a bad look at me and snort out and walk away. Nothing more but nothing less .

As i continued to wash the vessels, my kids woke each other up and started crying.

My husband tried to pacify them but they kept crying for mom . I washed my hands and went to the bedroom to hug my darlings.

My husband started bickering that the kids are always behind mom. not sure why he says that! He wanted me, "ME" to take complete care of them yet he pretends to get jealous when the kids prefer me to him.

Anyways I get back to washing and cleaning the kitchen ,it's almost 7am . I get to running behind the kids , my morning workout trying to get them into the bathroom to bath.

After a lot of screaming and shouting and mid bath tantrums,we are done with the morning bath. After bath they out dry and sparkling while I'm drenched in water looking like a muck!

My husband helps powder and dress them up , no they r not babies but he still feeling the need to use a baby powder puff and comb up their hair like we used to when they were babies .

I change into my second nighty of the day and proceed to kitchen to make the dosas.

Two tawas on two gases to speed up dosa preparation.

They sit on the table as i serve them hot dosas turn by turn . 

The rest of the morning activity for the kids are usually discussion with dad ,crib about the lunch, wear socks and shoes all of which are taken care by my darling husband while I make somes dosas for me and cover with a plate to eat later.

I continue to washing remaining dishes and get the kitchen tidied up. My husband hates it if the kitchen is messy before he leaves for work.

Its almost time for their school buses, I'm late . I rush to change my dress into something presentable for society which is usually a salwar or a kurti- my third outfit for the day .

We rush down the lift and almost sure the bus must be waiting already.... But no, turns out bus is late . We wait for 10 mins in the morning sun and I'm happy I didn't wear a full sleeves top, a bit of vitamin D is good for me too.

By the time I'm back, my husband is ready to leave and takes his bag, coat and newspaper. 

Tata and I'm free for the next 4 hours ......