The priceless - and the valueless!

Sorting household goods into 'retain' / 'give away' / 'recycle' heaps is therapeutic, I find. Unearthing this and that, from shelves, cupboards, niches beneath mattresses and old trunks, what do I rediscover? Some certainly priceless stuff, several more valueless - but each single item worth one or more gray cells of memory. Some 'precious' possessions acquire even more valuable sheen over the years; art, antique and jewellery collectors will tell you all about that. Several more goods take on measureless sentimental value - things even the kabadiwallah may refuse to carry away. In the armed forces, you acquire a collection of mementoes that grows with every place of posting - these are things that (should) mean the whole world to the person whose name is inscribed therein...

This time around, we have stuck to the decision that we would be ruthless - no room for things that were not used, not even seen, through 5 moves in 10 years. So here are the 10 boxes, (yes, we managed to meet the 10-box-challenge) of books, kitchen stuff, clothing, furnishing, and minimal showcase memorabilia, awaiting a move across the subcontinent.
As to other stuff, informative magazines (National Geographic / Outlook Traveller / Voyager) will reach a village library in Kerala, along with an antique but usable Pentium 133 Desktop. A few pieces of dated electronics will find their way to an electronics recycling mart in town. A variety of toys and other items should reach a children's home later this week.

Here are a couple of pictures showing one of the items from my priced possessions. Don't even attempt to tag a value to it! This is a handmade gift from a valued friend, who'll be reading this from somewhere in the globe, I hope...
(Please click on picture to understand it better)

Comments

  1. Karmika01 August, 2008

    Reading your post brings me a plethora of olden/golden memories. My eyes welled up with tears! Thank you for calling it "priceless" - thank you is an understatement. After all it is in the right hands!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indrani01 August, 2008

    PRECIOUS!!!
    I am proud of you that you valued the gift from your friend to preserve it so long!

    (Was it from the above person? If so hats off to her to have thought upon such a gift.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kat01 August, 2008

    Congrats on meeting the 10-box-challenge...

    Actually it's not a big deal. I too can also easily do that.....
    but my wife wouldn't approve of leaving behind or disposing of all
    the dresses, kitchen items tele, sofa etc., in lieu of the
    priceless things I would've packed in the 10 boxes :-D

    Touching to see that you've held to the priced possession with so
    much affection.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lakshmi Bharadwaj02 August, 2008

    wow, you met the 10 box challenge!! I never could have. BTW, you preserve letters too? That's a wonderful habit. I've always preserved letters, however insignificant they might be. Way to go!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Swarna02 August, 2008

    Indrani...need I say more?
    Kat - thanks, and for your family's sake, I hope you can stay put in one place, unlike us 'nomads' :)
    Lakshmi, yes, letters and greeting cards are real antiques now, sadly replaced by e-mail and e-greetings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN05 August, 2008

    Such beautiful philsophy presented in such a beautiful handwriting. A priceless gift, indeed.

    Definitely worth preserving and be packed in one of those 10 boxes.

    I sincerely appreciate your generosity in gifting those valuable and informative mags (and usable PC) to the library, and toys to a children's home.

    ReplyDelete

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